News Release
NPS photo
News Release Date: October 23, 2019
Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov
WASHINGTON - The National Park Service (NPS) today announced the appointment of Mike Reynolds to be the new NPS regional director of the Department of the Interior Lower Colorado Basin, Upper Colorado Basin, and Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf regions. Reynolds currently serves as the superintendent of Yosemite National Park in California.
“Mike is one of the most experienced and respected leaders in the National Park Service,” said NPS Deputy Director, Exercising the Authority of the Director, David Vela. “His dedication to our employees, the parks we protect, and the visitors we serve will be of enormous benefit to the 89 national park sites and regional office which he will lead in his new assignment.”
"I continue to be inspired by the employees, partners, and friends of Yosemite National Park who work to protect and share this iconic place with the world,” Reynolds said. “It was a great privilege to come back to help Yosemite get ready for its next exciting chapter and I thank everyone in and around the park who supported me in doing that. I am deeply honored to have been asked and I am excited to serve a very special region in the country with incredible parks and many challenges. I look forward to working with the dedicated regional and park employees across the Lower Colorado Basin, Upper Colorado Basin, and Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf regions who share a passion for serving these parks and a devotion to the national park idea and the Service itself.”
As NPS regional director, Reynolds will oversee 89 park units within nine states of the American West. These regions span the states of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, and portions of southern California and southern Nevada. With around 11.2 million acres of public land, the region hosts over 57 million visitors annually. The region employs approximately 5,700 people and hosts more than 25,500 volunteers during peak travel seasons.
Reynolds, a 34-year NPS veteran and a third-generation NPS employee, grew up in Yosemite and later returned to the park as a resource manager, planner, division chief, and most recently, park superintendent. He leads a park that covers more than 750,000 acres, and is home to granite peaks, domes and waterfalls that overlook broad meadows, wildflowers and groves of ancient giant sequoias. The park receives millions of visitors each year who are served by 1,200 NPS employees during summer months in addition to 1,700 hospitality employees who work at park lodges, restaurants and provide recreational activities such as skiing and horseback riding.
Reynolds previously served as the deputy director for operations of the NPS and spent the majority of his tenure serving as NPS acting director, leading the more than 20,000 employees who protect, preserve, and share more than 400 national parks. He has also served as the Associate Director for Workforce, Relevancy, and Inclusion, overseeing the NPS’ human capital, training, relevancy, youth, and recruitment programs nationwide.
Other assignments include serving as NPS Midwest Regional Director, Deputy Northeast Regional Director, Superintendent of Fire Island National Seashore, and other roles at Mojave National Preserve, Cape Cod National Seashore, Curecanti National Recreation Area, and the NPS Denver Service Center. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MBA from Regis University in Denver. He was a Senior Executive Fellow at Harvard University in the spring of 2011.
Reynolds is expected to begin his new assignment by the end of 2019.
Cicely Muldoon, superintendent of Point Reyes National Seashore since 2010, will serve as acting superintendent after Reynolds’s departure and until a permanent superintendent is named. Muldoon is a 34-year veteran of the National Park Service. She has worked in national parks across the country, from Alaska to Arkansas and from Washington State to Washington D.C. Muldoon has a firsthand understanding of Yosemite National Park operations, having served two times as the park’s acting deputy superintendent. Prior to coming to Point Reyes, Muldoon was a deputy regional director, overseeing partnerships, law enforcement, fire management, interpretation, and safety in national park units in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. She has also served as acting superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and superintendent of Pinnacles National Park in California and San Juan Island National Historical Park in the state of Washington. Muldoon is a graduate of the University of California, Davis.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 419 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.
Last updated: October 23, 2019