THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502190044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Long : 136 lines
Russell Berry had been on the job at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore for only a few weeks when he made one of his first visits to Hatteras Island. A man approached the new superintendent.
``I hear you're from Portsmouth,'' the man said, sizing up the National Park Service's new chief at Cape Hatteras. Berry responded in the affirmative, and said yes again when asked if he had gone to school there.
The man's next words spoke volumes.
``If you grew up in Portsmouth,'' he said, ``I guess you'll do.''
Berry has had a lot of similar conversations with the man on Hatteras since succeeding Tom Hartman as superintendent of the national park last December. Like his predecessor, he has spent much of his time getting to know the people and places he now calls home.
``I've been doing the same thing Tom Hartman did,'' Berry said. ``I've been going out, meeting and talking to people before a crisis arises, trying to find out what the issues are. Everyone has core interests that they don't feel like they can compromise on. What we're trying to do is find those areas where we can reach agreement.''
In 28 years with the National Park Service, Berry has practiced the art of compromise from the broiling sun of the Mexican border to the frozen tundra of Alaska.
Had his career trek taken a different trail, the 51-year-old graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth and Old Dominion University might be preparing for a Presidents' Day Sale, or exploring the intricacies of engineering.
``I was in the engineering co-op program at the VPI extension (later Old Dominion),'' Berry said.
``I was working at Virginia Power, and I was doing very well. I had money in the bank and was making good grades.
``But after two years, I found the work boring. It didn't provide me with a challenge. So I changed majors. My mother understood, but my father and I had a more interesting discussion.''
Berry then went to work selling shoes at JCPenney.
``I was getting close to graduation,'' he recalled. ``The manager offered me a store manager internship, which would have put me on the fast track in management. The financial incentive was there. The money was good, but it was not something I was interested in at the time.''
But as was the case with Hartman, whose father and grandfather worked for the park service, a family member steered Berry to his life's work.
``My aunt had worked for the park service in a regional office,'' said Berry, who at the time was studying history with an emphasis on the Civil War. ``I was looking at career opportunities in my field. I decided to look into it.''
Berry was trained at the Grand Canyon National Park, then went on to his first job as a historian at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis.
He has served as superintendent at the Manassas National Battlefield Park in northern Virginia, and at two national historic sites in Massachusetts, the birthplaces of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and President John F. Kennedy. He has also worked at the Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River in Texas.
Before coming to Cape Hatteras, Berry was superintendent at the 6.5 million acre Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. Some of the things that Cape Hatteras will provide for the Berry family are sunshine and shorter trips to the grocery store. In Alaska, the family made 260-mile round trips to stock up on food.
``One of the logistical things we had to do is buy a big freezer and a big refrigerator,'' Berry said. ``Our basement became a large pantry. We had to buy in large enough quantities so that if you ran out of something, like a roll of paper towels, you went to the basement.''
From mid-December to mid-February, the Berrys dealt with temperatures of 30 below, 7 feet of snow, and no sun.
``It enhances your family life,'' Berry said. ``You have to learn to live with the weather. But it brings you closer together.''
As a historian, Berry is excited about his new, and much warmer, home.
``There is an overflow of history here,'' Berry said. ``You have the 400-year-old story of the beginnings of Western civilization on the continent, and the Wright brothers' first flight. It's hard to believe what has transpired since that first flight.''
Berry is well aware that the superintendent's post at Cape Hatteras is often a lightning rod for controversy. Already, he has managed to hammer out a compromise over dock fees on Ocracoke Island.
``We're going to continue to talk to the people here, and try to reach a common ground,'' he said.
Berry will also deal with the continuing erosion problem around the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. A study is under way that should be completed in the next three months.
Another challenge is to maintain current levels of service with a shrinking budget. Despite budget cuts, Berry said, the agency will continue to look for alternative ways to provide current services.
``The people that I work with are very dedicated,'' he said. ``We work in a place where people come to be inspired, and to have fun. Because this is a special place, we're going to do everything we can to allow them to do that.''
Berry said the people of the Outer Banks have won him over.
``People in other areas of the country have stopped talking to each other,'' he said. ``But here, people still communicate. There is a strong sense of tradition and history among the people. Unless you've been out among the people and talked to them, there's no way you can fully appreciate it.''
While working to enhance the level of service in the short term, Berry will be preparing for the First Flight Centennial in the future.
And even with the uncertainties of having to provide equal or better service with less money, Berry is absolutely sure of one thing: The would-be engineer, would-be department store manager took the right career path nearly 30 years ago.
``I have no doubt about it,'' he said. ``I absolutely made the right choice.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Graphics
RUSSELL BERRY
Age: 51
Birthplace: Portsmouth, Va.
Education: Woodrow Wilson High School, class of 1961; Old
Dominion University, graduated in 1966 (history major)
Park Service Experience: 28 years. Grand Canyon National Park,
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, St. Louis; Manassas National
Battlefield; home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longellow, Massachusetts;
birthplace of John F. Kennedy, Massachusetts; Big Bend National
Park, Texas; Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River, Texas; Voyageurs
National Park, Minnesota; Denali National Park and Preserve,
Alaska.
Current job: Superintendent at the 30,319-acre Cape Hatteras
National Seashore.
Family: Wife, Jean, a Virginia native, and two children. Berry's
parents live in Portsmouth.
ADRIANA LIBREROS/Staff
CAPE HATTERAS NATIONAL SEASHORE
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY by CNB