News Release

Stuart West selected as superintendent of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area

NPS

News Release Date: February 22, 2023 GUNNISON, Colo. – National Park Service (NPS) Acting Regional Director Lisa Carrico announced the selection of Stuart West as superintendent of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area. He will also supervise the superintendent of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. He begins his new assignment on February 27.

“We are excited to have Stuart in this role,” said Carrico. “His experience overseeing multiple parks will lend itself well to managing the diverse resources and issues at these two parks.”

West has been with the NPS for more than 35 years. For the past three years, he has served as the superintendent of the High Plains Group of parks, which includes Bent’s Old Fort, Sand Creek Massacre, and Amache national historic sites and Capulin Volcano National Monument. West began his NPS career at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis as an interpretive ranger, educating the public about the westward expansion movement beginning with the Louisiana Purchase. From there, he worked in the Arkansas Ozarks at Buffalo National River as a district interpreter. Midway during his nine years on the river he became a law enforcement ranger. West’s next post was in Prince William Forest Park, where he eventually became the chief ranger. Three years later he was hired as the branch chief of remote areas in Acadia National Park and later worked as chief ranger in the same park.

In his new role, West succeeds Deanna Greco who served in the position for three years before becoming the regional director for resource stewardship and science. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park contains some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. Curecanti National Recreation Area is a series of three reservoirs along the once wild Gunnison River. The reservoirs that make up Curecanti today are a destination for water-based recreation high in the Rocky Mountains. Best known for salmon and trout fishing, Curecanti also offers opportunities for hiking, boating, camping, and bird watching.

"I am honored to be selected as the next superintendent of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area and am eager to meet the staff, explore the parks, and get to know the partners and communities,” said West. “I've wanted to work at these parks ever since I first visited them nearly 30 years ago; this is a dream come true for me and a pinnacle in my career." 

West graduated from Virginia Tech with a forest resource management degree with an emphasis in park management.

About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve natural resources, local history, and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov.