News Release

Jim Ireland selected as superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park

Jim Ireland will begin his new role as Bryce Canyon National Park superintendent on July 18, 2021.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: July 13, 2021

National Park Service (NPS) Regional Director Mike Reynolds announced the selection of Jim Ireland as superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Ireland has almost 30 years of NPS experience and has served as the superintendent of Timpanogos Cave National Monument near Salt Lake City, Utah for almost 10 years. Ireland has most recently served as the acting superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park since April 2021. He will assume the permanent role on July 18, 2021. 
 
“Jim's deep operational experience, empathy for employees and partners, business acumen, commitment to communication and collaboration, and familiarity with Utah will make him a very effective leader for Bryce Canyon.” said Reynolds.  
 
“Bryce Canyon is a wonderful park, beloved by visitors and its community,” said Ireland. “I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to be part of its stewardship.” 
 
While at Timpanogos Cave, Ireland also served as the NPS Utah state coordinator, acting as the liaison to state, county and local officials and other federal agencies and representing Utah’s 13 NPS on statewide committees and working groups. Prior to serving as the superintendent of Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Ireland acted in a temporary assignment at Fort McHenry National Monument and Hampton National Historical Site. 
  
Ireland grew up in Arizona in a family whose vacations were primarily camping trips in national parks and forests, which led to an early appreciation for parks and an interest in a career with NPS. During high school, a local park superintendent at nearby Petrified Forest National Park invited him to participate in a youth internship for local students. This led to Ireland’s first seasonal NPS job in 1983. Ireland had a strong interest in cultural resources and he received a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Arizona, with a minor in natural resource recreation. 
 
Ireland spent nine years as a seasonal interpreter, fee collector and law enforcement ranger in multiple parks across the country before his first permanent position at Gateway Arch National Park in 1991. Ireland has held subsequent permanent assignments at Natural Bridges National Monument, Amistad National Recreation Area and Kenai Fjords National Park. In 2009, Ireland was selected for the NPS Bevinetto Fellowship in Washington, DC. During the two-year fellowship, he spent one year on the staff of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, and a second year in the NPS Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs. 
 
He is married to fellow NPS employee Amy Ireland, currently a visual information specialist at Mesa Verde National Park, with two teenage sons; Asher is a student at the University of Utah and Ben will be a senior in high school this fall. Ireland’s interests include hiking, biking and otherwise enjoying parks and public lands, building a converted camper van, and exploring history through genealogy.