Practicum

I am completing the practicum portion of my college education at Steamboat Lake State Park. I opted to work for this organization in this location for a number of reasons. Most importantly I wanted to work for Colorado State Parks because someday I may work for a government agency. If I do work for a government agency I would like to work for either the National Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. Working for State Parks is an excellent means of “getting my foot in the door”. Working for this agency also facilitated for a work experience completely unlike anything I had done before. The second reason I wanted to work for Steamboat Lake S.P. is for the location. This state park is found 25 miles north of Steamboat and lies in the shadow of Hahn’s Peak a very popular landmark of the area. Another major factor besides being in Colorado during the summer, which I had never really expereinced before, was the incredible fishing around the area. That was probably the decisive point which made me go to Steamboat Lake.

History – Steamboat Lake and Pearl Lake are both reservoirs that are fed by multiple streams. Prior to the purchase of these areas by the state of Colorado in 1964, these lands were used for livestock grazing. The dam at Steamboat Lake was completed in 1967; Pearl Lake dam was finished in 1975. Initially Steamboat Lake was game and wildlife land, and wasn’t designated a State Park until 1972.

Mission Statement – Steamboat Lake State Park (SLSP) has only a mission statement. The mission statement reads: “A progressive team of professionals providing a quality environment for safe recreation, outstanding customer service, and responsible management of natural resources in a nationally recognized park setting.”

Major Policies – Personnel policies for SLSP are pretty standard for any government agency. Shifts consist of eight hours with a half hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks throughout the course of the day. Uniforms for the maintenance staff were provided as far as two SLSP tee shirts were provided along with a SLSP cap. Blue jeans or khakis, that are not excessively dirty or full of holes, are used as leg wear. Shorts are not allowed as for safety reasons. The use of alcohol while on the job is not permitted, as is the use of tobacco while in a state vehicle or in a state building.

Clientele Profiles – Steamboat Lake is referred to as a destination state park. What this means is that it is in a rather obscure location and is therefore not generally visited by people taking a spur of the moment camping trip. As would many of the urban state parks. Being that SLSP is a destination park a vast majority of its visitors are either families with young children or retirees with huge RV’s. Both of these user groups have a greater need for the convenience that a well-developed state park has to offer. Convenience such as flush toilets, a laundry/ shower facility, and electrical hook ups at a number of the sites. There is even talk of eventually offering phone lines at some sites, in order to facilitate for internet access in the great outdoors.

Budget and Funding Cycle – The funding cycle for state parks begins with each calendar year. Each park makes a bid for a certain amount of funding each year, and receives a lesser amount based on how much money accounting feels the park needs in order to get by for the year. SLSP received $48,933 for Operating in 2002. In this budget the pay for the seasonal employees is included, however full time employees are paid through the States budget. SLSP received $43,419 for Utilities. A significant portion of this money goes to running the parks own water treatment system as well as it’s wastewater treatment facility. The total budget allotted to SLSP for 2002 is $94,399.

Pearl Lake State Park (PLSP) being that the lake itself is not half the size of Steamboat Lake. And that it facilitates for 36 campsites to SLSP’s 198 does not receive as much budget as does SLSP. Pearl Lake received a total of $5,455 for 2002. PLSP received $3,587 for Operating and only $2,600 for Utilities used to run it’s one flush toilet facility. Other means for generating funds come through GoCo grants as well as pay showers that generated $10,000 for the park in 2001.

Staff Profile – There are 22 employees of SLSP for the summer of 2002. There are six full time employees and sixteen seasonals. Ken Brink Jr. is the Park Manager. This entails on-site supervision, park representation with the region and Denver offices as well as the management of the park budget. Ken usually will come in to the shop after the work day and talk to us about the days events before we leave. Ken has never really said anything negative about the agency. He has occasionally complained about some of the policies like the open range for example, but other than that he usually is always very positive. There are a total of eight rangers, four of which are armed. Mike Taylor is the senior ranger and he supervises park patrol and the law enforcement program. Mike has worked for the park for 20 years now and says it has been a great 20 years, but he is ready for a change. The other full time ranger is Heath and his title is revenue ranger. He collects money at the campground entrances and at the camper services building (CSB). I beleive Heath really enjoys working at the park. The downside is he has to work night patrol sometimes. Rangers generally enforce park policies as well as work with administration to keep track of availability of sites within the two parks. There are six individuals who work with visitor services, as well as one GoCo funded interpreter. Joyce Wetterberg is the Administrative assistant she more or less runs the non-bureaucratic portion of the park. She oversees the seasonal visitor services employees who are in charge of selling daily and seasonal passes as well as answering questions from the public. Finally there are six maintenance employees. Vern Mirante is in charge of the facility maintenance, which includes the water and wastewater systems, the operation and maintenance of two dams, as well as any other special projects throughout the course of the day. Vern is quite the character. On more than one occasion he has come to work unhappy about one thing or another. He is usually upset about some policy or disagreeing with something new that Ken wants to try. Matt Blecha is my direct supervisor and he is responsible for the maintenance of field projects. This includes the supervision of the seasonal employees, the natural resource protection program as well as the noxious weed management program. Matt is a very hard-working optimistic individual. I have never heard him complain about anything job related.

Geogrphical Implications – Steamboat Lake is located 28 miles north of Steamboat Springs, off highway 129. Thus putting the park, in the Rocky mountains of north central Colorado. The lake lies between several towering peaks, Hahn’s Peak, Sand Mountain, and Farwell Mountain, giving it tremendous scenerary. The parks locale offers great location for those who want hike or ride off-road vehicles on neighboring Forest Service lands. Steamboat being an out of the way destination means most people come to camp for a few nights. Steamboat is typically not the park where people stop in, and keep on driving.

Activities and Programs – SLSP offers a number of activities through the park as well as a number of activities offered through concessionaires. The park itself offers opportunities for hiking, swimming, fishing, overnight camping, day use areas, as well as incredible opportunities for photography, sight seeing and wildlife viewing. Also through a GoCo grant there is an interpreter who offers programs several times a week. She gives informative programs generally focused towards children. There are two concessionaires that operate at SLSP. Steamboat Lake Marina offers pontoon and motorboats for rental. They also have boat slips that individuals can rent for the season and keep their boat at the lake. In addition to rentals there is a convenience store that as I understand it offers very good homemade fudge. There is also a local outfitter that runs horseback rides through the park daily.

Steamboat Lake State Park is the eighth busiest park in Colorado it is a very large source of revenue for the state parks system. As important as it is to Colorado State Parks it is even more important to the surrounding community. The visitation that this park receives is the keystone to maintaining the surrounding areas economy.

Steamboat Lake State Park’s agency chart is basically organized by seperate departments with Ken being at the top. Ken oversees everything at the park thus including all facilities and employees. The chart then breaks down into the seperate departments of rangers, tourism and maintenance. All heads of the departments are equal in status with all reporting to Ken, except Heath. Heath must report to Mike and Ken. Maintenance does not technically have a department head, with Matt and Vern being class IV techs. Seasonals are directed by the head of their department.

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