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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Outdoors blog

Superintendent named for Lake Roosevelt, Ice Age Floods parks

PUBLIC LANDS -- Dan Foster, a 20-year National Park Service employee, has been named superintendent for Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.

Foster is replacing Debbie Bird, who retired after serving as Lake Roosevelt superintendent since 2002.

Foster will leave his current position as superintendent at Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska and report in February for his new assignment at Grand Coulee, Wash.

Pacific West Regional Director Chris Lehnertz said Foster has experience working with neighboring communities, multiple agencies, tribal governments, military branches, and the public. 

Foster’s National Park Service resume includes positions as a resource management specialist at Bryce Canyon National Park, and chief of resource management at Nez Perce National Historical Park and Wind Cave National Park.  He has been superintendent at Niobrara National Scenic River since 2008. 

Prior to federal service, Foster was a wildlife biologist and geologist for the Utah Department of Natural Resources for eleven years.

Foster received a Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife and range management from Brigham Young University.  He and his wife Trena have three children.  Among other pursuits, Foster says he is an ardent fly fisherman.

The parks that Foster will oversee are close in proximity, but quite different in nature.

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area consists largely of a portion of the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River with relatively small land areas adjacent to the lake. It encompasses varied resources, ranging from historic Fort Spokane to numerous native fish and other wildlife, and even submerged cultural resources beneath the lake’s surface. The park was established in 1946 after the completion of the dam, and receives over a million visitors a year.

Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail was created less than a decade ago, and highlights the significant geologic features of the massive floods that scoured the landscape of the interior Columbia Basin at the end of the last ice age. Since multiple agencies and organizations will continue to manage the lands where these features are found, the trail will provide a way to unify the story of how the larger landscape ties those features together.



Outdoors blog

Rich Landers writes and photographs stories and columns for a wide range of outdoors coverage, including Outdoors feature sections on Sunday and Thursday.




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