CLEVELAND — Ohio’s only national park recently made history, not for what’s inside the boundary lines, but for who oversees them. 

“I always wanted to work with protected areas and I know how important they are,” said Lisa Petit. “Not just for the environment and the wildlife species, but for the people.”

Petit said she is now living her dream. 

“I am doing exactly what I always wanted to do,” she said. 

She’s the first female superintendent in the nearly 50-year history of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. 

The park is about 26 river miles long, stretching from Cleveland to Akron, and encompasses approximately 33,000 acres of land. 

The Cuyahoga River was designated as a state water trail in 2019 and serves as a main focus of the park. 

“As you’re on the river, you don’t see all the development,” she said. “So you feel that much more removed from the urban or suburban world.”

With people paddling along the river and exploring the nearly 140 miles of park trails in record numbers during the pandemic, it was the seventh-most visited national park in 2020. While tourism traffic is a big part of that total, Petit, a former wildlife biologist, wants to raise local awareness. 

“They’re going to know exactly who we are and what we offer,” she said. “Which is an outstanding recreational and authentic history experience.”

The park also provides a place to escape the stresses of everyday life. 

“You’re hearing the sounds of the river, you’re hearing the sounds of birds,” Petit said. “Those are the sounds that help calm us and give us the strength to keep going.”

In addition to overseeing Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Petit also oversees the James A. Garfield and First Ladies National historic sites.