YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Dan Wenk says he’s being forced out of his job.
Wenk recently announced he planned to retire at the end of next March but now says the new superintendent will take over this August.
Wenk says he’s being removed from his post in a disagreement over management of bison in the park and is calling his removal a punitive action. But he added that the National Park Service has not given him a reason why he is being removed.
Wenk previously told MTN News that he thought he could help make a smooth transition to Cam Sholly, the National park Service Midwest Director, who will take over the post in America’s oldest national park.
"I have confidence that he will do very, very well. I would certainly be willing to talk to them whenever they want, but I think he has a great staff here and he is probably going to get all the advice and counsel that he would need from the staff at Yellowstone National Park," Wenk said.
Wenk says he plans to move to Rapid City South Dakota where two of his three children and his grandchildren live.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition says it is “disappointed” about the news that Dan Wenk is being forced out ahead of his planned March retirement date.
