Natchez Trace chief ranger Sarah Davis named Yellowstone’s first woman chief

Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly announced the selection of Sarah Davis, a 20-year National Park Service veteran, as the park’s new chief of resource and visitor protection. Davis will be the park’s 18th chief ranger in the more than 100 years it has been managed by the NPS and the first woman to hold the post.

Davis will oversee more than 275 employees at Yellowstone who perform law enforcement and emergency medical services, search and rescue, wildland and structural fire, dispatch, fee collection, special use permitting, trails, corrals and backcountry operations.

“Sarah is an outstanding leader with a track record of high performance, strategic thinking, and collaboration,” Sholly said in a release. “We’re lucky to have her join the Yellowstone team.”

Davis has been the chief ranger at Natchez Trace Parkway since 2012. There, she led law enforcement and emergency medical services, search and rescue and other operations within the 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive that travels through three states. Davis also managed a staff of 40 and a $3.5 million budget.

In 2016 Davis received the first Southeast Region Excellence Award for professional leadership among chief rangers.

Previously, Davis served as the acting superintendent at Vicksburg and Guilford Courthouse National Military Parks, NPS branch chief of law enforcement operations, NPS acting deputy chief of operations and policy, and deputy chief ranger at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. She also held a wide range of assignments at Manassas National Battlefield Park, Independence National Historic Park, Assateague Island National Seashore and Blue Ridge Parkway.

“It is an honor and privilege to be selected for this position,” said Davis. “I’m excited to join the Yellowstone team, and work together to protect our first national park and its visitors, and ensure the health, safety, and wellness of our employees.”

A native of Lexington, N.C., Davis has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy in 2013.

She and her two dogs, Eleanor Roosevelt (aka Ellie) and Ginny will settle in Yellowstone by mid-December.