{"id":10139,"date":"2026-02-14T15:24:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/14\/trump-nominates-upstate-ny-man-to-lead-national-park-service-newyorkupstate\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T15:24:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T15:24:26","slug":"trump-nominates-upstate-ny-man-to-lead-national-park-service-newyorkupstate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2026\/02\/14\/trump-nominates-upstate-ny-man-to-lead-national-park-service-newyorkupstate\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump nominates Upstate NY man to lead National Park Service &#8211; newyorkupstate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"main\">\n<div>\n<nav aria-label=\"articleLabel\">\n<ol id=\"articleLabel__list\">\n<li id=\"articleLabel__listItem\"><a id=\"articleLabel__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorkupstate.com\/outdoors\/\" title=\"Navigate to Outdoors\">Outdoors<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<ul>\n<li><time datetime=\"2026-02-14177105395200007:25:52\">Published: Feb. 14, 2026, 7:25 a.m.<\/time><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<figure>\n<div>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"sync\" alt=\"National Parks Increased Fees\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newyorkupstate.com\/resizer\/v2\/RPU5HGUSCVGJ7EZZT3THY7SLKM.jpg?auth=d5e7ffa1d5877662f2a0232361c6da59fa838fa8e3c7d06d8bb7e958e98199bb&#038;width=1280&#038;smart=true&#038;quality=90\"  ><\/p><figcaption><span>Tourists flock to Mather Point at Grand Canyon National Park on Oct. 1, 2025, in Grand Canyon, Ariz.<span>AP<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\">\n<article id=\"arc-5HKZ4RSSGZGL7GC6AJZYWTZD6U\" data-type=\"article\">\n<div>\n<p id=\"NE63W7PX4JB3LGQ43TJ53KWJZI\">President Donald Trump has nominated for director of the National Park Service an executive from a hospitality company that holds extensive contracts with the agency he would lead.<\/p>\n<p id=\"RTZNUVUQR5HWVIOZDZBZSX25TI\">The nomination of Scott Socha late Wednesday follows widespread firings within the Park Service as part of efforts by Trump\u2019s Republican administration to sharply reduce its size. The administration also has faced blowback for the removal or planned removal of national park exhibits about slavery, climate change and the destruction of Native American culture.<\/p>\n<p id=\"Z4TAHTBSVZCHBFXTNHP7SW23ZY\">Administration officials have said they are removing \u201cdisparaging\u201d messages under an order last year from Trump. Critics accuse it of trying to whitewash the nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p id=\"PA3XRJ5LUBBEFM4D7UUD2V6KOY\">Socha is a president for parks and resorts at Delaware North, which describes itself as one of the world\u2019s largest privately owned hospitality and entertainment companies, with more than $4 billion in revenue in 2022. The company provides hospitality services in at least six national parks, including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Shenandoah, said spokesperson Cait Zulewski.<\/p>\n<p id=\"PPLO5TGLAVCKLDQWJNPLSWBTRA\">Socha is a resident of Western New York, went to St. John Fisher for his undergraduate degree and earned his MBA from the University at Buffalo.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ZEEPT2GXSRGW5FEHVQX6UZW7ZI\">Delaware North, which is based in Buffalo, has more than 40,000 employees, according to its website. Socha has been with it since 1999 and will continue in his role there while his nomination is pending, Zulewski said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"STISAL36JZEMTI4RKXKYVOVUZM\">The Senate must confirm Socha\u2019s nomination.<\/p>\n<p id=\"FAVPGCBW5RAVLMCN77FCIOK434\">White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Socha was \u201ctotally qualified\u201d to execute Trump\u2019s plans for the park system.<\/p>\n<p id=\"QWRVJE3DEZHNBBOD3RSFPE4LPE\">\u201cScott looks forward to implementing America First initiatives, such as increasing park access for American families, reducing permitting burdens, and raising money for conservation projects,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"WRMTTO3VNJFNXJHGNWKQNPCX4Y\">Trump last year proposed cutting the Park Service\u2019s $2.9 billion operating budget by more than $900 million. Park supporters and former employees said that would effectively gut the agency.<\/p>\n<p id=\"UVFCFFAKXVHM7JUGEACEQLRQJU\">The cuts were blocked by lawmakers in Congress who recently voted to keep the service\u2019s budget at about the same amount as the last two years. However, the parks already lost almost a quarter of their employees, or more than 4,000 positions, due to firings and other changes since Trump took office, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group.<\/p>\n<p id=\"HZQZNWS4MNGPDPFFXH35LMCDVQ\">Association director Theresa Pierno said Thursday it was ready to work with Socha, but he must reverse course on recent policies. The Park Service has gone more than a year without a confirmed director.<\/p>\n<p id=\"Z3HPE7YCVVEF5AJUXQR4CGZF3I\">\u201cIf confirmed, he must put the Park Service\u2019s mission first, stand up for park staff, fill critical vacancies and halt attacks on our nation\u2019s history,\u201d Pierno said. \u201cGiven Mr. Socha\u2019s years of experience working with the Park Service, we hope he will be that leader.\u201d<\/p>\n<section data-gaid=\"_R_1np78q_\">\n<ul data-testid=\"list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/news\/2026\/02\/syracuse-fires-its-sidewalk-snow-plowing-company-over-performance-issues.html\">Syracuse fires its sidewalk snow plowing company over performance issues <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/weather\/2026\/02\/light-snow-returns-to-central-ny-on-friday-night-1-3-inches-possible.html\">Light snow returns to Central NY on Friday night; 1-3 inches possible<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.syracuse.com\/weather\/2026\/02\/snowfall-totals-for-upstate-new-york-who-got-the-most-snow-feb-11-12.html\">Snowfall totals for Upstate New York: Who got the most snow? (Feb 11, 12)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outdoors Published: Feb. 14, 2026, 7:25 a.m. Tourists flock to Mather Point at Grand Canyon National Park on Oct. 1, 2025, in Grand Canyon, Ariz.AP President Donald Trump has nominated for director of the National Park Service an executive from a hospitality company that holds extensive contracts with the agency he would lead. The nomination [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}