National Park Service Director Fran Mainella announced the selection of Edy Williams-Rhodes as the chief for the Division of Fire and Aviation in Washington, D.C. Williams-Rhodes will assume her new responsibilities June 15.

“Edy brings with her a wealth of experience in the natural resources field, all of which have been in support of fire management activities,” Mainella said. “She is one of only four area commanders in the interagency fire arena and is highly respected by her peers across agency boundaries. We are fortunate to have Edy join our team, and I look forward to working with her.”

As the chief of the Division of Fire and Aviation, located within the office of the associate director for visitor and resource protection, Williams-Rhodes will be responsible for overall program formulation, direction and coordination of the National Park Service wildland and structural fire, and aviation management programs.

“It is an absolute honor and privilege to be selected as the next chief of fire and aviation for the National Park Service,” said Williams-Rhodes. “I have devoted most of my career to wildland fire management activities which has given me a profound sense of purpose and pride. I look forward to working with the employees of the NPS as well as our interagency partners on the resource and public protection challenges and opportunities that we share.”

Since February 2000 Williams-Rhodes has served as regional director for aviation and fire management for the Southwestern Region of the Forest Service in Albuquerque, N.M. Prior to that position, she was stationed in Washington, D.C., at the Forest Service national headquarters. While there, from October 1996 through February 2000, Williams-Rhodes served in the Aviation and Fire Management staff unit in three positions including assistant director of planning, branch chief for cooperative fire, and branch chief for planning, analysis and information resource management. Prior to her experience in Washington, she worked in various staff and line officer positions in the Southern Region of the Forest Service.

Williams-Rhodes has actively served in incident management since 1979. She holds two bachelor of science degrees from Mississippi State University, one in forest management and one in education.