A smoother Skyline Drive
Patrick Kenney arrives from Yellowstone National Park
After a brief rain shower the sun shines down onto Skyline Drive south of the Thornton Gap Entrance two days after President Trump this past week signed the Great American Outdoors Act, which includes Virginia Sen. Mark Warner’s Restore Our Parks Act. As seen here with lane closures allowing for repaving the famous 105-mile drive, the act already is helping to tackle Shenandoah National Park's $80-plus million deferred maintenance backlog, which has impacted campgrounds, trails, visitor centers and the transportation infrastructure. Shenandoah also has a new superintendent.
In October, Shenandoah National Park will have some fresh leadership. The National Park Service (NPS) has announced that Patrick Kenney has been appointed as the park’s new superintendent.
Kenney comes to Virginia from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, where he has served as deputy superintendent for the past three years. Calling from his office in Mammoth, Wyoming, Kenney told this newspaper that Yellowstone is “a very special place and it grows on you, so it’s hard to leave. But from a professional standpoint I’m ready to go back to being a superintendent and Shenandoah is a great opportunity to do that.”
Kenney has worked for the NPS for 30 years. Before his stint at the oldest national park in the country, Kenney was the superintendent of Cape Lookout National Seashore, a 56-mile stretch of North Carolina coastline in the southern Outer Banks. He has also served as a natural resources manager at Big Cypress National Reserve in the everglades of South Florida and worked as the NPS Planning Branch Chief at the Denver Service Center.
“I was lucky to get on with the park service 30 years ago,” Kenney said. “I think it’s a real honor to work on these lands. They’re special places. This country is pretty unique in that we created this idea of National Parks and we set aside these areas to tell stories about our natural and cultural history and it’s a real honor to . . . tell their stories for all the folks of this country and an international population as well.”
Kenney will oversee an array of new projects in the coming years, as money from the Great American Outdoors Act will enable Shenandoah National Park to address its $80-plus million maintenance backlog.
“Exceptional projects, programs, and partnerships are underway, due in large measure to the vision and the dedication of the park staff,” said Kenney in a press release.
When asked how he imagines Yellowstone and Shenandoah might differ, Kenney said it “definitely will be a bit of a change . . . but again, most of the public only sees a very small percentage of the park.
“You know, a lot of the folks that come to visit Yellowstone travel through the road corridors and into the various developed sites within the park, which is not very different from Shenandoah.”
Kenney said he feels a little anxious about moving across the country during the pandemic, but he is looking forward to the opportunity to lead the iconic Shenandoah National Park.
“I look forward to working on efforts to preserve the park’s natural and cultural resources and enhance the visitor experience of our public lands,” Kenney said. “Shenandoah National Park has an extraordinary legacy that is in place for all seasons and for all peoples.”