I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

But I will bear true faith and allegiance to the sea that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will will inflate the lead discharge.

The duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God, so help me God.

So help me God.

Welcome to the oath. I'm Chuck Rosenberg and I am honored to be your host for another compelling conversation with a fascinating guest from the World of Public Service.

Our guest this week is John Jarvis, the former director of the National Park Service.

John grew up in rural Virginia and studied biology at the College of William and Mary.

In 1976, he began a four decade career with the National Park Service that culminated in an eight year tour of duty in charge of the agency.

The great American author, the Pulitzer Prize winner, Wallace Stegner, wrote that our national parks are the best idea we ever had.

Absolutely American, absolutely democratic. They reflect us at our best.

But these parks are more than the best idea we ever had. They are a magnificent resource and they are beloved.

Our park system numbers are staggering. 84 million acres, 419 national parks, 330 million annual visitors, 440,000 volunteers.

From a catiot to Zion, from Yellowstone to Yosemite, from Glacier to Grand Canyon. These are the most breathtaking natural landscapes and seascapes and forests and vistas in America.

John Jarvis knows these places as well as anyone.

John served in eight national parks from his days as a ranger who has turned as the superintendent of Wrangles, St. Elias, in South Central, Alaska.

The largest park in our national park system. Here is an astonishing number. Wrangles by itself covers 13 million acres, roughly the size of six Yellowstones.

So here's a good question. What do park rangers do? The delightful entry on John's resume reads simply that park rangers do well? Ranger things.

That makes sense. Rangers do ranger things. John fought fires, trapped bears, forwarded glacial rivers, repelled off cliffs, rescued lost people, gave tours, patrolled on skis and horses, climbed mountains, hiked, and watched sunsets. Those are ranger things.

From 2009 until 2017, John served as the director of the national park service in charge of its 22,000 employees, 84 million acres, and it's $3 billion annual budget.

He is a passionate advocate for our great national park system. And news, it is both a spectacular resource for us to enjoy and savor. And a gift we must preserve for those who come after us.

John Jarvis, welcome to the earth. Thanks Chuck. It's great to be here. Well, it's a real privilege to have you on the show. John Tell us where you grew up. So I grew up in Virginia down in the technically the James River Valley, sort of a southern part of the Shenandoah Valley, ruralie, small town, Glasgow, Virginia.

That we lived out in the country had one brother and we grew very much up in the outdoors older brother, younger brother older brother, six years older than me. And how about your mom and dad? So my dad was a barber. He had a barber shop in Glasgow. He was also let's say politically involved. He was mayor of the town had served in a variety of sort of leadership roles around the town.

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