OAN Staff Lillian Mann and Brooke Mallory
4:40 PM – Tuesday, April 28, 2026
President Donald Trump has officially withdrawn the nomination of Delaware North executive Scott Socha to lead the National Park Service (NPS), according to a White House announcement released Monday.
The move comes amid the president’s broader efforts to restructure the agency.
While Socha’s selection in February was initially intended to bring private-sector efficiency to the parks, it was immediately met with resistance from conservation advocates who raised concerns regarding his corporate background and potential conflicts of interest.
According to surfacing reports, Socha formally stepped aside by citing “personal reasons” for his decision to end his bid for the directorship.
“I am grateful to the President and the Secretary of the Interior for the confidence placed in me and appreciative of the consideration shown throughout the nomination process,” Socha said.
He also told Fox News that, “In March 2026, I withdrew from consideration to serve as Director of the National Park Service for personal reasons.”
As the president of parks and resorts for the Buffalo-based hospitality giant Delaware North, Socha oversees a portfolio for one of the largest privately owned entertainment and hospitality firms in the world, which maintains lucrative service contracts with numerous national parks.
However, this corporate pedigree fueled skepticism among various conservation groups, who questioned whether his private-sector background provided the necessary expertise to manage the vast and complex National Park System.
Critics argued that his experience might not translate to the nuanced stewardship required for hundreds of diverse federal sites, which span from the urban symbolism of the Statue of Liberty to the rugged, remote wilderness of the Utah desert.
“We’ve said all along that Scott Socha was deeply unqualified to run the National Park Service,” Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the conservation nonprofit Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement.
“Our parks deserve far better than someone who spent his entire career trying to privatize them. President Trump should have no problem finding a qualified leader inside NPS… unless they’ve all taken [Interior Secretary] Doug Burgum’s latest buyout offer.”
Since the reconstruction of the NPS under the Trump administration, Burgum has shared his goal to “modernize” the agency by shifting more staff into “visitor-facing roles,” while reducing administrative or non-field-based positions — as part of a broader push to decrease federal bureaucracy.
Emily Douce, with the advocacy group National Parks Conservation Association, said on Monday that the next director for the service needs to “undo the damage.”
“It’s very unfortunate that our parks have gone more than a year without a permanent director at a time when they need strong, steady leadership the most,” Douce declared.
The administration’s vision for the NPS involves a drastic fiscal overhaul, with a proposed 2027 budget that would slash operating funds by over $1 billion to a total of $2.2 billion. This plan purportedly includes a workforce reduction to just 9,200 employees — a nearly 30% decline from 2025 staffing levels.
While similar cuts proposed for 2026 were blocked by Congress, following “warnings” from park advocates and former staff that the agency could not survive such a shortfall, the administration has doubled down on its restructuring efforts.
Burgum has also simultaneously faced backlash over the removal of park exhibits and signage related to climate change and Native American culture. Nonetheless, he defended these changes as an effort to pivot away from “divisive” and “agenda-driven” content in favor of unifying historical narratives.
Despite the White House’s initial confidence in his ability to bridge the gap between private-sector hospitality and federal land management, his withdrawal leaves the agency’s leadership in transition as it faces budgetary and cultural shifts.
The NPS is currently under the leadership of Acting Director Jessica Bowron, the agency’s comptroller. This period of administrative transition also coincides with significant policy shifts aimed at increasing revenue from foreign visitors.
As of late 2025, the NPS has implemented a new fee structure requiring international tourists to pay $100 per visit to access premier destinations such as Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon.
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