Tollefson To Step Down At Yosemite

Yosemite National Park, CA — Seattle native Mike Tollefson will be stepping down as Yosemite´s superintendent December 31, 2008.

Tollefson will move to the Bay Area to assume the presidency of The Yosemite Fund, the primary fundraising arm for trails, habitat, wildlife, visitor center exhibits and cultural preservation projects at the Park.

The selection of Tollefson culminated a six month national search conducted by the organization´s Transition Task Force and Board of Trustees.

Outgoing President Bob Hansen stated that, “Mike is the perfect choice to lead The Yosemite Fund and work with the National Park Service, donors and many others to improve the Park in the years ahead.”

Tollefston stated that after 36 years in the National Park Service it was time to move on and allow someone else to take over the leadership at Yosemite. He readily admitted that Yosemite is his alltime favorite location in the National Park Service.

Tollefson joined the Yosemite staff in December, 2002. Prior to that appointment Tollefson served as supertendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska along with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Written by Bill Johnson