William Whalen III, a former director of the National Park Service who oversaw the doubling in size of the national park system, has died. He was 66.
Mr. Whalen, who led the agency from 1977 to 1980, died of a heart attack Sept. 28 in Ross, Calif., said friend Ruth Kilday.
He was best-known for implementing the Alaska Native Lands Claims Settlement Act, which led to the establishment of 10 national parks and expansion of several others in 1980. The 44 million acres doubled the size of the national park system.
Mr. Whalen, then 36, was the agency’s youngest director when President Jimmy Carter appointed him in 1977.
Colleagues considered Mr. Whalen a visionary who brought an emphasis on urban parks to an agency that had been focused on such icons as Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Parks.
He also oversaw the creation of more than 30 parks, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.
“Meeting Coretta Scott King was one of the high points of his life,” said Kilday, who worked for Mr. Whalen when he was the first superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the early 1970s.
In 1980 Mr. Whalen was fired, partly because of friction with private concessionaires unhappy with his attempts to upgrade food and lodging to cope with a growing tide of visitors.
“My firing is a clear signal that you don’t mess around with those powerful concessionaires,” Mr. Whalen said. “Park directors that stand up and do the job won’t last too long.”
He returned to Golden Gate to oversee the recreation area for two years and launched the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, which has raised more than $100 million.
