Yellowstone National Park names 1st female chief ranger

Yellowstone National Park has named its first female chief ranger.

The Billings Gazette reports Sarah Davis, a native of Lexington, North Carolina, will become the 18th chief ranger in the more than 100 years the park has been managed by the National Park Service. She will start her new role in December.

Davis, whose official title is Chief of Resource and Visitor Protection, has worked for the National Park Service for two decades. Since 2012, she has been chief ranger at Natchez Trace Parkway, a 444-mile scenic drive through Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly says Davis “is an outstanding leader with a track record of high performance, strategic thinking, and collaboration.”

Two women, Lane Baker and Bonnie Schwartz, have served as deputy chief ranger at Yellowstone.