Through his determined efforts to establish Channel Islands National Park, Superintendent Bill Ehorn helped ensure that additional fragile island environments received adequate protection.
William Ehorn served as superintendent of Channel Islands National Monument, California, from 1974 to 1989 and was the driving force behind the effort behind the establishment of Channel Islands National Park in 1980. In addition to Anacapa and Santa Barbara islands, which had been set aside in 1938 as Channel Islands National Monument, and San Miguel Island also administered by the NPS, the new Channel Islands National Park included Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands, to help ensure that these fragile areas would remain unspoiled. Ehorn not only assisted California Representative Robert Lagomarsino in drafting the legislation establishing the national park, in 1986 he also negotiated the NPS acquisition of Santa Rosa Island from the Vail and Vickers partnership, which had been operating ranching activities on the island for many decades. Channel Islands National Park would offer visitors an island experience unique in the National Park System. With those significant accomplishments behind him, Ehorn left in 1989 to become superintendent of Redwoods National Park, calling the move “a dream come true” because of his affinity for the area. He served there until his retirement from NPS in 1995.