Mark Spier, a 36-year veteran of the National Park Service and a former ranger in Olympic National Park, has been named superintendent of Padre Island National Seashore off the coast of Texas near Corpus Christi.
Spier begins his new position today, according to the park service’s Intermountain Region Director Sue Masica.
Now the superintendent of Palo Alto National Historical Park in Brownsville, Texas, Spier had served as the interim superintendent of Padre Island last summer.
In his new role, Spier will oversee management of both Padre Island National Seashore and Palo Alto National Historical Park.
He will manage more than 130,400 acres and a workforce of about 50 people.
Prior to his appointment as superintendent of Palo Alto, Spier served as the chief ranger at Big Bend National Park and the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River.
He was a ranger in Olympic National Park from January 1991 to May 1995.
Among his other assignments have been acting superintendent at Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site in Arizona; district ranger at Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park in Maryland; district ranger at Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida; and park technician and subdistrict ranger at Everglades National Park in Florida.
Spier is a native of Boulder, Colo.
