James Frederick EvansHis public service began with seasonal work as part of an engineering crew on the barge canal system for the New York State Department of Public Works in 1912 while still in high school. He continued with that department in highway work after graduation from college and rose from the survey crew to a position as assistant engineer. When the state park system was consolidated under Robert Moses in 1924, Evans became the engineer for the Long Island Park Commission. In 1926, he moved to Binghamton, New York, as engineer and executive secretary of the newly established Central New York State Parks Commission and continued in this capacity until 1938, when he was appointed director of state parks in Albany. This position also included duties as secretary of the State Council of Parks.
The State Council of Parks under the chairmanship of Moses was the central advisory agency for all parks and parkways and established a uniform park policy for the state. It recommended construction of new state and county highways and the improvements of existing highways to bring about better connections between parks. It also recommended new park projects and prepared a budget for the management and support of park properties.
As director of the division of parks, Evans was responsible to the Commissioner for Conservation and responsible for the immediate supervising and control of all the regional commissions which comprised the New York state park system.
While Evans’ 32 year in state parks work spanned the entire history of the unified regional park system in New York state to that time, his career was not limited to park administration. He was a member of the original advisory committee for the New York State Thruway, the Hudson Valley Survey Commission, and the Great Lakes Water Levels Commission. He was president, of the National Conference on State Parks, and served as chairman of the legislative committee of the Conference and of the American Institute of Park Executives. In addition to his state park responsibilities, Evans furnished legislative services and consulting advice to many park, planning and conservation agencies both within and outside New York State.
His relationship with Robert Moses, New York’s long time commissioner of parks, began in 1924 when he was named to the Long Island Park Commission which Moses chaired. His job was to seek park funds from state officials. Evans was recalled by Moses as an aide and trouble-shooter who was "a born, dyed-in-the-wool boulevardier wheeler and dealer, especially in dealing with legislative leaders and heads of departments." Moses added: "he was a night worker in the lobbies, cafes and bistros and at the tracks. His day began when mine ended. It takes all kinds to make a park world."
Among the projects in which he was involved were the Niagara Power Authority, Jones Beach, Fire Island, Evangola Park in Angola and the Lily Lake Crippled Children’s State Park. He served also as a consultant to the New York World’s Fair Authority, the James Baird State Park in Dutchess County and a number of others, including many which received Federal funds through the Civilian Conservation Corps in the mid 1930s.
- Source:
- The New York Times. (1972), James Evans 77, state parks aide, November 1.