V.I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove
V. I. National Park Superintendent Mark Hardgrove celebrated his 40th anniversary with the National Park Service on April 22.
Hardgrove, a 40-year veteran of the National Park Service and a native of Bethesda, Md., started with the NPS in the Washington, D.C. area working at various posts, including the C&O Canal National Historical Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway, the NPS Special Events Team, and National Capital Parks East.
He served for 11 years as Deputy Superintendent at San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico, eight years at Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida and six years as the Deputy Superintendent at the Outer Banks Group of Parks (Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Monument, and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site) in North Carolina.
Hardgrove has also served at Valley Forge National Historical Site, Colonial National Historical Park and was acting Superintendent at Cumberland Island National Seashore and Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. He was acting Superintendent at VINP during recovery operations after Hurricane Marilyn in 1995 and loved it so much he returned to serve as Superintendent 12 years later.
Hardgrove assumed his position as the Superintendent of Virgin Islands National Park and Coral Reef National Monument in September 2007. During his time as Superintendent he has worked hard alongside island residents to improve the park’s integration into the local communities with the goal to best support the park’s natural and cultural resources programs.
Hardgrove has always enjoyed working with the government of the Virgin Islands but most of all with the passionate people.
Congratulations on 40 years with NPS.