A Career Up In Smoke
August 2000
THE ENVIRONMENT
A Career Up In Smoke
Before May 4, you would have been hard-pressed to find Roy Weaver's name in the news. He lived a below-the-radar existence that belied the considerable responsibilities of managing 34,000 acres in New Mexico's south Jemez Mountains. A 33-year veteran of the National Park Service, Weaver boasted a resume like that of a career military man, with postings around the country and commendations galore. He had served as Bandelier superintendent for the past decade and hoped to retire quietly to Colorado next April.
Those plans, along with the homes of several hundred of the Weavers' neighbors, disintegrated this spring as a prescribed burn Weaver had approved lay waste to a large portion of Los Alamos Canyon. Weaver found himself the subject of a race to blame that has engulfed the state of New Mexico, the Park Service, and the Interior Department.
The 60-year-old Weaver, who just 8 months ago lost his only child in a car accident, faces an uncertain future. A scathing internal report charged him with inadequate review of the planning and implementation of the prescribed burn. Disputing the findings, Weaver announced that he would retire effective July 2.
Predictably, the resignation was not enough to satisfy a community reeling from what many saw as a preventable disaster. At a June 7 hearing of the House Resource Committee's Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands, New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson ridiculed the "common sense out the window" approach of Weaver's office. Much of the state's congressional delegation joined Johnson in his condemnation. Park Service spokesmen have indicated that Weaver may face a reduction in his pension benefits, and a state lawmaker wants to see Weaver criminally prosecuted for mishandling the blaze.
Weaver remains remarkably sanguine: "The investigative commission that released the first report had a very short time-frame to do what normally takes up to a year. I think we will be able to show [the board of inquiry] that, given the information we had and the conditions . . . we did not violate Park Service policy or deviate from professional practices," he says.
The displaced superintendent remains a veritable recruiting poster for the National Park Service. "I've always thought that the NPS is a wonderful agency. None of that has changed. I joined it because of my idealism, and I have not lost any of that idealism." - Frank Micciche
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