Alan B. Carpenter has been selected to lead the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) Division of State Parks as the eighth administrator in the agency’s history. He will assume responsibility for the care and management of 55 state parks and 14 other places of interest, which encompass 34,000 acres of coastal and wildland recreational areas, scenic waysides and cherished places spanning from Nāpali Coast State Wilderness Park on Kauaʻi to ʻAkaka Falls State Park on Hawaiʻi Island. He will also oversee the care of natural and cultural resources of national and international significance, including historic state monuments such as ‘Iolani Palace. Carpenter started his DLNR-tenure as a state parks archaeologist in 1992. He spent the last decade as assistant administrator for the Division of State Parks and has served as acting administrator since the end of 2025.