New chief for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

David Szymanski has been named the new superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, the agency said Monday.

Come fall, Szymanski, 44, will replace Woody Smeck, who recently transferred to Yosemite National Park after serving as the Santa Monica Mountains park's superintendent for 10 years.

Szymanski, who in his spare time competes in masters cycling events, is now superintendent of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in Oregon and Washington. He has also served at Everglades National Park in Florida and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota. He spent a year as a Bevinetto Congressional Fellow working on the Senate subcommittee on national parks.

In the 1990s, he spent two years working in the newly established national park system of Madagascar.

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-- Martha Groves

Photo: David Szymanski is the new chief for Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.