What Does a Park Superintendent Do?

A park superintendent might be responsible for a number of activities in a local, regional, or national park. Coordinating the activities performed by rangers, planning and overseeing expansion projects and new education programs, and suggesting improvements are a few possible responsibilities. When potentially dangerous or hazardous conditions arise, he or she might coordinate and oversee relief and recovery efforts. Maintaining records and preparing necessary reports are possibly completed by him or her as well.

The coordination of ranger activities is perhaps one of the largest components of a park superintendent job. He or she is usually responsible for ensuring all aspects of care and management are attended to. In addition to assigning specific tasks to rangers, this individual might conduct specialized training programs and ensure each ranger is handling responsibilities effectively.

It is common for many parks to be expanded and have new education programs added to accomplish a variety of goals. This may include bringing in new visitors, or offering more educational programs for children. A park superintendent might research these opportunities, write proposals, and oversee the work on the projects. Often, these responsibilities are delegated to others.

There are often changes that might need to be made to a park over a number of years, so a park superintendent is generally responsible for suggesting improvements to those individuals who have the power to authorize them. This usually means he or she has a good knowledge of the specific park and what is working well and what has room for improvement. He or she would likely benefit from the ability to clearly and effectively communicate why these changes are important.

In addition to the routine activities a park superintendent might complete, unique situations sometimes arise. Dangerous conditions such as forest fires or pollution would generally warrant someone in this position to be calm, focused, and knowledgeable on how to successfully solve the problem. Once a plan has been put into place, he or she would usually oversee the efforts and act in a supervisory role.

While a park superintendent might have assistants to help with paperwork and recordkeeping, he or she might be responsible for certain records and reports. End-of-year, attendance, and or incident reports are examples of items he or she might be responsible for. These records might just need to be completed and filed, or they may need to be processed and read by a board of directors or others.