David Szymanski

David’s love of the outdoors dates to 1975, when his family moved from the city to the country. He spent his childhood exploring the creeks, wetlands, and woods of the Great Lakes region. In 1976, to celebrate the Bicentennial, his grandparents took him on a trip that circumnavigated the West and visited national parks, including Badlands, Yellowstone, and Carlsbad Caverns, among others. Of special note for the family was a visit to Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where his grandfather had worked as a cook on a Smithsonian expedition to collect sloth fossils. The trip left him hooked on parks. 

David’s 35 years of work in conservation include 30 years of Federal service, starting with service as a Peace Corps volunteer in the national parks of Madagascar and ending as the National Park Service’s Pacific West Regional Director. As Regional Director, he oversaw all parks in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, parts of Arizona and Montana, and the territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. He led a team of 5,300 full-time and seasonal employees and oversaw 65 parks spanning 13 million acres, hosting 65 million visitors a year and contributing $5 billion to local economies. 

David served as the superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area from 2012 to 2023 and of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park from 2007 to 2012. He worked in positions at Voyageurs National Park, Everglades National Park, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2022, Szymanski served as the acting NPS associate director for partnerships and civic engagement, overseeing the agency’s largest grant program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, as well as philanthropic partnerships and community assistance. 

David’s conservation work also includes serving for 11 years on the Board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a state conservancy that has partnered to invest an estimated half-billion dollars in the conservation of southern California’s mountains. He also served for two years on the Board of the non-profit Irvine Ranch Conservancy. Szymanski holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University. He served two years in the Bevinetto Fellowship program, an honor established by Congress to improve mutual understanding and cooperation between the National Park Service and Congress. 

David is deeply committed to welcoming people to their parks, especially those who may not have the means to do so on their own, and to protecting lands and waters for today and future generations. David has a special commitment to military service members, veterans, and their families. His father served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he is married to the daughter of a career Army officer. As Regional Director, he had the honor of overseeing parks in the Northern Marianas, where his grandfather fought during World War II, and of memorializing the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor with veterans and representatives of the government of Japan.