OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Karen Gustin has a pleasing view from her new superintendent’s chair, but what charms her is the idea of getting out of the office.
“I don’t care too much about the box. What really matters is what is out there,” said Gustin, 51, motioning toward the entrance to Olympic National Park on Wednesday.
Gustin, who replaces Bill Laitner as the park’s new superintendent, settled into her office at 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, on Monday.
Laitner retired in January. Sue McGill served as interim park superintendent.
National Park Service Regional Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced Gustin’s appointment in April.
He said that Gustin had shown an ability to collaborate with park users and community groups on controversial issues during her three-year tenure as superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve in Ochopee, Fla.
Gustin said her first priorities at Olympic National Park are to acquaint herself with details of the Elwha dam removal project and issues of access to the park, and to talk with community leaders.
“I plan on getting out into the communities as soon as I can,” she said.
“I want to hear what everyone thinks and wants to see happen at the park.”
The Elwha Dam and the Glens Canyon Dam are to be removed after 2012 in an estimated $315 million project to restore salmon habitat by allowing the river, dammed since 1913, to revert to its natural state.
As for access, “Wilderness and human interaction are familiar issues to me,” Gustin said.
“At Big Cyprus, we had panthers, in Alaska, we had bears, here we have the elk.”
At Big Cyprus, she also dealt with controversy surrounding off-road vehicles accessing areas of the park, she said.
