Presidio Trust Board of Directors Selects Executive Director

Presidio of San Francisco (December 9, 2002) — The Presidio Trust’s board of directors has selected long-time Presidio advocate Craig Middleton to serve as the organization’s executive director. Middleton has held the post of acting executive director since December 2001.

Middleton’s selection, arrived at unanimously by the Trust board, concludes a six-month process which considered more than 250 local and national candidates.

“Perhaps more than any other individual, Craig understands the Presidio’s mission. Over more than a decade of involvement in Presidio preservation he has demonstrated management leadership, an ability to generate support for park preservation locally and in Washington, and a true dedication to this place. We have great confidence in his ability to balance the many historical, environmental, political, and economic challenges,” said Toby Rosenblatt, chairman of the Presidio Trust board of directors.

Middleton’s selection as Trust executive director caps a decade in which he has been instrumental in the Presidio’s conversion from military post to national park. He was the Presidio Trust’s first employee and served as deputy director for Government Affairs, Programs, and Administration for four years prior to assuming the acting executive director position.

Prior to coming to the Trust, Middleton served as an aide to Representative Nancy Pelosi and as director of government affairs for the Golden Gate National Parks Association. He helped build a local and national constituency for the Presidio and he worked on the legislation that created the Presidio Trust.

Middleton assumes leadership of an agency of more than 300 employees with an annual budget of nearly $80 million. He oversees historic and natural resource protection, real estate and economic development, operations and maintenance, and programs for the public enjoyment of the Presidio.

In this past year as acting executive director, Middleton oversaw development and release of a successful Presidio management plan that will guide the park’s preservation and economic sustainability for several decades. “I am privileged to serve as steward of one of the most beautiful pieces of public land on the continent. The Presidio holds special meaning for me and for many others locally and nationally. I am dedicated to working with anyone who will lend a hand to assure its ongoing protection and enhancement.”

Created by Congress in 1996, the Presidio Trust is charged with preserving the Presidio’s natural, historic and scenic resources while making the park financially self-sufficient by 2013. Six presidential appointees and the Secretary of the Interior, or his designee, sit on the Board of Directors and oversee the management of 80 percent of the Presidio lands.