Jennifer Takouhi Nersesian, the superintendent who has led Gateway National Recreation Area, including Sandy Hook for the past, 11 years, announced at the quarterly meeting of the Fort Hancock 21st century committee she is leaving this month to accept another position.
Nersesian, who brings 22 years of National Park Service leadership experience, has been selected as the next regional director of the National Park Service’s National Capital Region (NCR). Nersesian. She will begin her new role December 1.
“Jen’s leadership style and experience managing a complex urban park will be indispensable in her new role as regional director,” NPS Deputy Director Frank Lands said. “Forging collaborative partnerships, managing complex operations, and protecting natural, cultural, and historic resources are all skills Jen brings to the team.”
The National Capital Region comprises more than 79,000 acres of national parkland in the Washington, D.C., area including monuments and memorials, historic homes, Civil War battlefields, and natural areas. The region serves 55 million visitors annually with 1,100 NPS staff and 24,000 volunteers. NCR has a budget of $162 million and provides an estimated $3.4 billion in annual economic benefit to the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
“From America’s front yard and places where some of our country’s most defining moments happened to neighborhood national parks, National Capital Region parks represent the fabric of our nation and are integral to the daily lives of millions who live and work among them,” Nersesian said. “Preserving our history, providing spaces for people to get outside and connect with nature and each other — these are values that we can all come together around, and take on added symbolism and resonance in our nation’s capital. I’m so honored to have this opportunity to support and elevate this work.”
Gateway National Recreation Area is the largest urban national park and one of the most complex, visited and dynamic parks in the country. At nearly twice the size of Manhattan and covering more than 40 square miles in New York City and New Jersey, Gateway’s more than 450 employees welcomed approximately 8.7 million visitors in 2023 while caring for over 400 historic structures, including two National Historic Landmarks and nine National Register Districts; globally rare ecosystems and endangered species; more than 68 miles of paved roads, 45 miles of trails and sidewalks; 56 separate utility systems; 18 water access points, including piers, docks, and two commercial marinas; 20 picnic areas; four campgrounds; four visitor centers and numerous other visitor contact facilities. Nersesian’s management approach has included engaging partners, elected officials, government agencies, private industry, and the public in developing new robust strategies for improving the park experience.
Nersesian’s NPS career began as a Presidential Management Fellow with the NPS Pacific West Regional Office in Oakland, Calif. and as a Management assistant to the Superintendent and Chief of Public Involvement and Outreach Yosemite National Park, Calif. She served as superintendent at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, Mass., from 2009 to 2013 before her appointment at Gateway National Recreation Area. Nersesian holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and master’s degree in Public Policy from Rutgers University.
A native of New Jersey, the superintendent has a master of public policy degree with a concentration in environmental policy from Rutgers.
