The New Super

   I had the good fortune to meet Rob Arnberger, the new superintendent, shortly after he arrived at the Canyon. In fact, I got to take him on a fairly juicy ride through Kwagunt in the front of my dory. Great fun.

   He is a gregarious, earnest and unpretentious man who prefers “Rob” to “Mr. Superintendent.” He told me a bit about having come here from Big Bend where he served as superintendent for the last few years, and about having grown up in the NPS—his father finished up his career as superintendent of Yosemite in the ‘70s. He said GCRG’s hue and cry about the need for a long term superintendent here was heard loud and clear and that, yes, the Canyon does deserve continuity and yes, he plans to be here for some time—as long as he can.

   Rob related this tale. He was in Washington for a few days before coming to his new post here, and he ran into and old friend that used to work at Grand Canyon. The friend who, according to Rob, normally doesn’t offer advice, said, ”Arnberger, I’m going to give you two pieces of advice. First,” he said, pointing downward, “the Grand Canyon is down there.”

   “Second,” he said, pointing outward, “there’s a North Rim. It’s over there.”

   A few days after arriving at Canyon, he took the opportunity to join a river trip. When asked on the ramp how he liked his park, he responded that it belonged to the public and his job was to work for them.

   A few days later, while hiking out of the Canyon with Tom Moody, he said, “There’s one very important thing I learned the last few days on the river. This is my park and I’m going to take care of it!”

   It looks like Grand Canyon may get the type of stewardship it deserves. We hope so.

   Welcome aboard, Rob.

Brad Dimock