Former Director of National Park Service Joins Endangered Species Coalition Board

Washington, D.C.—Robert “Bob” Stanton, former Director of the National Park Service (NPS) and former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has joined the board of directors of the Endangered Species Coalition, a well-regarded advocacy nonprofit working tirelessly to protect our nation’s natural heritage.

“I am indeed honored and privileged to have been given this opportunity to serve on the Endangered Species Coalition Board. The work of the Endangered Species Coalition, through its cooperative and collaborative relationships with diverse audiences, is critically important to achieving and sustaining the protection of endangered species. This work demonstrates our individual and collective responsibility for preserving the nation’s wildlife and habitat and passing on this rich natural heritage to future generations. Drawing on my 35-year career with the National Park Service. I hope, that in some small way, I might be able to contribute to the advancement of the Endangered Species Coalition’s goals and programs,” stated Stanton.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton appointed Stanton as the 15^th director of the NPS, a position in which he served until 2001. The first African American to be appointed as Director of the NPS, Stanton was introduced to conservation in 1962 while serving as a seasonal park ranger at Grand Teton National Park after his junior year in college—an opportunity made possible by then Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.

“I have had the privilege of knowing Robert for years. My father always admired Robert for his passion and hard work to conserve America’s wild places and creatures. I am looking forward to working with him on the ESC Board. His vision, piercing intellect, and gracious character will be a great enhancement to the Board,” stated long-time conservationist and board member, Lori Udall.

Stanton has joined a board that also includes decades-long forest protection activist, Michael “Brock” Evans, retired U.S. Marine Corps General Rick Kelly, and newly elected board chair, William Snape III, an assistant dean and professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Our organization literally represents the strength and breadth of America’s love for wildlife and wild habitat.  Robert Stanton clearly makes us even stronger. Now more than ever, we stand ready to protect the unbreakable trust to preserve endangered species for our children and grandchildren. Today’s politics may be complicated, but our commitment to this country’s beautiful natural heritage has never been greater,” said Snape. 

The Endangered Species Coalition is a national grassroots organizing nonprofit that focuses on keeping the Endangered Species Act and its protections for wildlife and plants strong.