Leadership Quote by Don Sherwood

The sentence is pure Washington soft power: disagreement wrapped in deference, conflict dissolved into process. “I do not think this makes a lot of sense” signals opposition while keeping the temperature low - a politician’s way of rejecting an idea without naming the person, party, or interest behind it. The vagueness is the point. It preserves room to pivot, negotiate, or deny that a real fight is happening.

Then comes the strategic handoff: “we should rely on the Park Service.” Sherwood is outsourcing authority to a trusted bureaucracy, framing the issue as technical rather than ideological. That move shields him from accountability (if things go poorly, the agency “implemented” the rules) while borrowing the Park Service’s public credibility. It’s a classic rhetorical transfer: let the institution be the bad cop, or the competent adult, depending on the audience.

The phrase “regulations that they have in place” doubles down on continuity and normalcy. No new crusade, no radical change - just existing rules, professionally applied. “With the restrictions” acknowledges limits without specifying what gets restricted or who loses access, money, or convenience. It’s a pressure-release valve for constituents who hear “restrictions” and worry about being told no.

The closing moral is the clincher: “so that people can enjoy our parks.” “Enjoy” is a values word that neutralizes the tradeoff between preservation and access. “Our parks” taps shared ownership, turning a bureaucratic argument into a civic one. The subtext: trust the experts, keep politics out of it, and let me sound reasonable while I quietly take a side.