P. Daniel Smith
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P. Daniel Smith is a longtime United States government administrator who is a former acting director of the U.S.
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 propert ...
in the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...
.


Early life and military service

Smith was born in
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
. He served in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
.


Career

From 1970 to 1975, Smith worked as a staff member for Senator
Sam Ervin Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician. A Democrat, he served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, he liked to call himself a "country lawyer", and often ...
, Democrat of
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. Smith was a lobbyist for the
National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...
from 1978 to 1980. Smith worked at the Department of the Interior in the Reagan administration from 1982 to 1986, first as deputy assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, and then at the National Park Service as director of legislative and congressional affairs. He joined the
General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
in 1987 and worked there until 1997. Smith was superintendent of
Colonial National Historical Park Colonial National Historical Park is located in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia and is operated by the National Park Service of the United States government. The park protects and interprets several sites relating to the Colony of Virgini ...
in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
from 2004 to his retirement in 2015. The park includes a 23-mile parkway and historic sites including Jamestown and Yorktown Battlefield. In 2004, Smith worked as a special assistant to National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella. In that role, according to a 2006 inspector general report, Smith "unduly influenced" deliberations by officials at the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park in helping
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
owner
Daniel Snyder Daniel Marc Snyder (born November 23, 1964) is an American businessman and owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football team belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Washington Redskins, ...
cut down 130 trees on a Park Service-protected
easement An easement is a nonpossessory right to use and/or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B". An easement is a propert ...
to improve his view of the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...
.


National Park Service acting director

In January 2018, Smith came out of retirement to rejoin the National Park Service as deputy director. Two weeks later, on January 24, 2018,
Interior Secretary The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...
Ryan Zinke Ryan Keith Zinke (; born November 1, 1961) is an American politician and businessman. Zinke, a member of the Republican Party, served in the Montana Senate from 2009 to 2013 and as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large congressional d ...
named Smith as acting director of the National Park Service. During a
government shutdown A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government. Government shutdowns in the Un ...
in January 2019, Smith announced that visitor fees typically saved for future projects would be used to keep the most visited national parks functioning instead. The Government Accountability Office concluded in September 2019 that this action broke federal spending law.


2026 Independence Day celebrations

On September 30, 2019,
Interior Secretary The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...
David Bernhardt David Longly Bernhardt (born August 17, 1969) is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior from 2019 to 2021 during the presidency of Donald Trump. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the deputy secretary of the interior. Befo ...
reassigned Smith to lead efforts to celebrate the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4, 2026. David Vela was named the National Park Service acting director.


See also

*
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 propert ...
*
Organization of the National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, P. Daniel Living people Reagan administration personnel Trump administration personnel American lobbyists Colonial National Historical Park National Rifle Association National Park Service personnel People from Maine General Services Administration officials Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)