John F. Turner

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John F. Turner (born March 3, 1942) was Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service from 1989 to 1993 and United States Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs from 2001 to 2005. A lifelong river guide, dude rancher, wildlife biologist and conservative conservationist, Turner served as a Teton County Republican in the Wyoming Legislature for 20 years before being appointed to the George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations.

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Early life

John F. Turner was born in Moose, Wyoming. [1] He was raised in Jackson Hole, where his father owned Triangle X Ranch. [1] He is the third generation of Turners to operate a concession the Triangle X Dude Ranch under a contract with Grand Teton National Park. The concession lies within Grand Teton National Park. The Turner's bought the land in the 1920's and then sold to the Snake River Land Company, an agent working for the Rockefeller's. The land was later donated to the federal government for the formation of Grand Teton National Park (Grand Teton National Park Service records). He was educated at the University of Notre Dame, receiving a B.A. in biology in 1964. [2] He was assistant director for the University of Notre Dame foreign studies program in Innsbruck for 1964-65. [1] He then attended the University of Michigan and received an M.S. in wildlife ecology in 1970. [2]

Career

Turner then returned to Jackson Hole as a partner with Triangle X Ranch. In 1970 at the age of 28, he was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives. In 1974, he was elected to the Wyoming Senate. [1] He served as the Wyoming Senate's vice president from 1983 to 1985; senate majority floor leader from 1985 to 1987; and president of the Wyoming Senate from 1987 to 1989. [1] He was also vice chairman of the board for the National Wetlands System Advisory Board from 1983 to 1987 and was a member of the National Wetlands Policy Forum 1987-88. [1]

A widely respected expert on the bald eagle, Turner published a children’s book, “The Magnificent Bald Eagle: Our National Bird,” in 1971.

In 1989, President of the United States George H. W. Bush named Turner Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. [1] He served there until 1993, when he became president and chief executive officer of The Conservation Fund. [3] He worked there until 2001, when President George W. Bush nominated Turner to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs; he subsequently held office until July 2005. [3]

Turner became the first ever Beverly and Eldon Spicer Visiting Professor in Environmental and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming in 2006. [3] Since leaving public service, Turner has served on the Board of Directors of International Paper, Northeast Utilities, Peabody Energy, and Ashland Inc. [3] He has been the recipient of environment leadership awards from the National Audubon Society, The Nature Conservancy and the National Wildlife Federation, along with numerous public service awards from within his home state of Wyoming. In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of law from the University of Wyoming.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Teton National Park</span> United States National Park in northwestern Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately 310,000 acres (1,300 km2), the park includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton National Park is only 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone National Park, to which it is connected by the National Park Service–managed John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway. Along with surrounding national forests, these three protected areas constitute the almost 18-million-acre (73,000-square-kilometer) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the world's largest intact mid-latitude temperate ecosystems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National monument (United States)</span> Monuments assigned protected status by presidents of the US

In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the president of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments protect a wide variety of natural and historic resources, including sites of geologic, marine, archaeological, and cultural importance. In contrast, national parks in the U.S. must be created by Congressional legislation. Some national monuments were first created by presidential action and later designated as national parks by congressional approval.

The Snake River Ranch, near Wilson, Wyoming, is the largest deeded ranch in the Jackson Hole area. The ranch buildings are grouped into three complexes comprising headquarters, residential and shop complexes. The ranch combined two neighboring homesteads and was first owned by advertising executive Stanley B. Resor and his wife, Helen Lansdowne Resor. The Resors used the property as a vacation home, but the ranch was also a full-time, self-sustaining operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moose, Wyoming</span> Unincorporated community in Wyoming, United States

Moose is an unincorporated community in Teton County, Wyoming, in the Jackson Hole valley. It has a US Post Office, with the zip code of 83012. The town is located within Grand Teton National Park along the banks of the Snake River. It is populated mostly by families with inholdings within the borders of the park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murie Ranch Historic District</span> Historic district in Wyoming, United States

The Murie Ranch Historic District, also known as the STS Dude Ranch and Stella Woodbury Summer Home is an inholding in Grand Teton National Park near Moose, Wyoming. The district is chiefly significant for its association with the conservationists Olaus Murie, his wife Margaret (Mardy) Murie and scientist Adolph Murie and his wife Louise. Olaus and Adolph Murie were influential in the establishment of an ecological approach to wildlife management, while Mardy Murie was influential because of her huge conservation victories such as passing the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 and being awarded with the highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her lifetime works in conservation. Olaus Murie was a prominent early field biologist in the U.S. Biological Survey and subsequent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before retiring and becoming the president of the Wilderness Society, He was a prominent advocate for the preservation of wild lands in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve</span> Ranch with Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA

The Laurance S. Rockefeller (LSR) Preserve is a 1,106 acres (448 ha) refuge within Grand Teton National Park on the southern end of Phelps Lake, Wyoming. The site was originally known as the JY Ranch, a dude ranch. Starting in 1927, John D. Rockefeller Jr. purchased much of the land in Jackson Hole for the creation of Jackson Hole National Monument and the expansion of Grand Teton National Park. But he retained the 3,100-acre (1,300 ha) JY Ranch as a family retreat. Over the years the family gave most of the ranch to the national park. Laurance S. Rockefeller donated the final parcel in 2001. The donation came with special preservation and maintenance restrictions, with the vision that the preserve remain a place where visitors can experience a spiritual and emotional connection to the beauty of the lake and the Teton Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 Lazy F Dude Ranch</span> United States historic place

The 4 Lazy F Ranch, also known as the Sun Star Ranch, is a dude ranch and summer residence in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, built by the William Frew family of Pittsburgh in 1927. The existing property was built as a family retreat, not as a cattle ranch, in a rustic style of construction using logs and board-and-batten techniques. The historic district includes seven cabins, a lodge, barn corral and smaller buildings on the west bank of the Snake River north of Moose, Wyoming. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar B C Dude Ranch</span> United States historic place

The Bar B C Dude Ranch was established near Moose, Wyoming in 1912 as a dude ranch by Struthers Burt and Dr. Horace Carncross, using their initials as the brand. Rather than converting a working ranch, Burt and Carncross built a tourist-oriented dude ranch from the ground up, using a style called "Dude Ranch Vernacular", which featured log construction and rustic detailing. As one of the first dude ranches in Jackson Hole, the Bar B C was a strong influence on other dude ranches in the area, and employed a number of people who went on to establish their own operations. It was acquired by the National Park Service and incorporated into Grand Teton National Park upon the expiration of a life estate. The ranch was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMK Ranch</span> United States historic place

The AMK Ranch is a former personal retreat on the eastern shore of Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Also known as the Merymare, Lonetree and Mae-Lou Ranch, it was a former homestead, expanded beginning in the 1920s by William Louis Johnson, then further developed in the 1930s by Alfred Berol (Berolzheimer). Johnson built a lodge, barn and boathouse in 1927, while Berol added a larger lodge, new boathouse, and cabins, all in the rustic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Diamond Dude Ranch Dining Hall</span> United States historic place

The Double Diamond Dude Ranch Dining Hall was built in 1945 as the centerpiece of a dude ranch operated by Frank Williams and Joseph S. Clark, Jr. in Grand Teton National Park. The ranch was opened in 1924 with a dozen tent cabins and log buildings for a kitchen and dining hall, lounge and commissary. In 1943 Williams built log tourist cabins, followed by the larger dining hall in 1945. The 1985 Taggart Lake Fire destroyed much of the ranch, sparing only the dining hall and five cabins. The dining hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an example of rustic architecture. Since 1970 the Double Diamond property has been a hostel for mountain climbers in the Teton Range, and is known as the Climbers' Ranch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triangle X Barn</span> United States historic place

The Triangle X Barn is a log barn at the Triangle X dude ranch in Grand Teton National Park. The barn was built by J.C. Turner, who used logs from neighbor John Fee's partly completed log cabin to begin construction of his barn in 1928. The barn, which is still in use, displays several methods of notching logs. It is notable as an illustration of the extent of the re-use of building materials that was common practice on what was in the early 20th century still almost a frontier settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramshorn Dude Ranch Lodge</span> United States historic place

The Ramshorn Dude Ranch Lodge in Grand Teton National Park was built after 1935 by mountaineers Paul Petzoldt, founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School, and Gustav Koven. The property that became the Ramshorn Ranch was originally established by Ransom Adams at the mouth of Gros Ventre Canyon near Ditch Creek. By 1921 the property was acquired by Jack and Dollye Woodsman, who established the Flying V dude ranch, featuring a large central lodge. In 1932 the lodge burned, prompting the Woodsmans to sell the ranch to Koven and Petzoldt in 1935, who planned to expand the dude ranch as a climbing school and hunting camp. Petzoldt withdrew from the partnership in 1937 after suggesting the name be changed to the Ramshorn Ranch. The present lodge was completed in 1937 by the Woodward brothers, who took over operation. A variety of owners and partners ensued until 1956, when the ranch was sold to the National Park Service. The Park Service then leased the ranch back to concessioners who operated it as the Elbo Ranch until 1973, replacing the former Elbo Ranch purchased by the Park Service. The Teton Science School was established on the property in 1974 under a special use permit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manges Cabin</span> Historic house in Wyoming, United States

The Manges Cabin in Grand Teton National Park, also known as the Old Elbo Ranch Homestead Cabin, Mangus Cabin and the Taggart Creek Barn, was built in 1911 by James Manges. Manges was the second settler on the west side of the Snake River after Bill Menor, setting up a homestead near Taggart Creek. James Manges arrived in Jackson Hole in 1910, where he cut wood for Charles or William Wort. Manges' cabin is stated to have been the first two-story structure in the northern part of the valley. A root cellar was excavated beneath. The log and frame structure features wide eaves to keep the winter snow away from the walls. It was heated in winter by a single stove, with one room on each level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leek's Lodge</span> Historic house in Wyoming, United States

Leek's Lodge is part of a former resort and dude ranch in Grand Teton National Park, near Jackson Lake. The ranch was established to offer activities to boys in a frontier setting. Its founder, Steven N. Leek, was instrumental in the establishment of the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole. The rustic lodge was built in 1927.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Grass Dude Ranch</span> United States historic place

The White Grass Dude Ranch is located in the White Grass Valley of Grand Teton National Park. The rustic log lodge, dining hall service building and ten cabins were built when a working ranch was converted to a dude ranch, and represented one of the first dude ranch operations in Jackson Hole. The White Grass was established in 1913 by Harold Hammond and George Tucker Bispham, who combined two adjacent ranches or 160 acres (65 ha) each, and was converted to a dude ranch in 1919. Bispham had worked at the Bar B C before moving out on his own. The dude ranch operation continued to 1985, when the ranch was acquired by the National Park Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Hereford Ranch Historic District</span> Historic district in Wyoming, United States

The Hunter Hereford Ranch was first homesteaded in 1909 by James Williams in the eastern portion of Jackson Hole, in what would become Grand Teton National Park. By the 1940s it was developed as a hobby ranch by William and Eileen Hunter and their foreman John Anderson. With its rustic log buildings it was used as the shooting location for the movie The Wild Country, while one structure with a stone fireplace was used in the 1963 movie Spencer's Mountain. The ranch is located on the extreme eastern edge of Jackson Hole under Shadow Mountain. It is unusual in having some areas of sagebrush-free pasture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park</span> United States historic place

The historical buildings and structures of Grand Teton National Park include a variety of buildings and built remains that pre-date the establishment of Grand Teton National Park, together with facilities built by the National Park Service to serve park visitors. Many of these places and structures have been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The pre-Park Service structures include homestead cabins from the earliest settlement of Jackson Hole, working ranches that once covered the valley floor, and dude ranches or guest ranches that catered to the tourist trade that grew up in the 1920s and 1930s, before the park was expanded to encompass nearly all of Jackson Hole. Many of these were incorporated into the park to serve as Park Service personnel housing, or were razed to restore the landscape to a natural appearance. Others continued to function as inholdings under a life estate in which their former owners could continue to use and occupy the property until their death. Other buildings, built in the mountains after the initial establishment of the park in 1929, or in the valley after the park was expanded in 1950, were built by the Park Service to serve park visitors, frequently employing the National Park Service Rustic style of design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flagg Ranch</span>

Flagg Ranch is a privately operated resort located in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway corridor between Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming. The location was initially occupied in the 1890s by the Snake River Military Station, part of a network of U.S. Army outposts for patrol and management of Yellowstone National Park in its early years under military administration. The outpost operated under Army control until 1906, when the land to the south of the Yellowstone boundary were turned over to the U.S. Forest Service, becoming Teton National Forest in 1908. The station became a stopping point for travelers between Jackson, Wyoming and Yellowstone, easily identifiable by the flags that flew over it.

The following articles relate to the history, geography, geology, flora, fauna, structures and recreation in Grand Teton National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Hole National Monument</span>

On March 15, 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Presidential Proclamation 2578 establishing a large swath of land east of the Teton National Park as a national monument. The area of land covered 221,610 acres (89,680 ha). The majority of the land was National Forest, but 32,117 acres (12,997 ha) of the monument were donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) were privately owned ranches. This proclamation incited a controversy in Teton County that caused immediate pushback from western congressmen who saw the act as a violation of state sovereignty.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Nomination of John F. Turner To Be Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, June 13, 1989
  2. 1 2 NNDB Profile
  3. 1 2 3 4 Faculty Profile at University of Wyoming Archived 2010-05-30 at the Wayback Machine
Government offices
Preceded by Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
November 13, 2001 July 11, 2005
Succeeded by