Frank Lands is moving from the Army to the National Park Service, where he'll serve as a regional director/Courtesy of Frank Lands

An Army officer is joining the National Park Service as director of the agency's Pacific West Region, with oversight of park units in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, parts of Arizona and Montana, and the territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Frank Lands comes to the Park Service after more than 20 years of experience managing natural and cultural resources and conservation programs with the U.S. Army. He is leaving his position as deputy garrison commander at Fort Bliss in Texas, and will begin his new role on January 16.

“Frank comes to the National Park Service with a wealth of leadership experience guiding natural resources, cultural resources, and conservation programs with the U.S. Army as well as infrastructure and emergency services and public safety programs having overseen operations at one of the most diverse garrisons in our nation’s military,” said NPS Deputy Director Shawn Benge. “His experience aligns with the NPS mission and will support the needs of one of our largest regions as the NPS continues to address the challenges of unprecedented wildfires, drought, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Throughout my career, I have looked for opportunities to get back to my natural resource roots,” said Lands in a prepared statement. “It is an honor to support the mission of the National Park Service and the people who protect and preserve some of our nation’s most significant places. I am excited to work with parks and programs to support the Great American Outdoors Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. I look forward to our work together to reduce maintenance backlog, improve infrastructure, and the opportunity to explore the more than 65 parks throughout the region.”

Lands began his career with the U.S. Army as an environmental specialist and forester in 2000. Over the last 10 years, he has held deputy garrison commander positions at five large Army posts and installations. One of these positions was in Italy, where he created a program to connect Americans to their new Italian communities.

Through his work, he collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a memorandum of understanding for improved endangered species management on behalf of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command Atlantic Region. He has been deployed to Iraq twice to support infrastructure and installation management activities for the U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development. In addition, he served seven years in the U.S. Army Military Police.

Most recently Lands served as the deputy garrison commander of Fort Bliss, where he led installation operations in support of the Department of Health and Human Services mission to house 10,000 unaccompanied children, and the departments of State and Homeland Security’s missions to house and assimilate over 10,000 Afghanistan evacuees. Lands has also led multimillion-dollar capital improvement projects and worked to address a U.S. Army housing need in Fort Bliss.

In the same role, he managed the largest cultural resource management program in the Army with more than 19,000 archaeological sites and 550 historic buildings. Additionally, he led a workforce of over 3,800 military, civilian, and contractor professionals. His U.S. Army experience has fostered relationships with federal, local, and international governments to improve collaboration and communication.

Lands holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Texas, a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Bachelor of Science in forestry and natural resources from Ohio State University. He looks forward to relocating to the Bay Area, California, with his wife, Angela.