DENVER – Marie Frias Sauter, a 22-year veteran of the National Park Service
(NPS), has been named superintendent of White Sands National Monument in
southern New Mexico. Sauter, who is currently superintendent of Fort Union
National Monument in northeastern New Mexico, assumes her new duties Aug.
12. She succeeds Kevin Schneider, who is now deputy superintendent of Grand
Teton National Park in Wyoming.
“Marie brings diverse skills, experience and expertise to the job of
managing a unique national monument,” Intermountain Regional Director John
Wessels said in announcing Sauter’s appointment. “I am confident in her
ability to manage White Sands and work collaboratively with our partners,
friends and local constituents to advance the mission of the National Park
Service.”
Sauter has served as superintendent at Fort Union since August 2006. She
began her NPS career as a volunteer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
in Tennessee and North Carolina. She has worked in several national parks
in a wide variety of roles, including law enforcement, fee
collection,Geographic Information Systems or GIS, and natural and cultural
resources management. Her previous stations include posts in Shenandoah
National Park and Prince William Forest Park, both in Virginia; Rocky
Mountain National Park in Colorado, and Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National
Historical Park in Maryland. She also has served on professional panels
including the NPS’s Civil War Sesquicentennial National Steering Committee,
Partnership Council Committee, and the Vanishing Treasures Leadership
Committee.
“I am thrilled and honored for the opportunity to serve as superintendent
of White Sands National Monument, where we protect the world’s largest
gypsum dune field,” Sauter said. “It is an amazing geological wonder, with
exceptional research opportunities for scholars from around the world. I
look forward to working with the park staff and our partners in the
surrounding communities to continue our mission of protecting and
preserving the monument’s remarkable resources.”
In her new role at White Sands, Sauter will manage 143,733 acres, a staff
of about 30, and an annual operating budget of more than $1.6 million.
A native of Mexico City, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in
geography at the University of Georgia. She has lived and traveled abroad
(Europe and the Caribbean), and is married to Rodney Sauter, who is also an
employee of the NPS.