Chas Cartwright, former Glacier Park superintendent, dies at 72
Glacier National Park Superintendent Chas Cartwright hands out coins to Canyon Elementary students in 2011 during a ceremony commemorating the new Glacier National Park quarter.
Former Glacier National Park superintendent Chas Cartwright died Sept. 24 in Cortez, Colo. He was 72.
Cartwright took the helm of Glacier in the spring of 2008 and retired in 2012.
Some of his highlights during his tenure at Glacier included the resolution of a mining ban in the North Fork of the Flathead in Canada and the U.S.; overseeing key aspects of the Going-to-the-Sun Road reconstruction and leadership of the Flathead Basin Commission and the pro-active response to aquatic invasive species.
He also oversaw the merger of the Glacier Park Fund and Glacier Natural History Association into the Glacier National Park Conservancy.
Cartwright championed a formal wilderness designation for most of the park’s 1 million acres, but the effort didn’t gain any traction with the public and conservation groups.
Despite health issues, he was an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast and hiked many of the trails in Glacier.
His career with the National Park Service included superintendent positions at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in North Dakota, and Hovenweep National Monument in Utah and Colorado. He held acting superintendent positions at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico and National Bridges National Monument in Utah. He also served as the Associate to the Deputy Director of the National Park Service in Washington, D.C.
Cartwright began his career with the Park Service in 1987 at Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and Natural Bridges National Monument as their first archeologist. Prior to joining the Park Service, he worked for the Bureau of Land Management as an archeologist, and for the United States Forest Service as a fire lookout, river ranger and firefighter.
Cartwright is survived by his wife, Lynda Stocks; his son John Visser (Sara) and daughter Monique McDermott (Patrick); six grandchildren, Tyson, Jordan (Sydney), Logan (Sierra), Sydney (Ethan), Jackson and London; and by two great-granddaughters, Sloane and Shiloh. He is also survived by his sister, Lynn Cartwright; and his uncle, Bill Cartwright (Sandy).