After attending Cornell University (with a degree in Earth Science) and three years in the Pacific with the Navy (including 1962 as an adviser to the Vietnamese military) Jim Liles entered the National Park Service, serving 36 years, with assignments in eight national parks across the nation. His last position was assistant superintendent, Buffalo National River, 1973—1998.

Major achievements there included working with NPS planners on development of visitor facilities at Erbie and Tyler Bend; planning and construction of 80 miles of hiking trail and designation of a system of horse trails; and returning lands within the legislated “Private Use Zone” (Boxley and Richland Valleys) to private ownership, subject to appropriate protective easements.

“Boxley Valley” filmed in 1992, recaps some of the work with people in the Boxley and Richland Valleys when the park service offered to allow those previous landowners the opportunity to buy back their land.

Photo: Jim Liles with Orphea Lee Duty, Boxley Matriarch, 1898 – 2002.