HALEAKALA SUPERINTENDENT TO RETIRE

After 34 years with the Federal Service, Haleakala National Park Superintendent, Marilyn H. Parris, will retire at the end of this month.  During her four years on Maui, Parris was credited with her influence in helping the park to acquire more than 4,000 acres of native ecosystem lands at Nu’u in East Maui for protection and preservation.

Parris also tacked some complex challenges at Haleakala including issues with commercial services, downhill bicycle safety, air tour management, and the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope.  Parris began her National Park Service (NPS) Career in 1975 as a seasonal park ranger at Kings Mountain National Military Park in South Carolina at a time when few women were in the field.

Other seasonal experiences included Canaveral National Seashore and Biscayne National Park in Florida.  Her first permanent position for the park service was in 1978 at Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Illinois and then Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park in Georgia/Tennessee.

Parris plans on a retirement full of golf, friends, and new adventures in South Carolina.

(Posted by Wendy Osher:  Tuesday, January 06, 2009)  (Photo courtesy:  National Park Service)