Michael T. Reynolds is a career parks administrator who served as an acting director of the United States

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

in the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

Early life and education

Reynolds is a third-generation National Park Service employee. He spent much of his childhood at

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

, with his mother's family working concessions there. His father was a planner at the park. His grandfather was a park ranger at

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

. Reynolds received a bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, in 1985. He got a master’s in business administration at

Regis University Regis University is a private Jesuit university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1877 by the Society of Jesus, the university offers more than 120 degrees through 5 colleges in a variety of subjects, including education, liberal arts, business, nu ...

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. He was a senior executive fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in the spring of 2011.

Career

After college, Reynolds worked as a ranger, firefighter and biologist. He served for six years as a natural resource planner for the Parks Service in Denver. He held jobs at the

Curecanti National Recreation Area Curecanti National Recreation Area(Pronounced (locally) or .) is a National Park Service unit located on the Gunnison River in western Colorado. Established in 1965, Curecanti National Recreation Area is responsible for developing and managing re ...

in Colorado,

Cape Cod National Seashore The Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS), created on August 7, 1961, by President John F. Kennedy, encompasses on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. It includes ponds, woods and beachfront of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecoregion. The CCNS includes ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1994, and the

Mojave National Preserve Mojave National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, USA, between Interstate 15 in California, Interstate 15 and Interstate 40. The preserve was established October 31 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was a resource manager, planner and division chief at Yosemite National Park. He became superintendent of

Fire Island National Seashore Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) is a United States National Seashore that protects a section of Fire Island, an approximately long and wide barrier island separated from Long Island by the Great South Bay. The island is part of New York ...

in New York in 2004, deputy Northeast regional director of the National Park Service, and Midwest regional director of the National Park Service. He moved to the National Park Service’s

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

headquarters in 2014, first as a director of workforce and inclusion and then as director of operations. In 2016, he testified before a

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

committee to acknowledge sexual harassment at many park sites and pledged to protect workers better.

National Park Service acting director

Reynolds became acting director of the Park Service in January 2017 when

Jonathan Jarvis Jonathan B. Jarvis (born June 26, 1953) served as the 18th Director of the United States National Park Service, confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 2009, and serving until his retirement on January 3, 2017. Early life and educat ...

retired. Reynolds had an awkward start with President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

when the Park Service tweeted aerial photos of Trump's inauguration ceremony showing a crowd much smaller than the record-breaking crowd that Trump claimed. Trump reportedly phoned Reynolds and asked him to find new pictures. Reynolds helped announce new national historical landmarks including the

New York State Canal System The New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal) is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. Currently, the system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Cana ...

and the

Eldean Covered Bridge The Eldean Covered Bridge is a historic covered bridge spanning the Great Miami River in Miami County, Ohio north of Troy, Ohio, Troy. Built in 1860, it is one of the nation's finest surviving examples of a Long truss, patented in 1830 by engineer ...

. In June 2017, Reynolds reversed an

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

policy that had discouraged sales of

bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large car ...

at the parks.

Later parks jobs

On January 24, 2018, Reynolds was moved out of the top parks job to lead Yosemite National Park in California. He led a staff of 800 there. On October 23, 2019, Reynolds was appointed as the National Park Service's regional director of the Department of the Interior Lower Colorado Basin, Upper Colorado Basin, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...

regions. In this role he oversees 89 parks in nine states.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Michael T Living people Trump administration personnel National Park Service personnel Yosemite National Park University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Regis University alumni Curecanti National Recreation Area Fire Island, New York Cape Cod National Seashore Mojave National Preserve Obama administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life and education

Career

National Park Service acting director

Later parks jobs

See also

References