Kevin Lilly, acting assistant secretary for the Department of Interior Fish, Wildlife and National Parks, visited Moab and the surrounding national parks for the first time on Jan. 14-15.
Lilly, who was a former Texas-based wealth manager, began his position last June. While Lilly currently has oversight of the National Park Service, he has little experience in conservation and land management. President Donald Trump did not nominate Lilly for Senate confirmation, and he is serving in an acting capacity. The position provides oversight of federal agencies responsible for managing and conserving public lands and natural resources. Lilly’s duties include identifying policy needs and overseeing departmental programs.
There was a private reception held for Lilly to speak with local government officials on Jan. 15, where protesters attempted to meet Lilly at Hoodoo Moab. Protesters gathered outside of the hotel, and one attempted to enter the reception, but was escorted out.
There were about 30 people who held signs that read “Keep public lands in public hands,” “Timed entry works!” and “Our national parks Not Utah’s national parks.” The reception started at 5:30 p.m. but Lilly did not arrive until roughly 6:50 p.m. — 10 minutes before the reception ended — missing the handful of protesters.
Lilly was invited to speak at the Moab Chamber of Commerce’s Business Summit to provide the Department of Interior’s perspective on national parks, which was intended to be Lilly’s “biggest discussion,” according to the reception invite.
The invitation cited “not all government leaders will be able to attend the business summit as to avoid making a quorum … Arches National Park is such an asset for our community and a big reason why people visit Moab. We want to support all our government leaders in their efforts to strengthen local government relationships with the DOI leaders.”
Organizers later told The Times-Independent that Lilly asked for county commissioners, city councilors, and representatives from Friends of Arches and Canyonlands, and Canyonlands Natural History Association to be invited to the reception for Lilly to learn more about the parks.
Because Lilly was late to the reception, however, the only city representative present was Councilor Jason Taylor. For the county, commissioners Bill Winfield, Brian Martinez, Melodie McCandless — who were also at the business summit — were present, along with Trish Hedin, and Mary McGann.
The Times-Independent was invited to the reception, but was asked to leave once Lilly arrived. Ashley Korenblat, chamber president, said The T-I was not allowed to report on any of the remarks Lilly would share at the reception.
At the business summit, Lilly offered very little perspective about what gateway communities can expect from the federal level. Instead, he said he’s “never been through the parks here.”
“I want to understand from all perspectives of what we are, what we’re dealing with, how we can make our parks more accessible, how we can conserve our parks, how we can protect our parks, but also continue to make them a gift to the American people that they were originally intended to be,” Lilly said.
Lilly shared his experiences, perceptions and previous work that purportedly applies to serving the National Park Service.
(Lizzie Ramirez | The Times-Independent) Kevin Lilly speaks with local government officials upon his arrival at Hoodoo Moab.
Lilly’s discussion at the summit
Along with working in wealth management, Lilly also worked in law enforcement. During his time in Texas, Lilly said he busted a cartel from using businesses and storefronts for sex slavery, human trafficking and money laundering.
“Why did I do that? I did that to protect the businesses,” Lilly said. “… That may not apply exactly in my job now, but part of my job is to protect the federal lands, to use our enforcement personnel to protect those that come on, who are also your customers, right?”
Lilly pointed out that the Department of Interior is the third largest federal police force after the Department of Justice and Homeland Security. According to Congress, however, the Department of Interior is the fourth largest federal law enforcement.
He added businesses, safety and national parks are an “ecosystem.”
“If they don’t feel safe, they won’t come here, and they won’t buy your product, and they won’t pump gas, and they won’t stay in the hotel,” Lilly said.
Along with referencing his past law enforcement work involving an unnamed cartel while discussing national parks, Lilly called public land “the creator gene,” something that “we as a species possess, that no one else possesses.”
“While the Europeans bragged about things that were man made, we used things that were God made,” Lilly said.
Lilly added there was “a lot of criticism” and “kind of a snotty attitude” towards Americans.
“According to the Europeans, we didn’t really have anything culturally … But what we had was the American West,” Lilly said.
Lilly alleged Europeans didn’t believe America had “the most beautiful lands in the world” and they “thought it was fake. They thought it was CGI. They thought it was AI.”
Another theme was the topic of children. Lilly said he wants families like his to have access to the “natural beauty” of national parks and that kids need to get off computers and go into the park.
“I think that is the salvation of the American soul,” Lilly said.
Getting foster children to national parks is another goal of Lilly’s. Lilly emphasized that if foster kids go into national parks, it will give them self-esteem and a sense that “there is something greater than themselves and there’s something that can provide them hope and grace.”
After 20 minutes of connecting national parks with God, children, safety, businesses, and cartels, Lilly ended the discussion by saying, “Politicians sometimes tell you what you want to hear, and I may make decisions that sometimes not everybody is going to like. You try to compromise, you try to please everybody. You end up pissing off everybody. I want you to understand I’m here to listen.”
Note to readers • Lizzie Ramirez is a Report for America corps member covering local government and tourism in Grand County for The Times-Independent. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories. Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by clicking here.
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