Joe Elton
Director
Virginia State Parks

Joe Elton is the 6th person to serve as Virginia’s State Parks Director since the system was launched on June 15, 1936. He has been director since August 16, 1994.

Joe is an avid outdoorsman with a lifetime interest in camping, fishing, hunting, canoeing, hiking, biking and many outdoor recreational activities.

He is a 1973 graduate of The Ohio State University and he completed the Commonwealth Management Institute at the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1999 and the Virginia Executive Institute at the Center for Public Policy within the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU in 2005.

Following graduation from Ohio State, Joe went to work for the Ohio Legislative Services Commission. In 1975 Joe accepted a position with the Ohio House of Representatives where he worked for eight years. While with the Ohio House Joe served as committee staff, communications director, and chief of staff to the House Republican Leader.

Former Governor George Allen appointed Joe a Commissioner on the Governor’s Commission on Citizen Empowerment in 1994.

In 2001 Joe accepted on behalf of Virginia’s state parks the national gold medal for excellence in park and recreation management. In 2007 Joe received the National Association of State Park Directors Distinguished Service Award “In recognition of many years of dedicated service and inspired leadership to the conservation, interpretation and enhancement of our nation’s natural and cultural state park treasures.”

Joe has been active in many organizations, including:

• President, National Association of State Park Directors (1994-present)
• Member and Past President of the Association of Southeastern State Park Directors (1994-present)
• Founding member of the Virginia Association For Parks (1997 – present)
• Member of the Virginia Recreation and Parks Society (1994 - present)
• External Advisor to the U. S. Dept. of Interior, National Park Service, Development Advisory Board (2009-2012)
• Former member of the Board of Directors, Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway

Joe and his wife Patty reside in Powhatan, Virginia. They have two sons, Alexander, a Virginia Tech graduate and Lance, a graduate of Radford University.

Presentation

The Blue Ridge Parkway at 75 – A Successful Social and Economic Experiment

What will it take to preserve the natural, cultural, scenic, and recreational treasures of the Blue Ridge Parkway for the next 75 years? A call for citizen action!