JACKSON (WNE) — Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Cam Sholly will be leaving the park at the end of the month, following 30 years in federal service including eight as superintendent.

Sholly is leaving for a job as chief operating officer of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit that supports conservation efforts. The organization brought in $584 million last year, and its executives are paid north of $500,000, according to the organization’s tax documents filed in July.

Sholly made $225,700 as park superintendent in 2025, according to OpenTheBooks.com, a government transparency-focused nonprofit.

Sholly saw the park through the COVID-19 pandemic, record visitation in 2021, and the 2022 historic floods.

Prior to leading Yellowstone, he worked as a seasonal employee in the park, served in the U.S. Army and directed the Park Service’s Midwest Region. He also was the Park Service’s associate director for visitor and resource protection, chief of ranger operations at Yosemite National Park and held other leadership roles within the agency.

Sholly is a third-generation Park Service employee. His grandfather was the chief ranger of Shenandoah and Big Bend national parks, according to a Jackson Hole Magazine profile. He was also the superintendent of Badlands National Park. Sholly’s father held positions at several parks, including chief ranger at Yellowstone.

The Park Service will announce an interim director and has begun searching for a permanent replacement.

Conservation groups that have worked with Sholly during his tenure spoke positively about his leadership.

“I am grateful that we’ve had Cam at the helm all these years,” said Michelle Uberuaga, Yellowstone program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “He leaves at a time when Yellowstone and our national parks need strong, nonpartisan leadership, and although we will miss his leadership here immensely, I am sure he will be an ally for wild places for the rest of his career.”

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