I'm not sure of the poetic imagery of standing in the shade to get inspiration, but the article does bring up several points:
1. There has been political manipulation of the Park Service (snowmobiles and pseudoscience creationism) but does not mention the issue of guns in the national parks as another act of leverage by the NRA. It does suggest that there is growing recognition that the factors of impact and importance to many Parks do not start the borders (global warming, need for "buffer" between developed areas and wilderness).
2. What would YOU do if you had this position?
Sometimes these positions in the government are imbued with more virtual than real power (like the Queen of England). Should the goal be to initiate significant programs that would require long term implimentation ( "plant some acorns"
, focus on cosmetic changes ("lipstick on a pig"
, increase or reduce infrastructure, improve or reduce overall access to the parks (insulate or popularize), become the lapdog of a special interest groups ( similar to a recent 4 letter adminstration), etc. etc?
The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan