Who is Scott Socha? The new nominee to run the National Park Service

The Trump Administration announced its next pick to run the National Park Service in a tranche of new nominations sent to the Senate for consideration this week.

Scott Socha, a private sector executive with 27 years of experience leading large-scale hospitality and food and beverage concessions, was tapped to be the next director for the more than 400 park units, which cover approximately 85 million acres across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and several US territories.

“Scott looks forward to implementing America First initiatives, such as increasing park access for American families, reducing permitting burdens and raising money for conservation projects,” Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, told The Associated Press.

Rogers also told the AP that Socha was “totally qualified.”

For the last year, the NPS has operated without a Senate-confirmed director since Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III resigned in January of 2025. Since then, the Department of the Interior hired a number of interim leaders to manage the service through what has been a turbulent year of staffing and policy changes.

One of those leaders, Kevin Lily, a wealth management executive who led the response for the NPS during the Dragon Bravo wildfire on the north rim of the Grand Canyon last year, was nominated to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service in the same order.

Following the trend of placing leaders from less traditional backgrounds, Socha has no experience working in land management or for the park services. He does have adjacent experience as the company that he works for does extensive business with the National Park Service.

“This nomination of Scott Socha as National Park Service director comes at a critical moment for the agency. Since January 2025, the agency has lost nearly 25% of its permanent staff. That’s more than 4,000 critical positions gone and, with them, decades of knowledge that is not easily replaced,” said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy group with nearly 2 million members.

“The Park Service director must reverse course on the damage that’s been done to parks and park staff over the last year.... Our national parks need strong, sensible leadership now more than ever before. Given Mr. Socha’s years of experience working with the Park Service, we hope he will be that leader. NPCA stands ready to work with him.“

Who is Socha?

Scott Socha is the president of parks and resorts as well as managing the Australia portfolio for Delaware North Corporations, a Buffalo-based hospitality company that manages food and beverage around the globe.

Its properties are located in both Australia and North America, with such disparate locations as the Great Barrier Reef, Downtown Disney as well as some of America’s marquee national parks. The website reads, “We aim high,“ and boasts that the company has a “unique idea of what it means to deliver top-rate hospitality, entertainment and food service.”

Among its U.S. concessions, the corporation does significant business with the National Park Service. With contracts going back as far as 1980, it still maintains large hospitality outlets that are tied to the national parks and manages concessions within some of the parks themselves. For example, starting in 2023, it signed a 15-year contract to manage all 11 of Yellowstone National Park’s general stores.

Socha has been with Delaware North for 27 years and under the scope of his current role, the division he’s responsible for “provides hospitality services in seven national parks, three state parks, operates Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for NASA, owns and operates lodging in five national park gateway communities, such as Tenaya at Yosemite, a full-service resort.”

During Socha’s tenure, there were legal actions taken between Delaware North Corporations and the National Park Service.

After losing a bid to maintain its concessions within the park, Delaware North sued the National Park Service for trademark violations and intellectual property rights over the name of the Ahwahnee Hotel, Curry Village and Yosemite National Park itself. Delaware North assessed the value of those names to be $51 million.

The NPS did change the names of two of the locations for a brief period, but they settled the case and restored the names, after paying Delaware North $3 million dollars.

What have the reactions been?

Some conservation groups have expressed concerns over the optics of a concessionaire becoming responsible for federal budgets.

“Our public lands belong to all Americans, not the concessionaires who try to trademark and cash in on the names of our nation’s crown jewels,” wrote Aaron Weiss, deputy director for the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation advocacy group.

Weiss said he is worried because of the current state of the parks in general.

Socha, he wrote, will be “taking over an agency that has been decimated by the (Department of Government Efficiency) and is under increasing pressure to whitewash and rewrite American history. Senators must approach this nomination with the utmost skepticism given Scott Socha’s history and the current state of our national parks.”

There are others who expressed excitement for Socha being named.

“Congratulations to our friend Scott Socha on his nomination to serve as director of the National Park Service. Scott is an outstanding choice to lead the charge in preserving America’s natural and cultural treasures,” wrote The Bernhardt Group, an influential lobbying firm, on X.

“He has dedicated his career to environmental stewardship while strengthening the gateway communities that support and sustain our national parks. We commend the Trump administration for recognizing Scott’s leadership and proven track record through this nomination.”

For now, Socha’s nomination is with the Senate, with a hearing on the nomination pending.