After 13 months serving as interim superintendent at Yosemite National Park, Dave Uberuaga will return to run Mount Rainier National Park.

Uberuaga learned Tuesday that he would not be named to run Yosemite. Instead, Don Neubacher was chosen to be the superintendent. Neubacher has been superintendent at Point Reyes National Seashore, north of San Francisco, for the past 15 years.

Uberuaga has been running Yosemite since Jan. 4, 2009, taking over following the retirement of Mike Tollefson.

The temporary post was expected to last only a few months. But a change in administration in Washington, D.C., led to the 13-month stint.

“It’s good to have a decision, I’m glad for that,” Uberuaga said from the California park.

“It has been a great opportunity down here. I admit I felt some general disappointment. But going forward, I will be a better manager. I have a new perspective on things.”

It could take six weeks for the transition, Uberuaga said. He also plans to take some time off before he goes back to his office outside Ashford.

Uberuaga spent the first 24 years of his National Park Service career at Mount Rainier before his temporary move to Yosemite. He has been superintendent since 2003.

His return allows a number of other employees return to their normal duties. Most notably Randy King has been the acting superintendent, while Roger Andrascik has been serving in King’s position as deputy superintendent.

“Things will transition back to normal, but it will be different,” said Donna Rahier, who has been working with the park’s superintendents since 1978. “Dave will come back with new experience and new perspectives, he will have a new way of looking at things.”

“It’s great news for Mount Rainier,” said Sean Smith, policy director for the National Parks Conservation Association’s Northwest office. “Dave is a proven, outstanding leader. We’re happy to have his vision and his presence back at Mount Rainier.”

The past year at Yosemite has been filled with challenges. The park just announced a plan to require permits to hike up Half Dome. In September, the park settled a decade of litigation over a plan to control development along the Merced River.

“Dave stepped into one of most complex assignments in the National Park System and never missed a beat,” said Jon Jarvis, National Park Service director, in a news release.

“He got up to speed quickly, moved negotiations along on the largest concession contract in the system, and provided the day-to-day leadership that our partners and employees need to care for Yosemite.”

Uberuaga knows he faces new challenges at Mount Rainier.

The park staff is close to releasing an environmental assessment for the Carbon River corridor. The road was extensively damaged in the historic flood of November 2006. While the assessment will list several alternatives, park officials have already said the road will not be rebuilt.

The park also is looking for the estimated $5 million to do a seismic retrofit of the Paradise Inn Annex, where most of the guest rooms are located. The inn was closed for the 2006-2007 seasons while the same work was done on the main building.

Park staffers also have begun developing an environmental assessment to gauge the effect of work to be done on the 17.6-mile road from the Nisqually entrance to Paradise. The cost estimate for the work is about $32.7 million. The work is not expected to begin until 2012.

That assessment is expected to be released for public comment in May.

Then there are issues related to climate change and this week’s announcement that budgets are going to be frozen for the Park Service.

“The challenges are endless,” Uberuaga said. “Randy and I were pressed every day. It’s a very demanding place.”

One aspect Uberuaga will use from his time at Yosemite is a greater appreciation for the park staff.

“I always have been a people person, focusing on the staff. But it was reinforced here, you really have to take care of the people who work there,” he said.

He also learned park managers cannot spend too much time making decisions.

“You really don’t get to dwell on things very long because they keep piling up. You gather the information you can, make a decision and look for the public response,” Uberuaga said.

“Your managing it for your constituents. You have to be out front with them, listen and take to heart what they say and do something about it to the extent that you can.”

Uberuaga said he will be sad to leave the Yosemite Valley. But he also knows it means the end to the daily phone calls home to his wife Barbara and the occasional trips home to Eatonville.

“There is some comfort knowing I have my Mount Rainier family and friends. It’s the most perfect place in the world,” he said.

“I feel bad there is an opportunity lost, but I get to go back to a place I dearly love.”