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Yellowstone Deputy Superintendent Steve Iobst will retire September 30, 2016, after 42 years in the National Park Service.
According to a Yellowstone press release, Iobst and his wife Debbie, a swim coach, plan to live in Jackson, Wyoming to be close to their grandchildren.
Mr. Iobst became deputy superintendent August 14, 2011, tasked with directing day-to-day operations in the Park. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior gave Iobst a Meritorious Service Award—the second highest honor the Department bestows. From a Yellowstone press release:
During his tenure at Yellowstone, Iobst has led partnerships with leadership in the Federal Land Highways Program and with local and state governments in order to develop park road improvements, including the Beartooth Highway. In conjunction with the Yellowstone Park Foundation and their corporate donors, Iobst improved operations and sustainability for park facilities.
Iobst began his career with the NPS as a student engineer in 1971 at the Eastern Service Center in Washington D.C. In 1974 he accepted his first permanent position as a civil engineer at the Denver Service Center after receiving a B.S. in civil engineering from Virginia Tech. As a designer and construction supervisor he was responsible for facility improvement projects in over 40 parks, which included short-term assignments at Shenandoah, Yosemite, Acadia, St. Gaudens, Gateway, Fire Island, and the Virgin Islands national park sites. He practiced engineering at Yellowstone beginning in 1979 in the maintenance and concessions management operations and worked directly for the superintendent overseeing planning and development. He left Yellowstone in 1988 and became the chief of facility management at Rocky Mountain National Park. He also served as the acting chief of facility management in Washington, D.C. in 1996. In 1997 Iobst returned to the greater Yellowstone area as the assistant superintendent at Grand Teton National Park and served as the acting superintendent at Grand Teton from November 2000 to February 2002. Iobst returned to Yellowstone in 2003 as the chief of maintenance directing the largest park-based asset management program in the NPS.
Although Iobst spent half his career in Yellowstone, he values the experience gained in park operations at other parks and the privilege of being involved in design and construction projects in numerous NPS sites in the Northeast.
Indeed, NPS director Jonathon B. Jarvis, speaking of Iobst and his Meritorious Service Award, said he “Made significant and ongoing contributions to both facility and park management issues…and led efforts to improve the visitor experience while protecting the resources of the park.” Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk presented the award to Iobst.
According to the Yellowstone press release, Steve and Debbie plan to visit several national parks and “every major league ballpark in the country” before settling in Jackson.
