Editor's note: This updates with comments from an email acting NPS Director Dan Smith sent to the Park Service workforce this morning.

Along with working to reorganize the whole of the Interior Department, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is making some sweeping moves at the top of the National Park Service.

With P. Daniel Smith out of retirement and back at NPS headquarters as deputy director, Mike Reynolds, who served as acting director for 300 days, and then stayed on in that role but with a slightly different title to get around the 300-day limit, is heading west to become superintendent of Yosemite National Park. That job has been without a permanent superintendent since Don Neubacher resigned in September 2016 amid allegations that he fostered a hostile work environment.

With Mr. Reynolds departing, that clears the way for Mr. Smith, who more than a decade ago was found to have ignored Park Service regulations and pushed through a permit to allow the owner of the Washington Redskins to cut down trees in a scenic easement along Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, to formally become acting director. 

“Mike did an incredible job stewarding our parks through 2017,” Secretary Zinke said Tuesday morning in announcing the change. “His leadership helping me combat sexual harassment and discrimination in the service as well as his big-thinking ideas to address the maintenance backlog is very much appreciated. I have all the trust in the world that Mike will bring his years of experience in field and in management to Yosemite."

Mr. Reynolds said that his family's long connection with Yosemite made his return there "feel like coming home—it’s an incredible honor that I take very seriously."

“Times have changed since my grandparents served as 40-year concession employees in the park. However, we should still provide world-class service and experience to visitors in ways that sustain Yosemite into the next century," he added in a statement. "My focus will be on that, and on supporting our employees, repairing infrastructure and working closely with the communities and people around and associated with the park.”

Regarding Mr. Smith's appointment as acting director, the Interior secretary said, "Dan has a strong record of leadership in the National Park Service both in Washington and on the front lines as a superintendent of a park that tells the stories of some of the most consequential moments in American history. I can think of no one better equipped to help lead our efforts to ensure that the National Park Service is on firm footing to preserve and protect the most spectacular places in the United States for future generations.”

Mr. Smith retired in 2014 after 10 years as superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park in Virginia. National Parks Traveler  learned early this month that he would return to help lead the Park Service as deputy director, at least on a temporary basis as President Trump has yet to nominate a permanent Park Service director.

Before he went to Colonial, Mr. Smith was special assistant to then-NPS Director Fran Mainella. During that stint, he was found by the Interior Department's Inspector General to have "inappropriately used his position to apply pressure and circumvent NPS procedures" to permit Redskins owner Dan Snyder to have trees up to 6 inches wide at breast height on the easement cut down to improve the Potomac River view from his mansion.

According to the investigation by then-Inspector General Earl Devaney's staff, the Park Service failed to conduct the requisite environmental assessment as required by the NPS Director's Handbook before issuing the special user permit to Mr. Snyder.

Mr. Smith had become involved in the matter in 2002, according to the OIG report, and in 2004 called Chesapeake and Ohio Canal staff to say that, "Snyder was not happy with the pace of negotiations with NPS concerning the scenic easement."

In assessing the matter, Mr. Devaney wrote that, "our investigation also revealed the unprecedented decision to allow Mr. Snyder to cut on the easement resulted from the undue influence of P. Daniel Smith. Smith inappropriately used his position to apply pressure and circumvent NPS procedures, on Snyder's behalf, through his personal communications with park officials and Mr. Snyder and his representatives."

In an email sent to all Park Service employees after his appointment was announced, Mr. Smith wrote that:

I come to this job with a keen understanding of how decisions here in WASO affect all of you on the front lines, and I will keep that in mind every day. While I have more than 40 years of experience in government service, my time as superintendent of Colonial National Historical Park was a career highlight and will greatly influence the work I hope to do on behalf of the National Park Service over the next few years.

Personally, I felt like this was the right time for me to come back and to contribute to the extraordinary mission of the National Park Service. I will use all of my skills and experience on behalf of all of you to serve as an effective bridge between the NPS and the Department.

I realize I am writing to you just after you and your colleagues are returning from a brief government shutdown. I was deeply impressed by the hard work and dedication of staff in Washington, regional offices and parks to prepare for and manage during the shutdown. The Secretary and many other visitors and partners were incredibly grateful for the NPS efforts during the shutdown, and your professionalism was recognized and appreciated.