Bryan Wilder, a veteran state park ranger, has been promoted to superintendent of Mount Mitchell State Park.

Wilder takes over from Jack Bradley, who retired as superintendent earlier this year.

As superintendent, Wilder will function as the chief of operations and administration with responsibilities for staffing, training, law enforcement, visitor services, natural resource protection and environmental education.

“Bryan is well-versed in the unique challenges presented at Mount Mitchell, the oldest state park in our system and one of the oldest in the nation. His range of experience will help ensure the park’s leadership in conservation and tourism development,” said Lewis Ledford, state parks director.

A native of Kentucky, Wilder is a 1996 graduate of Morehead State University with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science and geography. Wilder worked with the soil conservation district in Clintwood, Va., with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and as a math and science teacher in Dickenson County, Va., before joining North Carolina’s state parks system in 2005 as a ranger at Mount Mitchell State Park.