Current Position: Public Services Manager II (Park Manager)
How long have you been with working in the state park system and in what capacity?
A total of 26 years, including seasonal work (5 years), GMRT (1 year), ranger (3 years), and manager (17 years).
How did you become involved in working in the park system?
I was a young and impressionable 18 year old who saw a good looking girl while driving my motorcycle through Crawford State Park. I stopped and talked to her and she asked what I was doing for the summer. During the course of our conversation she told me that the park was hiring and I went in the office and talked to the manager who gave me a summer job. I was not thinking of this as a career as I was headed to law school. Well the attraction of the park stuck and I have been here ever since.
Describe a typical day at your job. (If there is no such thing as a typical day, then please tell us about your primary responsibilities and duties.)
Peak season my weekdays start with a tour of the park. During this time I check with the camp hosts to ensure that all has gone well the previous evening. If not, I assume a law enforcement role and deal appropriately with the situation. Also during this tour I check for needed maintenance items and direct the seasonal maintenance crews appropriately. I then go the office and check mail and deal with whatever administrative functions that is required of me. From that point on I take what the day gives me which could include dealing with private cabin owners, personnel issues, solving mechanical or plumbing problems, additional law enforcement patrol, answering legislative inquires, developing park enhancement proposals, or special assignments given by my supervisor.
Weekends I spend most of my time doing law enforcement and supervising seasonal employees. Off season most days are spent doing park renovations, budgeting or completing annual reports, recruiting staff, and maintaining various certifications.
How many hours a week do you work in this position?
In the winter I put in about 40 hours per week. During the peak season and special events it can go as high as 60 plus hours.
What aspects of your job do you enjoy the most?
I love the development of new amenities and the joy they bring our patrons. It has always been my goal to exceed their expectations on development projects.
What do you find to be the greatest challenges of your job?
We work with very limited staffing and relay heavily on seasonal employees. To achieve the type of operation that our patrons and I expect of our facility, it is becoming increasing challenging to find persons who want a seasonal job and have a good work ethic. To overcome most of this, we have had to adapt our maintenance work week from five eight days to three. This allows seniors to work for us, who have a great work ethic, with the reduced schedule they find most desirable. We are also challenged with limited seasonal budgets so we are constantly looking for additional sources of labor. These include volunteers, citizen support groups and federal programs such as AmeriCorps. Finding adequate staffing is always our biggest challenge.
What kind of training/schooling is required in your position?
A bachelor's degree in a natural resource subject is required for my position.
Is there any kind of training or general experience that you wish you had before taking your job?
As a long term seasonal employee, then starting at entry level I learned the business from the bottom up. This adequately prepared me for my current position and gave me insight for those I supervise.
What are a few of the projects that you've been working on recently that have been the most interesting?
We were given the opportunity to design and build our first rental cabin this past winter. Our crew utilized a number of outstanding skills to develop a facility which has been overwhelming well received by the public. We are currently developing plans for the construction of a second this winter.
Family camping experiences are a priority for us and we have had several opportunities to develop several amenities to accommodate this user groups. In recent years we have had the opportunity to build two playgrounds, renovate day use facilities and develop a group camping area.
Another note worthy project is our Civilian Conservation Corps self guided historic trail and memorial. The park staff developed a quarter mile self guided trail at the former CCC camp site with pictures and history of our project. This trail surrounds a life size bronze statue of a CCC worker. This was a great project which included many persons who worked at the camp as well as persons from the local community who wished to pay tribute to those who helped developed our park.
If someone were interested in working in your position, what advice could you give them?
Develop your staff and constantly challenge them to work up to their capabilities. Never settle for the status quo. Have long range goals for your facility but never become rigid as to which you will accomplish first. It is good to have priorities, but constantly look for opportunities within the system to make each a reality.
Any further thoughts?
A career in resource management will make you a living, but will not make you rich. The rewards are the satisfaction of being a good shepherd of your project, hopefully leaving it better than you found it, and seeing the public's satisfaction for the good job your team is doing.
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