Jim Haas has been Supervisor of the Resource Protection Branch in the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate of the National Park Service since 2011. He manages the NPS System Unit Resource Protection Act (SURPA) program and other spill response and natural resource damage assessment and restoration (NRDAR) activities affecting park resources, as authorized under Superfund and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Prior to joining NPS, Jim spent 19 years in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Environmental Contaminants Program at the field and regional levels, which included oil spill response and management or coordination of NRDAR cases in California and Nevada. He earlier worked for the Department of the Navy as the Environmental Coordinator at Naval Air Station Moffett Field.

Jim also served as a Navy officer for 11 years before attending graduate school. Continuing in the Naval Reserve, he served, among other assignments, as a Navy Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer in California, helping to plan and coordinate military support to civil authorities in the event of a disaster.

Jim has a B.S. in Wildlife and Fishery Resources from the University of Idaho,  M.A.s in Biology (Ecology and Systematics) from San Francisco State University and  Anthropology (Archaeology) from Colorado State University, and a Ph.D. in Ecology (Ecotoxicology) from the University of California Davis.

Jim and his wife Vicki Ward live in Fort Collins, CO, where they enjoy biking, hiking, camping, and the other great outdoor opportunities that Colorado offers.

David and his wife run a small consulting firm in Central California specializing in ecological restoration. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and has been working as an ecologist on biological assessment, habitat restoration, environmental compliance monitoring, and conservation projects within central and southern California since 1993. His areas of expertise include evaluating impacts to special status species and habitats, developing mitigation and monitoring plans, and acquiring project approvals from state and federal resource agencies. He has over 25 years of experience identifying birds by sight, song, and call. He has worked with numerous listed bird species including least Bell’s vireo, southwestern willow flycatcher, snowy plover, least tern, Belding’s savannah sparrow, Swainson’s hawk, California gnatcatcher, and yellow billed cuckoo.  He has spent untold hours conducting species specific surveys and general nest searches and monitoring. He is a level 2 blunt-nosed leopard lizard surveyor, and experienced desert tortoise and red-legged frog biologist. He is also a well-rounded botanist having conducted surveys for listed and rare plant species, general habitat assessments, and vegetation sampling for habitat restoration projects. David completed his Master’s in Ecology examining the impacts of the non-native Giant Reed (Arundo donax) on the riparian bird community. 

Ivan Parr is the Western Section’s Workshop Coordinator. Ivan loves the idea of promoting education and experience when it comes to understanding wildlife and their habitats. A botanist as well as a wildlife biologist, Ivan spends his (albeit limited) free time searching the Golden state for unique treasures of biodiversity. He is currently trying to compile a photographic index of California’s endemic species.