JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK NAMES INTERIM SUPERINTENDANT, GENERATING $62 MILION ANNUALLY

Without fanfare, the National Park Service has moved a Joshua Tree National Park official into the position of acting superintendent. Reporter Dan Stork tells about the appointment of Andrea Compton…
With the retirement of Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Mark Butler, the National Park Service has started the recruitment process for a permanent successor. That’s what Andrea Compton told us, in discussing her appointment as the acting superintendent. Compton, who has been the Chief Resource Officer for the Park, added that the term of her appointment of acting superintendent is until June.
According to a press release issued on Monday, the Park is a sizeable economic force in the Morongo Basin. The press release said that A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that nearly 1.4 million visitors to Joshua Tree National Park in 2012 spent $62 million locally, and supported 770 jobs in the area. According to the report, 39 percent of visitor dollars support jobs in restaurants, grocery and convenience stores; 27 percent supports jobs in lodging; and 20 percent goes toward other amusement and recreation. A copy of the report can be found at a link in this story at Z1077fm.com.
http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/economics.cfm
Andrea Compton and her husband Robert, a mathematics professor at Copper Mountain College, live in Joshua Tree.