New leader named for Blue Ridge Parkway

A National Park Service veteran, whose most recent post is Cumberland Gap National Park, has been named superintendent of the parkway effective Sept. 22.

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Ralph Berrier Jr. | 981-3338

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Mark Woods, a veteran National Park Service leader who has worked in Southwest Virginia for 16 years, has been chosen the new superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Woods, 53, is currently superintendent at Cumberland Gap National Park, which includes part of Lee County in Southwest Virginia and spills into Kentucky and Tennessee. He will become superintendent on Sept. 22, according to the Ashville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, and will succeed Phil Francis, who retired in April. Deputy superintendent Monika Mayr had been acting superintendent.

Woods takes over during a precarious time in the parkway’s 78-year history. The parkway has a $400 million backlog of maintenance projects. The federal budget sequester forced automatic 5 percent cuts, which amounted to a $740,000 reduction. Several sites along the parkway were forced to close this year, including Roanoke Mountain Campground, the Rocky Knob Visitor Center and the Smart View picnic area.

Monday, August 12, 2013