Rick Clark Named Superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore

News Release Date:
April 17, 2024

Contact:Stephenie Wade

Contact:Suadia Muwwakkil

ATLANTA - The National Park Service (NPS) today announced the selection of Rick Clark as superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Clark begins working at the park April 21.

"We are pleased to welcome Rick back to the southeast region and Gulf Islands National Seashore," said Mark Foust, NPS South Atlantic-Gulf regional director. "His experience managing complex park operations and extensive knowledge of the park's needs, resources and communities will serve him well."
Gulf Islands National Seashore is the nation's largest seashore. Created in 1971, the national park protects 160 miles from Cat Island, Mississippi, to the Okaloosa Area east of Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
"I am honored to be returning to Gulf Islands National Seashore as superintendent," Clark said. "I am hopeful my previous experience serving as the park's science and resources management program manager from 2005 to 2013 will serve as a foundation to build upon. I look forward to rekindling prior established working relationships and rapport with those I have worked with before and forging new ones for the greater good of the park. I'm excited to continue advancing the park's mission in cooperation and full collaboration with the park's dedicated staff, as well as the wide variety of partners and communities the success of the park is predicated upon."
Since 2021, Clark has served as a deputy regional director for the NPS Midwest Region - spanning Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin - which includes 600 permanent, full-time employees and a cumulative annual operating budget of approximately $100 million. In this role, Clark oversees park operations and superintendents across 20 national park units, working with the parks to advance their respective missions within NPS.
During his 38-year NPS career, Clark has supported the NPS's Alaska, Intermountain, Midwest and Southeast regions in a wide variety of science and resources management, and visitor and resource protection positions in 12 different NPS parks in 8 states. These park-based roles culminated in Clark serving as group superintendent for South Dakota's Missouri National Recreational River and Niobrara National Scenic Riverway for 6 years managing a combined staff of 25 permanent and temporary employees involved in river stewardship along 198-miles of river segments included as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Within this capacity, he also served as the NPS regional representative on the multi-stakeholder Missouri River Recovery Implementation Committee and executive on the multi-agency Missouri River Basin Interagency Roundtable.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota native earned a B.S. from the University of Minnesota with a dual major in biology and economics and an M.S. in wildlife biology from the University of South Carolina. Clark and his wife, Lisa, have three teenage children, including a son who is a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and twin daughters completing their senior years in high school.
www.nps.gov

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 429 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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