New Ranger At The Helm

DAYTON - There's a new ranger at Lewis and Clark Trail State Park and she's got a big job ahead of her.

Melinda Owens, 38, began her new position at the state park on March 5 and she's chain sawing trees, burning and clearing trails to get ready for the park to open April 1.

Owens had been stationed on the Columbia Plateau Trail State Park and the Palouse Falls for the past 7.5 years. Unfortunately because of drastic cuts to the state parks budget, her position was eliminated. She was able to transfer to Lewis and Clark Trail State Park, but this position was also affected by the budget cuts. The ranger position was not eliminated, but the park's season is now only eight months.

"It was probably the best option I had out there," Owens said.

Owens replaced Bob Chalfant who is now working at Battle Ground Lake State Park, a year-round facility. He served as ranger at Lewis and Clark Trail State Park from 2010 to 2012.

"There's a lot of movement

(in the industry)," Owens said.

Owens' move to Lewis and Clark makes her probably the only female ranger in the park's history.

Under the park's new eight-month schedule, the park will be closed totally from Nov. 1 through March 31. Previously, the day use side was open year-round, she said.

Despite the recent move, Owens is moving into her new position very well. Her ranger station office has been dusted and a tiara in a box and photos from her wedding day adorn the desk. She's got two little space heaters to keep her warm, though if she turns them both on at the same time the circuit blows.

There's lots to do and explore, she said. There's plenty of cleanup of branches from winter storms. She takes out her chain saw occasional to take down a hazardous tree. It's quiet now because not too many people are around and she's having fun spotting new types of birds.

"The deer and muskrats aren't talking back," she said with a laugh.

When the season begins, she'll have much more com- pany in the park. She will supervise two seasonal park aids, a couple of camp hosts and she'll be cleaning restrooms.

"We'll just take it day by day," Owens said. "I feel I'll be busy for all eight months."

Owens enrolled in a natural resources program at Spokane Community College in 2001 and graduated in 2003. She spent a summer working in the field at a state park in Idaho and didn't really think being a ranger was the right track for her. Especially because rangers in Washington State carry weapons.

"I never wanted to be a cop," Owens said. "I want to be in it for the love of the park and the maintenance."

While she was working as a park aid at Riverside State Park in Spokane, the ranger convinced her to move forward with her career and become a ranger. It took her three years to go through the process, including a background check and psychology exam, and she became a commissioned officer.

The best part about her job is that every day is new and she gets to decide what she wants to tackle.

She said she really enjoys that no two days include the same tasks or meeting the same people.

Since she started, she has just been focused on getting the main area of the park open by April 1.

One current obstacle of her job is the fact that she is still living in Washtucna. Her children are in school there and she would like to keep them there until they graduate, she said. So, each day she is driving an hour and five minutes each day to get to work, which is a huge change from her previous position where her home was five blocks from her park. In addition to a long commute, she will still need to supplement her yearly income by waiting on tables, but she said she doesn't mind too much because waitressing is a great way to make money.

Mark Truitt, Owens' former supervisor, said Lewis and Clark State Park is lucky to have Owens at the helm.

"Melinda is a very dedicated hard worker," Truitt said. "She's always looking to improve facilities for the better of the public."

Owens said she is grateful to still have a job she loves and her goal is to give some love back to her new park.

"I just want to have it all cleaned up," Owens said. "It has been really neglected."

Part of that cleanup is taking out a bunch of the poison hemlock in the park. Owens said the invasive plant is not native to the area and it will take years of pulling to eradicate it. And the hemlock is just one of the surprises she has found in her new park so far.

"I'm still learning about the park," Owens said. "It really is beautiful."