Drew Parkin

I first met Drew Parkin, then of Watertown, MA, when he was completing his Master’s degree at MIT. We talked by telephone sometime between June 22 and July 20, 1981. Drew and I discussed his involvement in a NPS-State of Maine partnership project called the Maine Rivers Study. In response to the hydropower boom of the early 1980’s Governor Joe Brennan was interested in looking at meeting Maine’s energy needs at the same time he assessed the state’s river conservation needs.

As the project unfolded in Augusta, the State Capitol, we continued talking and eventually met in Boston with a fellow named Dave Lange from Philadelphia, PA on September 23, 1981. Drew and Dave, from a distance with a very modest budget and no other staff support, served as the National Park Service project leaders of the Maine Rivers Study. The statewide rivers effort led to the protection of XX miles of Maine’s rivers from new hydro-power projects and established a river conservation policy that continues to be a model for other efforts across America.

Drew Parkin’s work for NPS, first as a graduate student, then as a temporary employee, and finally as a permanent employee, revolutionized river conservation work in the U.S. He helped to design a statewide methodology that melded good science with good civics as a way to decide what rivers, and their intangible and tangible values and functions should be protected, why and how. His work in Maine led to changes in river laws, regulations, policies and approaches that continue to be used 25 years later.

The methodology he helped to design relied on objective, quantitative and qualitative river information based on research studies and expert opinion. It enabled public and private leaders to identify different levels of river resource significance, identify the suitability of areas for different uses, and do comparative analysis. The Maine Rivers Study methodology was modified by Mr. Parkin and others to assess the state’s lakes and most recently was used in Maine’s assessment of areas suitable for wind-power.

The methodology that Drew helped to design in Maine was sought out by many government and private sector leaders in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It was subsequently used to identify important river values and functions in Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Montana, North Dakota, New York, Maryland, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Utah, and Texas.

Drew Parkin’s has demonstrated significant leadership in protecting rivers. He is confident, goal and task oriented, professional, and possesses a unique ability to work with competing interests. Although he worked for NPS for a portion of the last 25 years he never postured himself as a government employee but always was someone able to work with all levels of government and the private sector to make good decisions about America’s rivers.

J. Glenn Eugster 2-11-2008