LOVELAND — After a 42-year career in public lands, Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent Vaughn Baker announced his retirement last week.
Baker took the helm at RMNP on Aug. 11, 2002, and led the park through many highlights and challenges, including the recent yearlong centennial celebration, completion of new facilities, road repairs, fires and a bark beetle outbreak.
“He’s seen a lot, and he’s led us through a lot,” said park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson, who worked with Baker all 13 years he was at Rocky. “He has done a lot of great things. It’s really impressive.”
While the Park Service chooses a new superintendent for RMNP, Ben Bobowski has been named acting superintendent. He was serving as the chief of resource stewardship for the park.
Throughout his tenure, Baker accomplished more than can fit on a simple list.
Included among those accomplishments are: the revision of backcountry travel protocols after the death of park ranger Jeff Christensen in 2005, completion of new facilities at Hidden Valley, construction of the Lumpy Ridge trailhead and major reconstruction on Bear Lake and Trail Ridge roads with more than $60 million from the Federal Lands Highway Program.
Baker, who plans to remain in Estes Park, started his career with the National Park Service in 1984 and held a number of positions at many different parks from Virginia to Washington, D.C., to Alaska and Colorado.
