“The third acting National Park Service director under the Trump administration abruptly announced on Friday he plans to retire next month amid a legal challenge to his appointment.
Vela’s retirement comes after the nonprofits Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and Western Watersheds Project, an environmental conservation group, sued NPS in May, claiming Bernhardt violated the U.S. Constitution and Federal Vacancies Reform Act in naming Vela to be acting NPS director and William Perry Pendley to be acting Bureau of Land Management director. PEER filed a similar lawsuit over Smith’s appointment in February 2018.”
