Meet Don Barger
Senior Director, Southeast Regional Office
As NPCA's senior director of the Southeast regional office, based in east Tennessee, Don Barger has seen his share of squirrels. So when he and a colleague were hiking into the high country of Yosemite National Park a few years ago, he took little note of a squirrel that scurried by. That is, until a pine marten pounced on it.
"Knowing that martens are nocturnal hunters and very shy of humans," Don recalls, "we felt really blessed to have witnessed this natural event."
In his ten years with NPCA, Don has worked diligently to protect southeastern parks from air pollution, sprawl, and other threats to biodiversity and historic resources. Among other achievements, Don received commendation in the Congressional Record in 1999 from Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.) for work to add two-thirds of the remaining private land on the island to Cumberland Island National Seashore. Prior to joining NPCA, Don worked as a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains and directed the Citizens Mining Project for the Environmental Policy Institute/Friends of the Earth.
Don says that the pine marten encounter is a constant reminder to him that national parks need to be protected not just for the experiences we expect from them, but also for those natural wonders still undiscovered.
"If more people said on a survey that they'd like a motorized way to get to the top of a mountain, does that mean we should provide that access?" Don asks. "If our society produces more people who are uncomfortable with silence, should we put less value on quiet and natural sounds? I would maintain the opposite."
