Shawn Benge had his training as a landscape architect, and now he is overseeing one of the most important landscapes in the Chattanooga area.

On Feb. 4, he began serving as the new superintendent of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

He came from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where he served for 13 years, most recently as chief of professional services, planning and facility management.

“I am thrilled to be here,” Supt. Benge said. “The park is a valued member of the community. The folks I have talked with have been absolutely wonderful.”

And he feels fortunate to be at a park that has a great story to tell, and an equally significant place to tell it.

“It was one of the major Civil War battles, and it is more intact than some battlefields being preserved today,” he said.

He also said that the whole Chattanooga community seems to be a great place to live, with its focus on recreation, arts and other amenities.

A native of Seymour, Tex., Supt. Benge received his landscape architecture degree from Texas Tech University. His first job with the National Park Service came when he went to work at Big Bend National Park in Texas as a landscape architect.

He later worked in Denver before being assigned to the Smokies.

He said he was drawn to work for the National Park Service in large part because he is an avid outdoors person. And at Chickamauga, he is certainly getting an opportunity to be in the outdoors.

Although most people associate Chickamauga Park with its Civil War history, it has become increasingly important for its green space in this era when large open spaces near urban centers like Chattanooga are disappearing. As a result, some visitors these days are more interested in seeing meadows than markers, or in jogging or biking through the mostly natural landscape.

Supt. Benge himself has also enjoyed these amenities. Although he eventually wants to find a home to buy to build up some personal equity, he is currently living in a home in the park.

“I ride my bike to work and I have an opportunity to go home and ride and talk to visitors,” he said.

While out among the green space, he has not encountered Green Eyes or any of the other ghosts that are supposed to haunt the former battlefield, he said with a laugh.

When not enjoying the park during his off hours, Supt. Benge has found plenty of work to do in his new position. One key area of focus, he said, is planning and helping develop the interpretive and cultural center at the recently acquired Moccasin Bend land.

The acquisition will preserve important aspects of Native American and Civil War history and also help tell the Trail of Tears Indian removal story.

“How we will manage Moccasin Bend is an exciting time for the park,” he said.

He is also helping the National Park Service begin to plan for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battles in the next few years. Part of this planning will be seeing how the Chickamauga and Chattanooga historic sites can be preserved for the next 150 years.

He has also found plenty of added responsibilities in his first position as superintendent. Although he actually oversaw more people in his last job at the Great Smokies, in Chattanooga he has responsibility over additional departments, including law enforcement.

Supt. Benge believes that being an effective National Park Service superintendent involves an understanding of and ability to develop partnerships.

“In today’s world, the National Park Service cannot be as successful without partnerships,” he said. “Partnerships are essential to a superintendent’s responsibilities.”

And he is certainly glad to be in his line of work, working with a landscape much bigger – and important – than many landscape architects get to enjoy.

“I am having a great time,” he said.