Auburn alumnus Matthew Capps was named director of Alabama State Parks last fall. (photo courtesy Billy Pope/Alabama DCNR)

This past fall, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) named Auburn University alumnus Matthew Capps as the new director of Alabama State Parks.

Since graduating from Auburn in 2009, Capps’ path to the state park system has been anything but linear. He has worked in various arenas of recreation and landscape management, including the private sector, municipal government, city government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the nonprofit sector.

“Working in city parks, you’re managing the expenses, while on the nonprofit side, you’re also managing the income and constantly fundraising and writing grants; then working in the private sector provided a lot of critical experience in managing teams,” Capps said. “Many people think Alabama State Parks is funded through tax dollars, but we’re not — we actually run it like a business. So, all my previous positions have really prepared me to be successful in this role.”

As director of Alabama State Parks, Capps oversees 21 state parks, three golf courses and over 48,000 acres of state recreation land that attract over 6.2 million visitors each year.