William (Bill) C. Walters (1942 - )
was
born to humble but hard working parents in Chicago, Illinois, in 1942. His parents instilled in him the values of integrity, honesty,
compassion, fairness and hard work. After
moving to Virginia and Texas as a youth, his family settled in Kankakee,
Illinois, where he graduated from high school and met his wife to be, Ann
Schneider. They graduated from
the University of Illinois in 1964 and married that summer.
He then continued at the
University of Illinois, receiving a Masters in Park Administration in 1967. Ann has been the inspiration, tireless mate and best friend of Walters throughout their married life. Besides handling the fulltime duties of a homemaker, mother of two wonderful children and wife, Ann obtained a Masters in Library Science from Indiana University. As Walters has moved around the country in his career, Ann has served as school librarian in three different school systems.
Walters’s interest in parks was nurtured at an early age while working during high school for the Kankakee Park District. The Recreation Department head, Charles Swikle, encouraged Walters to pursue park work as a career. That early nudge led him to the University of Illinois and the fledgling park administration program being established by Professors Charles Brightbill, Al Sapora, Ada Parker, Ted Storey, Max Garrett and Virginia Frye. All of these leaders in the field had a profound, positive effect on Walters and his career as they shared their knowledge, expertise and values with their students.
During the years he worked on his Masters degree, he worked for the 4000 member First United Methodist Church of Champaign, Illinois, as Director of Youth and Recreation. This experience and the individuals he worked with further solidified his desire to serve others in his career.
Walters’s park career began with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources as a state recreation specialist in the Division of Outdoor Recreation. This new position was established to handle the newly created Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) program on the state level. He set the program up, was the evangelist throughout Indiana meeting with local park and recreation officials to interest them in the program and made sure the applications were sound and the projects worthwhile. It provided him with an opportunity to develop organizational skills in program management that would serve him well throughout his career.
Within two years, Walters’s talents were recognized by Joe Blatt, Director of the Indiana Division of State Parks who asked him to become Assistant Director of State Parks in charge of operations. A year later, the Director of the Division of Outdoor Recreation left and the State was faced with a loss of eligibility in the LWCF program. He was asked to head up the Division and make sure the state did not lose it eligibility. Working with the small four person staff, he was able to write a State Recreation Plan that received almost the maximum approval length of five years.
During his tenure as Director of the Division of Outdoor Recreation, Walters was successful in establishing the State Heritage Program which identifies and protects unique natural resources in the State, crafting the State Natural Streams Program and instituting the State Trails program.
In 1977, Walters was named Director of Indiana State Parks, a position he held for 12 years. During his tenure, he was able to obtain significant additional funds from the Indiana General Assembly for park improvements and added programs and services that the state had not offered before. He expanded the interpretive programs at all state parks, made cross country skiing and ski rental available at northern Indiana facilities and added a wide ranging cultural arts program at all the state parks. A number of new state parks were planned, started or established during his tenure, including the Falls of the Ohio, Prophetstown and Summit Lake State Parks. He was also successful in using bonding authority for the first time in State Parks to significantly improve the lodges and other facilities in a number of state parks.
In 1989, Jim Ridenour was selected as Director of the National Park Service (NPS) and asked Walters to come to Washington DC, to work with him. He made a difficult decision to leave and move on to the second phase of his career. Walters first served as Assistant Director of National Recreation Programs for the Park Service and then moved to Seattle, Washington, as Deputy Director of the Pacific West Region under Regional Director Chuck Odegaard. When Chuck became a Special Assistant to the Director, Walters became acting Regional Director until the NPS reorganized in 1995. At that time, he became the Deputy Regional Director of the expanded Pacific West Region that included all the NPS parks and programs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan and American Samoa. In that position he served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Region with the lead responsibility for resolving many of the most complicated operations issues facing the parks. He was instrumental in finalizing the Cooperative agreement with the State of Idaho for the daily management of the City of Rocks National Reserve, a new approach to management of National park resources. Another example of his ability to effectively deal with unique and difficult issues was his leadership of a negotiating team to convert the Hazlett Warehouse at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park into a $40 million luxury Hotel that will result in a projected revenue of 250 million dollars to protect the ships at the park over the 57 years of the life of the lease.
In August of 2001, Bill and Ann were set to retire after a wonderful career of 37 years, but the NPS Director, Fran Mainella, asked Bill to return to Washington to serve as her Chief of Staff during the beginning of her tenure. Bill and Ann agreed to come back for a year. That year was marked by dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 and anthrax, as well as a variety of significant park issues. During that time Walters was also heavily involved in the reorganization of the Washington Office to insure that the leadership in Washington was organized in a way to insure the relevancy of the NPS in the 21st Century. Bill and Ann retired on November 30, 2002, and now live in Brown County, Indiana in the home they first purchased in 1970.
Throughout his career, Walters has been fortunate to serve two stellar organizations and outstanding superiors including Jack Costello in the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and Deny Galvin, Chuck Odegaard, John Reynolds and Fran Mainella in the National Park Service.
Walters has also served in a variety of volunteer capacities both in and outside the profession. These have included, a variety of leadership positions in his church as well as serving on the Board of the National Association of Park Directors and then for two years as its President. He has been active in both state and the National Recreation and Park Association serving in leadership positions with each. He also served in leadership positions in the Seattle Federal Executive Board, including its chair, and headed up the United Way Combined Federal Champaign for Puget Sound. He is also a member of the President’s Council at his alma mater, the University of Illinois.
Awards have included the Indiana, Park and Recreation Association – Professional of the Year, The Indiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects – Environmental Quality Award, election to membership in the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, selection as the National State Park Director of the Year, the Cornelius Amory Pugsley Award, and the Honor, Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Awards from the Department of Interior. The latter being the highest honor given in the Department.
One of Walters’s goals has always been to encourage young people to serve others. A tribute to his accomplishment of that goal was a statement then Congressman Jim Jontz of Indiana placed in the Congressional Record in recognition of Walters’s moving to the NPS. In talking about his time spend working as a seasonal in Indiana State Parks he stated: “There is no question in my mind that the example Bill set as a capable pubic servant was a positive influence on my eventual decision to enter political life. Bill Walters represented to me then and always has what a professional natural resources manager should be.”