Catoctin Mountain Park Ranger Don Stanley Wins Regional Harry Yount Award

Date: January 27, 2015
Contact: Debra Mills, 301-663-9388

Donald Stanley, Park Ranger at Catoctin Mountain Park, has been selected to receive the National Capital Region's Harry Yount Award.Named after Harry Yount, the first National Park Ranger, the award recognizes individual excellence in the art and science of rangering. The Harry Yount Park Ranger Award is the benchmark of recognition for a National Park Service Ranger. "The entire Catoctin Mountain Park staff is proud of Ranger Stanley's accomplishments. He is very deserving of this honor and continues to service as an example of quality public service to the American public," said Superintendent Mel Poole.

Ranger Stanley is the seventh Catoctin Mountain Park Ranger to win the Regional Harry Yount Award. He began his career with the National Park Service in 1983 at Big Bend National Park where he worked for three years as a wildland fire fighter. Ranger Stanley returned to the National Park Service at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 1988, then transferred to the C&O Canal where he conducted living history accounts of the C&O Canal era as an interpreter and cared for the park's mules.

In 1991, Ranger Stanley moved to Catoctin Mountain to manage the Park's Volunteer Horse Mounted Patrol Program and the recreational riding program for children with special needs. He attended training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in 1992 and added protection of park visitors and resources to his responsibilities.

Ranger Stanley, a Lincoln, Nebraska native, lives in Thurmont, Maryland. He is the Fire Management Officer for Catoctin Mountain Park. An Eagle Scout himself, Ranger Stanley works with Boy Scout groups and manages the Annual Order of the Arrow Ordeal work event held annually at Catoctin Mountain Park. He enjoys hunting, fishing and gardening in his spare time

Catoctin Mountain Park is one of over 400 units administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Correspondence should be addressed to: Superintendent, Catoctin Mountain Park, 6602 Foxville Road, Thurmont, MD 21788. Please visit the Catoctin Mountain Park website at www.nps.gov/cato for more information.General information can be obtained by calling the Visitor Center at [phone].The Park Visitor Center is open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. daily with the exception of Wednesdays and Federal Holidays when the Center is closed.Emergency calls should be directed to the National Capital Region Communications Center at 1-866-677-6677.

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