Big Bend National Park - Our Staff & Offices (U.S. National Park Service)

NPS/Eric Leonard

A view of the ranch house in Blue Creek Canyon.

Park Management and Administration

Superintendent	William E. Wellman
Chief of Administrative Services	Susan Celaya

Encompasses activities related to park-wide administrative, managerial, and support functions, as well as safety and planning. In addition, this area is responsible for working with external constituencies in order to develop valuable park partnerships. Altogether, the Management and Administration staff provides a host of essential services to enable park employees to focus on their functional duties.

Interpretation and Visitor Services

Chief of Interpretation

David Elkowitz

The interpretive division conducts a variety of activities that allow people from elementary age through adulthood to experience and learn about the park's resources and threats to those resources. Big Bend's interpreters manage and staff the park's five visitor centers at Panther Junction, Rio Grande Village, Castolon, Persimmon Gap, and the Chisos Basin.

Interpretive events and media publications serve to encourage the development of a personal stewardship ethic and to broaden public support for preserving park resources. Interpretive rangers present Big Bend to visitors through formal interpretation at the park including evening programs, talks, demonstrations, special events and informal contacts. more...

Big Bend's interpretive media infrastructure encompasses outdoor exhibits, visitor center displays, site bulletins and trail guides, a park newspaper, and maintenance of this offical park website.

Science and Resource Management

Chief of Resource Managment

Raymond Skiles, acting

Resource management at Big Bend encompasses activities related to the management, preservation, and protection of a variety of natural communities and processes, historic structures, cultural landscapes, museum artifacts, and archaeological sites.

Activities within Natural Resource Management include ecosystem monitoring, research, restoration efforts, species-specific management initiatives, wildland fire management, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) management, and general resource protection.

The Cultural Resource Management program protects a legacy of American Indian and European-American heritage spanning over 10,000 years.
more information about Science & Resource Management at Big Bend...

Visitor & Resource Protection

Chief Ranger

Mark Spier

Big Bend's law enforcement rangers are primarily responsible for providing safety and security for the park's visitors and infrastructure. Specific visitor safety programs include emergency medical services, search and rescue, and law enforcement. In addition law enforcement personnel closely work with Resource Management to provide archeological site patrols, resource damage detection, and criminal investigation and prosecution as necessssary.

Facility Management

Chief of Facilities Managment

Lisa Turecek

The maintenance functional area encompasses all activities designed to improve or prolong the life of the park's assets. The preservation of these resources allows for visitors to safely enjoy their activities at Big Bend. Park personnel confront distinct challenges created by the large geographic separations between park facilities, often traveling long distances to service roads, trails, or buildings.

The roads maintenance program includes services that ensure the safe and effective use of all roadways for park visitors and staff. It is responsible for maintaining all paved and unpaved roads, road shoulders, and bridges throughout Big Bend.

Buildings maintenance is dedicated to prolonging the life and improving the interior and exterior condition of the current and historic buildings at Big Bend.

Big Bend has an extensive trail system with close to 200 miles of trails for many different recreational opportunities, including hiking, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing. Trails Maintenance activities include repair and rehabilitation of trails in order to prolong the life of these precious assets.