How
does a person go from a job assisting the custodian in a public school
to being one of the most respected Superintendents in the Midwest
Region? Through 29 years
of perseverance and willingness to take opportunities whenever they
occur, according to Dusty Shultz.
Shultz,
Superintendent of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, was born in
Pennsylvania and grew up as a coal miner’s daughter, the fourth girl
in a family of ten children. Her
first work experience was assisting the custodian at a school in her
hometown and was obtained through the Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC),
a program for disadvantaged families.
Shultz realized early that she wanted more in life and enrolled
in business courses in high school.
Soon after, the NYC helped her obtain a job after school and
during the summer with the National Park Service at nearby Allegheny
Portage Railroad National Historic Site and Johnstown Flood National
Memorial in Cresson, Pennsylvania.
Shortly after graduation, she was hired by the National Park
Service (July 1973).
Shultz
and her husband of 27 years married shortly after high school
graduation and settled into jobs and family life—she worked as the
Superintendent’s secretary and Ken was a seasonal employee.
But as Shultz gained more skills and expanded her knowledge of
the park system, she found that she needed greater challenges.
“My
husband and I discussed the issues and he said, ‘Let’s go with
your career. I’ll get a
job wherever we go.’” So
began the second phase of Shultz’s career. She applied for and was selected as the Administrative
Assistant at Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (April 1979) and
later as Chief of Contracting (February 1981) in the Southeast
Regional Office in Atlanta. It
was there that Shultz began to truly realize her potential, when the
Assistant Regional Director said to her, “Dusty, I believe you could
do any job in this region, even the Director’s!”
“I
had someone who believed in me and encouraged me before mentors were
identified as mentors,” Shultz said.
“I’m fortunate that I’ve had several mentor figures
throughout my career with the National Park Service.
They have made a difference for me.”
While
Shultz enjoyed her work in contracting, she found she missed working
in the park and the quiet of small towns.
She and her family were tired of the hustle and bustle of city
life. So, she took to
heart the words of the Assistant Regional Director and began applying
for Superintendent positions. Finally,
exactly nine years to the day that she arrived in Atlanta she was
selected as the first female Superintendent of Moores Creek National
Battlefield in Currie, North Carolina.
Shultz says she was able to accomplish many things as
Superintendent of Moores Creek NB, but the one she takes most pride in
was the reconstruction of the historic Moores Creek Bridge through
donated funding and volunteer labor.
From
the picturesque swamps at Moores Creek NB, full of cypress trees with
Spanish moss and hanging vines, Venus flytraps, black water, and
snakes, the Superintendent moved to Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial,
the home of President Abraham Lincoln from the age of seven through
twenty-one. Moores Creek
NB and Lincoln Boyhood NM are predominantly cultural resource parks,
but the inter-relationship with the natural environment was critical
to the successful management of both parks’ resources.
Never
one to fail to take up a new challenge, Shultz readily accepted her
assignment as the first female Superintendent of Lincoln Boyhood NM
and later as the supervisor of the Superintendent at George Rogers
Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes, Indiana.
During her eight years of leadership at these parks, she
created a strong partnership team between the parks and the local
constituencies of Lincoln City, Indiana and the National Memorial.
With
her next career move, Shultz was the first female Superintendent in a
given park for the third time in a row.
When she accepted the position at Sleeping Bear Dunes NL, she
became its first female Superintendent and inherited an all-male
Division staff. When
asked if this presented a problem for the petite Superintendent,
Shultz said, “None at all. There
is always a nice way to handle things. . . . Good management is simply
good management. . . . It does not have a gender.”
She
firmly believes that leaders must lead by example, with open
communication that flows in all directions.
She openly practices that on a daily basis.
In fact, her ability to listen, quickly grasp issues, and then
help others understand issues is why she was named by Midwest Regional
Director William Schenk to help establish the Conflict Resolution
Program (CORE) for the region. The CORE program is a relatively new program that seeks to
help resolve issues between employees prior to escalating to the
grievance level. Shultz
was the first CORE Specialist in the Midwest Region.
The program has been well received in the region and lends
itself well to solving problems.
Shultz’s
first two parks were historical parks, but her current assignment is
much more diverse. Management
issues involve the preservation and protection of the natural and
cultural resources while providing recreational opportunities and an
educational and memorable experience—all while leaving the lands
unimpaired for future generations. “It is a challenge I enjoy and look forward to,” she
explained. “I moved
from a park with 12-16 full-time employees and 200 acres to a park
with about 125 employees and 71,000 acres of land area.”
She credits her ability to work well with people for her latest
opportunity and says that is one of the most critical parts of her
job.
Sleeping
Bear Dunes NL has 64 miles of shoreline and a diverse landscape filled
with massive sand dunes, rivers, beaches, forests, lakes, and rugged
bluffs that tower up to 460 feet above Lake Michigan.
In addition, two offshore islands and portions of the mainland
are managed as wilderness areas.
The park offers ferry service, private boat travel, water
recreation, snowshoeing, camping, cross-country skiing, birding, and a
varied trail system throughout the mainland and the offshore islands.
“We
have a very active natural resources program that works closely with
the local communities and the state to preserve endangered species and
to identify other ecosystems,” Shultz said.
“We are predominantly a natural resources park.
The mainland is largely glacier formation residuals.
We also have numerous historic structures and landscapes that
are in various states of preservation.
Some are completely restored, others are stabilized or
rehabilitated, and still others are yet to be architecturally
identified.” Because
the park is a fee park, it receives 80 percent of its fee assessment
back for special projects and interpretive programs to enhance the
visitor experience.
According
to Shultz, the major problems currently encountered in the natural
resources area of managing Sleeping Bear Dunes NL are those relating
to invasive non-native plant and animal species, habitat
fragmentation, watershed and water quality protection, wildlife
corridors, and ecosystem integrity and diversity. “Zebra muscles in particular are a threat to endangered
water species and are threatening our inland lakes,” the
superintendent explained. “As
in most other parks, the invasive plants create a major threat to the
natural beauty of the park, and we have instituted a vigorous program,
working with local and state agencies, to help eradicate them.”
Unlike most parks, Sleeping Bear Dunes NL also has active
year-round hunting that includes bow and arrow as well as guns.
When Congress established the park in 1970, hunting and fishing
were authorized by the enabling legislation.
The park must allow hunting and fishing in accordance with the
applicable laws of the state of Michigan and the United States.
The park may designate zones where hunting is not allowed for
reasons of public safety, administration, or public use and enjoyment,
but hunting and fishing cannot be curtailed for long periods of time.
Dusty
and Ken Shultz have two children, Kenneth Jr. and April Dawn.
“I have been doubly blessed,” she said.
“First, with opportunities for interesting and challenging
assignments and second, the support of my family who is willing to
move to different locations.”
During
Shultz’s career with the National Park Service, she has been the
first female Superintendent of three parks; served on and chaired a
variety of committees, panels and boards; taught numerous classes for
the Service, at community colleges, and managed special programs; and
worked with and has been part of community and civic organizations and
associations.
Shultz,
like many women working in natural resource management in the past 25
years, counts herself fortunate to have been able to make a
difference, however big or small, in the care and protection of our
natural resources. Shultz
said she frequently reminds herself of the mission and purpose of the
National Park Service, because it helps reiterates her feelings of
being truly blessed as she serves the public while preserving and
protecting very special places.
When
asked if she had any advice for women aspiring to expand their
careers, Shultz said, “Success can be anything that you really want
it to be. Some of the
qualities that insure success are dedication, a good attitude, ability
to work on a team, and most of all, caring.
You have to care about everyone and everything as you go
through your day. It
makes all the difference.”
A
former journalist, Floy Westermeier served as a family editor of a
newspaper, a public affairs specialist, a newscaster, and a magazine
editor at two Air Force bases.
She has long been an advocate of natural resources protection
and has edited numerous articles and pamphlets on environmental issues
in Rolla, Missouri before joining the National Park Service as a Human
Resources Specialist.