Dan Wenk named Superintendent of Yellowstone National Park
 
National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis has appointed Daniel N. Wenk as the new superintendent of Yellowstone National Park. He succeeds Suzanne Lewis, who will retire this month after leading Yellowstone for nine years.

Wenk is a 35-year NPS career veteran who has served as the agency's deputy director of operations since 2007. He briefly served as interim director of the agency before Jonathan B. Jarvis was appointed last October.

"Dan is a superb manager, well-grounded in every aspect of park operations," Jarvis said. "He has led our efforts to protect and preserve the resources entrusted to our care, ensuring that decisions are based on sound science and research and that the voices of stakeholders are heard. Dan has also had incredible success working with partners and communities to identify and achieve common goals."

Wenk's first job in a national park was in Yellowstone in 1979.

"To return as superintendent to where I first learned what it means to be responsible for our nation's treasures is a distinct honor," he said. "I look forward to working with the park's outstanding staff and network of supporters and advocates who love Yellowstone."
 
Wenk began his NPS career in 1975 as a landscape architect at the Denver Service Center. He returned there as director in 2001 and served until 2007, overseeing NPS's centralized planning, design, and construction services.
 
From 1985 to 2001, he was superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. He led the effort to design, development, and complete a $60 million public/private partnership that raised $30 million in private donations for the construction of new facilities there.
 
Wenk has received numerous awards in his career, including the Meritorious Service Award, the second highest honor awarded by the Department of the Interior. Wenk and his wife, Barbara, have three grown children.