UI Professor To Study Park Service Social Scientist Will Produce Annual Report Card On Agency

If the restrooms are filthy at Glacier National Park, University of Idaho professor Gary Machlis likely will hear about it.

The forest resources and sociology professor has started a two-year appointment as chief social scientist for the National Park Service. He previously worked for the agency Idaho’s Cooperative Park Studies Unit, which does socioeconomic and biological research for the Park Service.

Machlis will run the social science operation from Moscow, and called it a “gesture of great faith” in the university that the Park Service would endorse the arrangement. It makes sense to employ the research structure and graduate students, he said.

Among the projects is an annual report card measuring how well the agency serves park visitors. From 1988 to 1993, scientists gathered responses from more than 18,000 people at 43 parks, monuments, historical sites and other holdings.

They indicate an overall high level of satisfaction with the Park Service. About 84 percent rated employees’ performance as very good or good. Three-quarters rated campgrounds very good or good.

There is room for improvement, though, Machlis said. Thirteen percent, for example, ranked restroom quality poor or very poor.

In a report published last month on the Nez Perce National Historical Park, people were asked what they thought during visits to the Spalding headquarters, White Bird battlefield, Chief Joseph’s grave and other sites.

While the park earned overall high marks, 22 people complained about lack of information and 12 said staff should include more Nez Perce Indians.

Machlis said he is convinced good science can help the Park Service do such things as protect natural resources. Mount Rainier has been studied to determine why the park has problems with poaching and vandalism.