1968-
2019-
James Bellamy worked on national park development in Chile, primarily in Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales. “My main project was writing a outdoor recreation and tourism guidebook to the park. I also assisted in the preparation of a preliminary master plan for the park and other projects. (After returning to the US) I worked 30+ years for the National Park Service, first as a ranger and later in management. The international park experience and Spanish language skills I gained in the Peace Corps helped me compete for interesting positions in parks on the U.S./Mexico border and U.S./Canada border. As district ranger and river manager at Big Bend National Park, I interacted constantly with Mexican citizens and officials, and assisted the park superintendent in reviving the idea of protected areas across the border in Mexico. I also co-coordinated the first traveling course for Mexican protected area managers, which continued for many years. While I was superintendent of Coronado National Memorial, I carried out a sister park relationship with a protected area in Mexico, and served as co-chair of the Park Service's U.S./Mexico Affairs Committee. Throughout my career I took on short-term training and consulting assignments in Latin America and Spain, and later was a guest speaker for U.S. Embassy cultural affairs programs."