The new Indiana Dunes National Park superintendent will be Jason Taylor, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service who has worked in areas ranging from Massachusetts to Alaska.
“Having spent most of my career in faraway places,” Taylor said in a National Park Service news release, “I am excited to return home to serve the people and resources of the Great Lakes states.
“I am looking forward to joining the talented park staff and contributing to the exceptional work already happening to care for a place that’s so special, ecologically and culturally, and to the community and partners.”
Taylor will start his job at Indiana Dunes this spring, working remotely at first before moving to the area in May.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan – Flint and his doctorate from the University of Michigan.
He succeeds Paul Labovitz, the park’s superintendent for nine years until retiring last June.
Chris Pergiel has been acting superintendent since Labovitz retired. He formerly was deputy superintendent.
During Labovitz’s tenure, Congress changed the park’s name and status from Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to Indiana Dunes National Park, and the park started charging for admission.
Paul Labovitz, superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Park, looks out over Lake Michigan at the Indiana Dunes National Park West Beach, in Gary on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Post-Tribune).
The name change enhanced the park’s stature.
Indiana Dunes also is said to be one of the more botanically diverse areas of the National Park Service.
Taylor has worked for more than three years as director of the U.S. Forest Service’s Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute in Missoula, Montana.
He previously worked for the National Park Service in 2013, serving at Cape Cod National Seashore as chief of natural resource management and science.
He also worked for the National Park Service as Alaska’s regional chief of natural resources.
He went on to be superintendent of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Skagway, Alaska, before joining the Forest Service.
National Park Service Midwest Region Director Bert Frost said, in the news release announcing Taylor’s appointment to Indiana Dunes, that Taylor’s “ability to manage resources through integrating science and ecology with land use principles will be a great asset to the park and the interdisciplinary team of professionals who steward it.”
Tim Zorn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
