Washington – President Bush has chosen a former acting superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park as the new director of the National Park Service to replace Fran Mainella, who announced this summer that she would step down.
Bush’s nominee, Mary Bomar of Philadelphia, has served as the Park Service’s Northeast regional director since 2005. She previously helped manage several major revitalization projects that led to surges in park attendance.
Mainella announced her resignation in July, citing family concerns. Bomar’s nomination needs Senate confirmation.
Park advocates, some of whom blasted Mainella for bending to commercial interests, praised Bush for choosing a nominee from within the agency.
Bomar “has been a very good regional director in terms of supporting park needs and park resources, and I think that gives us reason to believe she would be quite an improvement,” said Bill Wade, executive council chairman of the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.
Bomar was born and raised in England and became a U.S. citizen in 1977. She was the first superintendent at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, among other jobs. She was acting director at Rocky Mountain National Park for two months in the fall of 1999.
Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said Bomar’s passion for the national parks “mirrors that of the American people.”
Bomar headed Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia from 2003 to 2005, helping oversee the launch of several new exhibits and a $5.2 million rehabilitation project. The new construction helped boost park visitation by 35 percent.
