Growing up among the contours of the Blue Ridge landscape, Roanoke native Ed Clark found his path. It led directly to a successful career with the National Park Service and his newest role, superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
“When I left Roanoke more than 20 years ago, I never thought I’d be back working in the area, so it’s really nice to come back and work on resources,” said Clark.
He’s now helping ensure the future of the nearly 2,200-mile hiking trail. It’s part of a unique cooperative management system. The Appalachian National Scenic Trail goes through 14 states from Georgia to Maine and is visited by more than 4.5 million people each year. The long, linear footpath is difficult to maintain, so 29 different clubs fill that role. As superintendent, Clark works alongside the trail clubs, the U.S Forest Service and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. It’s the largest public-private partnership in the federal system.
“We’re really fortunate to get somebody with local connections here,” said Kathryn Herndon-Powell, Central Virginia regional manager for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. “He already knows the landscape and understands the importance of these places to people locally; with previous folks, there’s been a learning curve.”
That knowledge of the southern portion of the Appalachian Trail started in the early 1980s when Clark was a Vinton Boy Scout. Most of those days were spent exploring outdoors and hiking. That’s when he began volunteering and dreaming of a career with the National Park Service.
“I started volunteering in high school on the Blue Ridge Parkway,” he said. The jobs included trail work and resource management projects. He put in hours at Peaks of Otter and the visitors center at Johnson Farm.
Clark graduated from William Byrd High School in Roanoke County in 1986 and holds degrees from Radford University and Ferrum College.
“At Ferrum College I was an outdoor rec major, and my father would complain that’s a very expensive summer camp — you spend all your time canoeing, caving, rock climbing and camping and hiking,” he laughed. He later got a degree in biology at Radford because he was interested in the sciences, even though his heart was outdoors.
“I figured if the Park Service thing didn’t work out, I could get a job as a biology teacher,” he said.
As fate would have it, Clark never had to rely on his backup plan. He has worked for the National Park Service in various positions for 36 years. Most recently, Clark served in the Pacific West Region as senior program analyst and acting superintendent of the Mojave National Preserve. Before that, he spent three years as superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park. He was named superintendent of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail in September.
His new role brings him back to the familiar trails he once traversed as a teen. At 3 p.m. Thursday, Clark will speak at a ribbon-cutting in Salem for the new McAfee Knob trailhead shuttle stop at Longwood Park.
Other projects and partners are also on his Roanoke Valley schedule.
“I’m going to be spending some time in the field looking at projects, hiking to the top of McAfee while I’m in town,” he said. Clark also plans to visit the construction of a pedestrian bridge that carries the Appalachian Trail over Virginia 311 in Roanoke County. The area was a safety concern because hikers had to cross the road to access the trail after parking. The crossing is along a curve with limited sight distance for drivers.
And his hometown stop wouldn’t be complete without a bowl of chile at the Texas Tavern in downtown Roanoke. It just happens to be near the Campbell Avenue office of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
“I’m really excited to get back home. This is certainly one of the places where it feels like mixing business with pleasure,” said Clark.
Next week it’s on to Georgia, then April brings him to New England with stops in Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts.
His long-term goals for the Appalachian Trail are to protect the viewshed, find resources and funding and make sure the public has access. Current projects include protecting and acquiring land in Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
When he’s not traveling, Clark works in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, at the Appalachian Scenic Trail office. He lives in Leesburg with his wife, Heidi.
