DENVER — Linda Mazzu has been named superintendent of Bryce Canyon National Park by Intermountain Region Director Sue Masica. Mazzu brings 34 years of federal natural resources experience with her and will report to the park in early March.
Mazzu’s appointment to this position was finalized on Jan. 5, 2017, before the Presidential Memorandum regarding the hiring freeze was issued on January 23, 2017.
“Linda’s experience building teamwork and enhancing communication within her staff and across divisions, as well as a proven track record developing partnerships and collaborating with local communities and other agencies will serve her well in this new role,” Masica said. “Linda also brings with her significant experience managing issues associated with increasing visitation at several of the parks where she has worked, which make her ideal for this key position.”
Mazzu began her career at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks as a biological technician. Afterward, she served as an outdoor recreation planner in Washington D.C. for the NPS Rivers and Trails Conservation Assistance program. She then moved to Grand Canyon National Park to serve as a branch chief for natural resources overseeing air quality and aircraft overflight management. Linda also worked for the Bureau of Land Management and United States Forest Service in Oregon as a botanist/plant ecologist and at the National Interagency Fire Center as a fire planning and compliance specialist. In 2008, she returned to the NPS as the Yellowstone National Park environmental compliance coordinator where she led the development of new natural and cultural resources compliance processes. Mazzu is currently working at Yosemite National Park as Division Chief of Resources Management and Science.
“I’m deeply honored and excited to be able to serve and support the staff and partners of Bryce Canyon National Park,” said Mazzu. “Bryce Canyon occupies a special place in my heart and I feel very lucky to be its next superintendent.”
At Yosemite, Mazzu manages a complex division of more than 100 natural and cultural resource professionals. Mazzu oversees a range of programs related to visitor use, rockfall management, ecological restoration, air quality, water quality, black bear management, reintroduction of endangered species, historic properties management, tribal consultation and implementation of the Merced and Tuolumne Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management plans.
Mazzu has a Bachelor of Science degree in Park and Recreation Management from Penn State and a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources from Humboldt State University in California. Mazzu and her husband Erik Christiansen, who is retired from the Department of the Interior, will be moving to Bryce Canyon in early March.
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