George Benjamin Hartzog Jr. (March 17, 1920 – June 27, 2008) was an American attorney and Director of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

. Admitted to the bar in South Carolina in 1942, he became an attorney for the General Land Office (now the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

) in the Department of the Interior in 1945, and six months later transferred to the National Park Service. He moved to field assignments at Great Smoky Mountains and

Rocky Mountain National Park Rocky Mountain National Park is an American national park located approximately northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado, within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The park is situated between the towns of Estes Park to the east and ...

s, and then made his name advancing the Gateway Arch project as superintendent of Gateway Arch National Park (then known as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial) from 1959 to 1962. After briefly leaving the service Hartzog returned as associate director in 1963 with the promise of succeeding

Conrad Wirth Conrad Louis Wirth (December 1, 1899 – July 25, 1993) was an American landscape architect, conservationist, and park service administrator. He served as the director of the National Park Service (NPS) between 1951 and 1964. Wirth was born in ...

in January 1964. As Director, he served as

Stewart Udall Stewart Lee Udall (January 31, 1920 – March 20, 2010) was an American politician and later, a federal government official. After serving three terms as a congressman from Arizona, he served as Secretary of the Interior from 1961 to 1969, unde ...

’s right arm in achieving a remarkably productive legislative program that included 62 new parks, the

National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 The National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA; Public Law 89-665; 54 U.S.C. 300101 ''et seq.'') is legislation intended to preserve historic and archaeological sites in the United States of America. The act created the National Register of Historic ...

, and the Bible amendment to the

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 18, 1971, constituting at the time the largest land claims settlement in United States history. ANCSA was intended to resolve long-standing i ...

that led to establishment of the Alaska parks. He ordered the Yosemite Firefall tradition discontinued in 1968. During his nine-year tenure, he enlarged the service's role in urban recreation, historic preservation, interpretation, and environmental education. In 1969 NPS faced budget cuts. Harzog pioneered what became known as the Washington Monument Syndrome political tactic and closed all national parks two days a week. As public outcry grew, Congress restored the funding. Hartzog was dismissed by President Nixon in December 1972. Afterwards, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. George B. Hartzog died on June 27, 2008.Schudel, Matt. (July 6, 2008.)
Obituaries: George B. Hartzog Jr., 88; Expanded Nation's Park System
''The Washington Post''. Retrieved on June 14, 2010.

References

External links

George B. Hartzog Jr. Papers
at Clemson University Special Collections Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartzog, George B. Jr. Directors of the National Park Service 1920 births 2008 deaths People from Colleton County, South Carolina South Carolina lawyers 20th-century American lawyers

References

Further reading

External links