New boss at Everglades

[yakmaster]

Shawn Benge has 26 years of experience with the National Park Service.  As a native Texan, Shawn graduated from Texas Tech University and began his NPS career at Big Bend National Park as a resident landscape architect.   Shawn has enjoyed a variety of assignments including serving as a Project Manager for the Denver Service Center (Eastern Team--Transportation Division); Chief of Facility Management & Professional Services at Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Superintendent at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park (our nation's oldest and largest NMP); and currently as the Southeast Deputy Regional Director responsible for operations and providing leadership to the Gulf Coast Cluster.  Shawn was the primary agency official responsible for managing NPS oil spill response activities associated with Deepwater Horizon.Regional Director Stan Austin has selected Shawn Benge to serve a 90-day detail as Acting Superintendent, Everglades & Dry Tortugas National Parks.  Shawn will arrive in South Florida on March 21st and formally begin his acting assignment on April 1st. 


Shawn presently serves as Deputy Regional Director for the Southeast Region.  Among other responsibilities in his portfolio, Shawn is responsible for units of the National Park System in the Gulf Coast Cluster.  As such, he is very familiar with our programs and many of the issues that we are faced with on a daily basis at EVER and DRTO.