The National Park Service (NPS) has selected Greg Dudgeon to serve as the superintendent of Mount Rainier National Park starting in July 2021.
Dudgeon currently serves as acting deputy regional director overseeing the management of 15 national parks, preserves, monuments and national historical parks in Alaska.
“As a 30-year National Park Service veteran, Greg has extensive experience caring for historic and cultural resources in parks and managing them in balance with natural resource conservation and public use,” said Acting NPS Regional Director Cindy Orlando. “Greg’s ability to work collaboratively with partners and communities to protect park resources make him a great fit for this position.”
Dudgeon began working with the NPS in 1983 as a volunteer with a whale biologist at Glacier Bay National Park where they photographed the flukes of humpback whales from an 18-foot skiff. He went on to work as a seasonal biological technician, an interpretive ranger, and commissioned ranger. In 1996 Dudgeon was selected as the chief ranger for Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. In 1998 he was asked to serve as chief ranger at Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park, and Noatak National Preserve as well.
From 2001 through 2003 Dudgeon was superintendent of Hovenweep and Natural Bridges national monuments until he returned to Alaska as the superintendent of Sitka National Historical Park. During his tenure, Dudgeon worked with the Indigenous Tlingit people in observations of several significant historic events, most notably the 200th anniversary of Dawootle Tlein (the “Great Battle”) between Tlingit forebearers and Russian fur traders. In 2007 Dudgeon became superintendent of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve and Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, where he served until taking on his current acting assignment. Together, the two parks encompass 11 million acres – seven million of which are designated wilderness.
“I am grateful for the many remarkable places I’ve experienced and people I’ve worked with over the years because they have helped prepare me for this exceptional opportunity to join the accomplished, professional team at Mount Rainier National Park,” said Dudgeon. “At Mount Rainier, we have the opportunity and privilege to preserve a tapestry of natural, cultural, and historic treasures that will inspire people tomorrow just as the park does today.”
Dudgeon was raised in northwest Ohio and southern California. He and his wife Susan, along with retired sled dogs Lucor and Solace (both former “canine rangers” from Denali National Park’s working sled dog kennel) plan to reside in one of Mount Rainier’s gateway communities.
Mount Rainier National Park was established in 1899 as the nation’s fifth national park.
The park contains an archeological record demonstrating more than 9,000 years of human connection to the area. Mount Rainier remains an important place for Pacific Northwest Indian cultures and continues to provide cultural sustenance to contemporary descendent tribes, including the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the Nisqually Indian Tribe, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the Squaxin Island Tribe, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. In the contiguous United States, Mount Rainier is the highest volcanic peak (14,410 feet) with the largest glacial system (26 named glaciers). For more information, visit the park website: www.nps.gov/mora.