A new interim superintendent is scheduled to start at Pinnacles National Park on Monday after the departure of Karen Beppler-Dorn.
Gus Martinez, the deputy chief ranger at Yosemite National Park, will be the Pinnacles superintendent starting Monday in an assignment set to last until Jan. 12, said Elizabeth Hudick, a spokeswoman and park ranger for the park.
Martinez will take over for Brent Johnson, the Pinnacles chief of cultural resources who stepped in as a short-term interim superintendent. Martinez has been deputy chief ranger at Yosemite since July 2015.
Once Martinez finishes his interim term at Pinnacles, the national park expects to bring on Lisa McInnis to take on the interim superintendent role starting Jan. 13. McInnis is chief of resource management for Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Hudick said.
Hudick said the National Park Service Pacific West Regional Office is overseeing the search for a permanent superintendent.
The superintendent oversees the park and 35 full-time employees.
“We’re all really excited to have Gus join us here,” Hudick told San Benito Live.”I think it’s going to be an interesting time in the next few months.”
Pinnacles National Park is starting to cool off after the hot late summer period.
“It’s getting a little more pleasant for hiking,” she said.
Pinnacles National Park had 233,334 visitors in 2017. With the fiscal year just finishing at the end of September, the park is still tabulating its latest year’s data.
Interim superintendent set to start at Pinnacles National Park
