Thomas's legacy 'enshrined' in GTNP's new visitor center

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

By Richard Anderson

Jackson Hole, Wyo.-While billed as the dedication for a new visitor center, the hour-long ceremony held Saturday morning in a parking lot in Grand Teton National Park was more a heartfelt memorial for the late U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas and a tribute to the powers of philanthropy.

As many as 1,000 people or more came out for the grand opening of the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center, named for the man who secured $8 million in federal funding for the new $18.5 million, 21,700-square-foot center, and who championed national parks during his career in Washington, D.C. In attendance were Thomas’s widow, Susan, as well as GTNP Supervisor Mary Gibson Scott, who served as emcee for the proceedings, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi and the keynote speaker, Vice President Dick Cheney.

Other dignitaries in the crowd included Mike Sullivan, former Wyoming governor and a founder of the Park Foundation, Congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee, former GTNP Supervisors Jack Stark and Jack Neckels and Yellowstone Superintendent Suzanne Lewis.
Security blanketed the event area. Attendees filed through metal detectors to enter the site, which was cordoned off by several rings of fencing and closely watched by dozens of members of the secret service and the Teton County sheriff’s office. A line of heavy construction equipment served as an ersatz barricade between the park road and the parking lot.

Scott opened the ceremony with a welcome and positive thoughts for the six men still trapped in a coal mine in Utah before introducing the morning’s esteemed guests. A Boy Scout color guard marched the U.S., Wyoming and park flags to the front of the crowd, and local classically trained soprano Allison Kyle sang the National Anthem.

Next, Ken Asel of St. John’s Episcopal Church gave an invocation, praying for our nation’s leaders, military personnel and for Craig Thomas, asking for blessings on all involved in conservation, and appealing for the strength and wisdom to help us preserve our environment, control our populations and make appropriate use of our natural resources.

Scott described the new center as one “worthy of Grand Teton National Park” and praised its funding and construction as a model for civic engagement and philanthropy. While Thomas secured $8 million for it, the remaining funds were raised privately through the Grand Teton National Park Foundation and the Grand Teton Association.
 
Secretary Kempthorne, who before heading the Department of Interior was governor of Idaho and a U.S. Senator, observed that Grand Teton’s new center is the eighth such building shepherded into being by Scott at various national parks. He went on to speak glowingly of Thomas, saying his legacy was “enshrined” in the new building, which, he hoped, might inspire some young girl to be the next Rachel Carson or some young boy to be the next John Muir.

He then boasted of the Bush administration’s new National Parks Initiative, which, if passed by Congress, would commit $1 billion over the next 10 years to the National Park System. He urged the audience and the public at large to match that commitment with private donations.

Mary Bomar, a native of Great Britain but a naturalized U.S. citizen and the first such person to lead the National Park Service, followed suit, praising Thomas and the public-private partnership that raised the building. She quickly recounted the tale of the creation of Grand Teton National Park, which came about thanks to the donation of some 35,000 acres of land purchased by John D. Rockefeller Jr.

“A gift of Rockefeller’s magnitude is, of course, not something all of us can accomplish,” she said. “But, as the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center illustrates, philanthropy does not depend on just a few families. Today, every American can help carry on the tradition of stewardship and generous support that has shaped our parks. Whether it is volunteering your time to work in your local park, contributing to a park donation box or joining a ‘friends of the parks’ organization, we can all be philanthropists.”

Susan Thomas’ statement was the shortest and most charming. She joked about her late husband, calling him her “boyfriend,” and said, “Craig would be very humbled and proud” by the center and ceremony, “but he would have leaned over to me to say, ‘Suzie, they’re making too big a deal out of this.’”

After a few additional comments from Sen. Enzi, Vice President Cheney took the podium for a short address that again reiterated the themes of the day.

“For the time given to us, the citizens of today hold the national parks in trust,” he said. “Their long-term condition, and the ability of future generations to enjoy them as we do, will depend largely on decisions we make in our own time. This new facility shows that we take that responsibility very seriously. It’s a symbol of our commitment to thinking ahead, keeping right priorities, and choosing wisely. Today we can say with confidence that we’ve done something good for our country.”

The crowd then filed over to the new Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center to visit and discover. Photo by GTMF Supervisor Mary Scott Gibson, Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar and U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi stand for the National Anthem at Saturday morning’s dedication ceremony.

Photo by Derek Diluzio
GTMF Supervisor Mary Scott Gibson, Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Park Service Director Mary Bomar and U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi stand for the National Anthem at Saturday morning’s dedication ceremony.

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