Cape Cod National Seashore leader Brian Carlstrom heads west. Cape Codders respond.

WELLFLEET — Brian Carlstrom, who has served as superintendent for the Cape Cod National Seashore since April 2018, will begin a new role as deputy regional director of the Intermountain Region of the National Park Service on Oct. 8.

Jennifer Flynn will take over as superintendent in mid-November. Flynn began her National Park Service career 32 years ago at the Seashore.

Carlstrom cited progress on the Herring River wetlands restoration project, infrastructure and roadway improvements, construction of wastewater systems, and beach access as some of the major accomplishments made in those years. He will trade in oversight of 40 miles of beaches and 45,000 acres of marshes, ponds and uplands for oversight of 45 national parks, according to Naaman Horn, public affairs specialist with the Park Service.

Carlstrom will be responsible for national parks in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Among the issues he’ll need to focus on are land use management, pressing concerns around the Colorado River, and climate change, Horn said.

“It’s a lot of territory,” he said, “stretching from Canada to Mexico.”

Helen Miranda Wilson has worked with Carlstrom on a number of issues, as a former member of the Wellfleet Selectboard and current Herring River Executive Council member. About 8,000 acres of the town lie within the Seashore. Wilson likened the relationship between Wellfleet and the Seashore to a marriage.

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Herring River wetlands restoration and mosquito control in Wellfleet

"The town has to interact with the park a lot,” she said. “We’re legally bound to them.”

She cited Carlstrom’s work on the Herring River wetlands restoration project and mosquito problems at Duck Harbor.  Carlstrom and Geoff Sanders, chief of Natural Resource Management and Science at Cape Cod National Seashore, were professional and responsive given the complications of federal bureaucracy, she said.

Carlstrom instrumental in easing problems at Seashore beaches

Janet Reinhart, another former Wellfleet Selectboard member and current Herring River Executive Council member, called Carlstrom open and available, saying he worked together with the Wellfleet beach department and stepped in to ease the problem with drinking and open containers of alcohol at Cahoon Hollow Beach.  

Wellfleet operates Cahoon Hollow Beach adjacent to Seashore beaches. While the town had a no alcohol policy, the Seashore did not. Carlstrom adjusted the park’s policies earlier this year to prohibit alcohol there because of increasing inappropriate and belligerent behavior.

“He worked well with Wellfleet police,” she said. “He stepped in and helped ease it.”

Praise for Carlstrom

Richard Delaney, past chairman of the now-dormant Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, has been nominated by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to be chairman once the commission is reestablished. It was not reauthorized during the Trump administration but was reauthorized months ago. It will begin work once all members are vetted, Delaney said.

He called Carlstrom level-headed and a solid superintendent, saying he helped resolve jet ski issues in the park and the management of off-road vehicles on the beaches.

“He worked hard to understand Cape Cod issues,” Delaney said. “I think this opportunity was an unexpected excellent opportunity to move up a little bit and move closer to family.”

Dune shack bidding

A National Park Service request for proposals in May put Carlstrom at the center of a controversy. The request put eight dune shacks up for public bid. The shacks had been seasonally occupied and cared for by eight families for decades. Those families, their supporters and town officials in Provincetown and Truro, have fought the proposals, saying they should have been consulted.

Delaney thinks had the Advisory Commission been in place, it would have helped resolve some of the concerns about the park and dune shacks. But Carlstrom had no control over the reauthorization of the commission, he said.

“If it were in place now it would be the perfect forum for the towns, state and county representatives, and the people they represent to have a place to go to raise concerns about how that dune shack process was being handled,” he said. “It would have been the ideal kind of situation.”

Carlstrom called it an honor to have been the Seashore superintendent .

“It’s been wonderful being part of the Cape Cod community and working with so many fantastic people,” he said. The Cape Cod National Seashore team has done an incredible job taking care of the seashore, while protecting the natural cultural resources the seashore has to offer.”

Denise Coffey writes about business and tourism. Contact her at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.  

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod National Seashore will have new superintendent: What to know