Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Scott See is stepping down as director of the Keweenaw National Historical Park.

CALUMET — The Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission is looking for a new director.

Scott See, who has held the post since 2009, will be stepping down later this summer. He said Tuesday he will take some time this summer to identify his next steps.

“I’ve really enjoyed my experience working for the Advisory Commission, and I’m looking forward to finding a successor who is excited about the opportunity to help tell Michigan’s copper story,” he said.

See first became involved with the advisory commission in 2007 doing research while he was pursuing a Ph.D. at the industrial heritage and archaeology program at Michigan Technological University. He applied for the executive director when it became available in 2009.

“I thought it was a good mix of my interest in history and my management skills from prior employment,” he said.

The executive director oversees administration, programs and strategic plan for the commission, composed of seven volunteers appointed by the Secretary of the Interior.

See said the commission’s biggest accomplishment during his tenure was the acquisition of the Quincy Smelting Works, a 19th-century facility in Ripley used by the Quincy Mining Co. The commission purchased the smelter from Franklin Township in 2014.

Stabilization and environmental cleanup continues at the site, “hopefully putting it on the path of beneficial reuse by the community in the future,” See said.

Another accomplishment See cited was setting up a structure through which the commission operates with the NPS and the park’s 21 Keweenaw Heritage Site partners.

The commission holds regular public meetings with the National Park Service, its annual Heritage Grant program and other assistance programs for partners, as well as ongoing project opportunities with the partner sites.

To succeed in the job, a candidate should be able to manage people and projects, and also have a love of local history “that in our case, has national significance,” See said.

As for advice for his successor, See said they should embrace the partnership nature of the park and the story of Michigan’s copper mining.

“Working together with our partners in the National Park Service and the commission and the heritage sites, we’re all able to do things together we couldn’t accomplish on our own,” he said.

People interested in the job can apply at knhp.hirescore.com. More information about the park is available at nps.gov/kewe.