THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110296
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
He closed the candy-striped Cape Hatteras Lighthouse - then restored and reopened the black-and-white beacon.
He refereed heated disputes between commercial fishermen and sports anglers. He helped organize an archaeological dig around the 400-year-old Fort Raleigh. He oversaw reconstruction of the Wright brothers' shack and hangar, Little Kinnakeet lifesaving station, the Bodie Island Lighthouse keeper's quarters and other Outer Banks historic structures.
He spent the past 13 years managing 70 miles of sand, sound and sea.
But now, Tom Hartman is ready to retire.
After serving 37 years with the National Park Service, Hartman plans to step down Dec. 2.
The 58-year-old superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore said Monday that it's time to hang up the gray and green uniform.
``I want to enjoy this place,'' Hartman said from the Southern Shores home he shares with his wife, Margaret. ``I'm still a young man. But I've been at the grindstone a long, long time. I've lived in vacation land all my adult life. But I haven't taken a vacation in 15 years.
``Now, I want to enjoy this country's national parks, as I've seen others doing for so long.''
A Kentucky native, Thomas L. Hartman graduated from Austin Peay University in 1958 and went to work for the National Park Service. He was a seasonal ranger at Shenandoah and Everglades National Parks before enlisting in the U.S.Army in 1960.
When he got out of the military, Hartman returned to the National Parks. In 1972, he was selected for a Department of Interior manager development program. He transferred to Washington, D.C., and also attended the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va.
In 1973, Hartman became assistant superintendent of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Three years later, he was named Superintendent of Cumberland Gap National Historic Park in Kentucky. Hartman remained in Kentucky until moving to North Carolina's Outer Banks.
With about $5.5 million in annual federal funding, Hartman manages 30,318 acres of federal land. He supervises 125 employees - plus seasonal workers and dozens of volunteers. Each year, more than 3 million people visit the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Attractions Hartman oversees range from endangered plants and animals to historic shipwrecks to the site of the world's first powered flight and America's first English settlement. As superintendent, he has had to negotiate conflicts between dozens of groups while preserving the park's historic structures. He said helping resolve such disputes are the accomplishments he values most.
``I've always been able to get along with people,'' said Hartman, an avid outdoorsman. ``I've always been able to listen and be fair. And I've been fortunate in that I've been able to gain support from those I work with. I spend a lot of time in the field listening to a lot of people.''
With additional federal funding cuts pending, Hartman said the fight to keep visitor centers, ranger stations and guided tours operating probably will get even harder.
``Maybe I can do better for the people from the outside,'' Hartman said. ``Maybe I'll be able to speak freer. We're a federal conservation organization. But we're a user organization, too.
``The people have a place in the National Park Service.'' by CNB