New chief ranger named at Glacier
The Daily Inter Lake
Glacier National Park Superintendent Mick Holm announced Friday that Mark Foust has been selected as the park's new chief ranger.
Foust replaces Steve Frye, who left Glacier last fall to become superintendent of Katmai National Park in Alaska.
Foust reports for duty in Glacier on Feb. 13.
Since 2003, Foust has been the branch chief of ranger activities for the National Park Service's Intermountain Region in Denver.
Foust is a third-generation National Park Service employee. His grandfather was an archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado and his father retired as superintendent of the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area in northern California.
Foust received a degree in resource science from the University of California-Davis in 1989.
He became a police officer for the U.S. Park Police in Washington, D.C., in 1990.
After a short stay there, he transferred to the Lake Meredith National Recreation Area in Texas, where he served in several ranger positions.
In 1996, Foust transferred to Padre Island National Seashore as a criminal investigator. He also served two years there as acting chief ranger.
Foust was named the first chief of operations for the newly established Oklahoma City National Memorial in 1998.
After getting the memorial up and running, he transferred to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area as chief ranger in 2000.
"Mark is well-liked and respected by his co-workers and possesses both the practical ranger background and the managerial experience necessary to be an effective chief ranger," Holm said in a press release. "I'm confident he'll be a valuable asset in protecting the resources we have in Glacier."
He and his wife, Lori, have three children: Allison, 9, Quentin, 7, and Kamryn, 5.
He enjoys competing in triathlons, running, hiking, hunting and biking, and also is enthusiastic about alpine and backcountry skiing.
"I lived in Fort Smith while my father was chief ranger of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area," Foust said.
"I'm looking forward to returning to the north and to the beautiful state of Montana."