{"id":710,"date":"2012-01-05T18:07:20","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T02:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/?p=710"},"modified":"2022-08-03T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T22:39:10","slug":"longtime-smmnra-superintendent-woody-smeck-promoted-to-leading-role-at-yosemite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/2012\/01\/05\/longtime-smmnra-superintendent-woody-smeck-promoted-to-leading-role-at-yosemite\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime SMMNRA superintendent Woody Smeck promoted to leading role at Yosemite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Smeck currently oversees Santa Monica Mountains<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn<\/a>, January 5, 2012<\/span><\/div>\n
\n

Woody Smeck, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, will be hitting the dusty trails for Yosemite in the springtime.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Smeck was promoted to deputy superintendent of Yosemite National Park, a job he will start in April. In the meantime, he will serve a stint as regional director for the National Capital Region, overseeing the National Mall and parks in Washington, D.C. The National Capital Region includes the Washington Monument and the Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorials.<\/p>\n

Smeck is known by many as a soft-spoken man of integrity who has worked tirelessly over the past 10 years to protect and expand the public lands in the Santa Monica Mountains.<\/p>\n

By all accounts, Smeck has been successful at his job. He oversaw nearly 154,000 acres of mixed public open space and private lands surrounded by an urban population of 19 million people.<\/p>\n

With yearly visits to the park exceeding 35 million, the Santa Monica Mountains area is among the most visited federal parklands in the nation, according to the NPS Digest, an online media outlet hosted by the park agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goals were fairly simple,\u201d he said. \u201cOne was to provide an exceptional visitor experience,\u201d which to Smeck meant decent signage within the mountains, clean restrooms, \u201cgreat trails\u201d and enticing ranger-led educational programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe focus was on customer service,\u201d Smeck said.<\/p>\n

Protecting the mountains and wildlife habitat for as many species as possible was another goal set by Smeck. The fragmented landscape with public and private land use made this goal a challenge, but the acquisition of 85,000 acres of public parkland over the years helped.<\/p>\n

The $615-million investment was achieved by leveraging public money with private donations.<\/p>\n

\u201c We\u2019re constantly working with permitting agencies to strike a sustainable balance between private land development and protection of public parks,\u201d Smeck said. Even so, about 1,300 acres a year are lost to development of private lands, mostly for residential projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happens all along the perimeters,\u201d Smeck said. \u201c(Development) infringes on recreation trails, spoils the natural beauty and encroaches on wildlife corridors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lastly, Smeck is proud that the quality of park facilities was improved during his tenure. The design of parking areas and park entrances were improved to \u201cmatch the scenic qualities of the park,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Smeck points to Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park and Point Mugu State Park as examples of how modern design can improve park facilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat existed there previously was a dirt road leading to a small dirt parking lot with no facilities. . . .\u201d Smeck said. \u201cDuring my first attempt to find it I got lost. Now we have a real nice entry road, monument sign, scenic, large parking area and exhibits that explain the features of the park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim Lamorie, president of the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation said Smeck was named the federation\u2019s 2011 Citizen of the Year and was lauded as being the individual who had more of an impact on the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area than anybody else.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a remarkable, humble, quiet genius,\u201d Lamorie said. \u201cWe will be forever grateful to Woody. . . . We are grateful for the 21 important, significant years we have had him and for what he has preserved, created, envisioned and therefore ensured for the future of our mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lamorie said Smeck improved safety standards for wildland fires by funding and staffing the Community Wildfire Protection Plans for mountain neighborhoods. He also secured American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding that led to the construction of the visitor center at King Gillette Ranch, she said.<\/p>\n

The NatureBridge environmental education campus in the national recreation area was created under Smeck\u2019s watch. And, amid the 2009 state budget crisis when state parks were threatened with closure, Smeck obtained federal funding and kept them open.<\/p>\n

Smeck said he is most proud of building a solid working relationship with the California State Parks and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes the national recreation area so unique is that it is a mosaic of state and national parks,\u201d Smeck said. \u201cVisitors can pass through a state park site, national park site and the conservancy and they wouldn\u2019t even know it. There is no other system quite like this in the country.<\/p>\n

Another feather in Smeck\u2019s wide-brimmed superintendent\u2019s hat was President George W. Bush\u2019s recognition of the national recreation area in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe recognition of the work we had done was thrilling,\u201d Smeck said. \u201c(Bush) made a policy speech using the Santa Monica Mountains as a stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was featured in a Ken Burns documentary, \u201c The National Parks: America\u2019s Best Idea.\u201d The film premiered at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills.<\/p>\n

Smeck grew up in Bakersfield, and has lived in Moorpark for 21 years with his wife, Karen. They have two daughters, Allison and Megan.<\/p>\n

\u201c It\u2019s going to be a tough change,\u201d Smeck said of his new challenge in Yosemite. \u201cI love the community and love the area in general,\u201d he said about Southern California. \u201cI\u2019ve had other opportunities, but I couldn\u2019t find anything that matched up to the quality of life in the Conejo Valley and eastern Ventura County.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Yosemite appears to be a good fit for Smeck and his family. They plan on settling in the town of Mariposa, a gateway community into Yosemite Valley.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smeck currently oversees Santa Monica Mountains Source of this article: The Thousand Oaks Acorn, January 5, 2012 Woody Smeck, superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, will be hitting the dusty trails for Yosemite in the springtime. Smeck was promoted to deputy superintendent of Yosemite National Park, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,32,30,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-nps","category-land-manager","category-santa-monica-mountains"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3726,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions\/3726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venturacountytrails.org\/WP\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}