The Regional Director,
Joseph M. Lawler

As the regional director, Lawler will assume the management of the National Capital Region, which is comprised of the nation's oldest federal parks, including the White House grounds, the National Mall and the grounds of the Washington Monument, as well as the World War II Memorial, dedicated last Memorial Day.

“I look forward to working with the talent, experience and insight that Joe Lawler brings to this position,” said National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella. “Joe’s 30 years of National Park Service experience in the greater Washington area will help us fulfill our core mission and attain new levels of service. His expertise in working with partners is an asset for everyone.”

The National Capital Region encompasses over 87,000 acres of federal parkland in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Park sites include the Washington Monument; Jefferson, Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans and World War II Memorials; Frederick Douglass National Historic Site; Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site; George Washington Memorial Parkway; the Baltimore-Washington Parkway; Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts and Rock Creek Park. Outlying parks include the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, from Georgetown to Cumberland, MD, and the Civil War parks of Manassas National Battlefield Park, VA, Antietam National Battlefield, MD, Monocacy National Battlefield, MD and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV. Popular camping and natural areas include Prince William Forest Park in Virginia and Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. The National Capital Region employs more than 1,300 park rangers, maintenance and support personnel and attracts a combined total of more than 40 million visitors annually to its park sites. The region’s budget is more than $150 million.

Lawler held top posts in numerous parks in the Washington, D.C., area before being named Support Office Superintendent during the 1995 reorganization and streamlining of the National Park Service. In 1994, he served as Associate Regional Director for Operations. Lawler was director of Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts from May 1992 until September 1994. He was general manager of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts from 1988 until 1992.

Previous park posts all have been within the National Capital Region of the National Park Service. They include assistant superintendent of Rock Creek Park (1983-1985), chief of interpretation and visitor services at Wolf Trap Farm Park (1979-1984), and site manager at Ford's Theatre National Historic Site, Washington, D.C. (1978-1979). Also during 1978-79, Lawler held mid-level management training assignments at Everglades National Park, Fla., and at Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., and worked on Alaskan lands legislation for the National Park Service in the Washington, D.C. Lawler entered the National Park Service in 1972 as a park technician in the community program branch and division of special events of National Capital Region headquarters. Becoming a permanent park ranger in 1975, Lawler was assigned to President's Park, where he served until 1978. Short-term assignments took him to the Kennedy Center as chief of visitor services in 1977 and in 1983 to C&O Canal National Historical Park, Md., as acting assistant superintendent.

In 1994, Lawler was named "Superintendent of the Year" while serving as Director of Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts. Five special achievement awards have been presented to Lawler, including one for developing the White House visitor program ticket system for the 1976 American Bicentennial. In 1997, he received the Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award for fostering partnerships with the private sector.

Lawler holds a B.A. degree in English from the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pa., and has done graduate work in public administration at George Washington University and George Mason University. He is married to the former Libby Brennan of West Pittston, Pa. He and his wife reside in Lake Ridge, Va., with their two sons Joseph, Jr., and Michael.