Investigative Report of Jonathan Jarvis

We investigated potential ethical concerns surrounding a book that Jonathan Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service (NPS), wrote and had published without consulting the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Ethics Office. The book, titled “Guidebook to American Values and Our National Parks,” was published by Eastern National, a nonprofit that has cooperating agreements with NPS to operate stores and sell merchandise in numerous national parks. 

 

We focused our investigation on whether Jarvis used his public office for private gain by seeking a book deal with Eastern National and whether he misused any U.S. Government resources in the process. We also examined Jarvis’ involvement in Eastern National matters at NPS around the time of his book deal, and we reviewed Jarvis’ decision not to seek advice from the Ethics Office on the book.

 

We found that although Jarvis wrote in a note to DOI Secretary Sally Jewell that Eastern National had asked him to write the book, it was in fact Jarvis who contacted Eastern National’s CEO to see if he would be interested in publishing it. We found that although Eastern National did not pay Jarvis to write his book, he did ask that any “royalty” he would be due as the author go to the National Park Foundation, a nonprofit that fundraises for NPS, and that the book’s copyright be filed in his name so that he could later donate it to the Foundation. In addition, Jarvis approved Eastern National’s use of NPS’ “arrowhead” logo on the book’s cover, believing that one of the nonprofit’s two agreements with NPS allowed this; neither did, however. Jarvis stated that he purposely tried to downplay his Government position in the book by limiting the use of his title and using a photo of himself in street clothes instead of his NPS uniform. He wrote the book on his Government iPad, but we found for the most part his work on the book occurred outside office hours. 

 

While Jarvis renewed both of Eastern National’s cooperating agreements with NPS around the time he was discussing his book with Eastern National officials, NPS staff said that the book did not influence the agreements. 

 

Jarvis stated that he knew he risked “[getting] in trouble” by not seeking advice on his book from the Ethics Office. He felt, however, that if he had involved the Ethics Office and other DOI officials, the book would probably never have been published due to what he viewed as a lengthy approval process and some content that he believed was controversial.