Trump administration denied Yellowstone’s top official opportunity to retire on own terms

Daniel Wenk, a 43-year veteran wanted to quit in March but was told to go now or move to Washington

The Trump administration issued a stern reply to Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Daniel Wenk's offer to retire next year to avoid a reassignment to Washington - leave your post by August or retire now.

As first reported by The Washington Post, Mr Wenk submitted a letter to National Park Service announcing his retirement and offering to work until March at his office in Wyoming rather than move to the National Capital Region. After receiving his reply, Mr Wenk spoke out, saying he felt abused, according to Mountain West Radio, which broke the story of the administration's response.

Park Service Director P Daniel Smith issued the administration's ultimatum in a formal letter.

"Even though I told them I was going to retire that seemed to not make a difference, so extremely disappointed is probably a mild way to explain it," Mr Wenk said.

Mr Wenk's looming reassignment is one of several ordered by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to fulfil President Donald Trump's effort to reorganise the federal government.

Cameron Sholly, the Park Service director for the Midwest region, is said to be in consideration for Mr Wenk's Yellowstone job, according to a worker at the Park Service who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job.

At least eight other senior executives are being reassigned. Critics say many of the reassignments of Senior Executive Service employees appear to be motivated by politics, sweeping aside those who disagree with the administration on issues such as climate change, wildlife management and wilderness preservation.

Mr Wenk, a 43-year veteran, wanted time to complete several major projects, including the movement of bison in Yellowstone to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, 400 miles away. Moving the animals is a sensitive issue for ranchers who believe they carry a disease called brucellosis that could spread to cattle.

Although there's no documented case of the illness being spread by bison, the fear persists among ranchers and farmers whom Mr Zinke often champions in speeches.

Mr Wenk's supporters said his concern for the bison put him at odds with Mr Zinke, but Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift disputed that in an email, saying: "That is easily proven wrong with a simple Google search. The secretary has been fighting for Fort Peck to have their bison for years."

One of Mr Wenk's former deputies at Yellowstone, Steve Iobst, said the opposite was true. The reassignment seemed sudden, he told Mountain West Radio, speculating that politics and crossing Mr Zinke over issues involving wildlife and habitat factored into Mr Wenk's removal.

"I'm not sure if it rubs the current administration the wrong way, but certainly the transport of bison to reservations in Montana is not very well thought of by the ranching interests in the state of Montana," Mr Iobst said.

"We're very disappointed about the news of Dan Wenk being forced out," said Caroline Byrd, executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. "We are concerned and dismayed about how this administration is treating Dan . . . Yellowstone deserves the courageous leadership that Wenk embodies, and we'll be watching developments closely."

Mr Wenk entered the Park Service as a landscape architect in the late 1970s and entered the high-paying Senior Executive Service in the early 1990s. As a deputy to former Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis, he oversaw the reopening of the Statue of Liberty's crown in 2009 and mediated a sharp dispute over snowmobile use in Yellowstone after becoming superintendent in 2012.

"It has been an honour and a privilege working for the National Park Service for the last almost 43 years," Mr Wenk wrote in a letter to Park Service brass on announcing his retirement.

The Washington Post