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Welcome to the Absaroka District newsletter! This brand new newsletter is designed to keep you informed of all things WyoParks in Northeastern Wyoming – including Keyhole State Park, Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site, and Trail End State Historic Site. After a busy summer season, we have a lot of exciting updates and upcoming events to fill you in on!
But first, who are we? District Interpretive Ranger Katie Singleton is writing to you now! I have an amazing job in which I get to work across our district to facilitate and boost programs, events, school tours, social media, outreach, etc. to our sites. This is my first summer working in interpretation full-time and living in NE WY; I worked and lived at Glendo State Park for four summers/two full years prior to stepping into this position in December. I’m originally from Rochester, New York (Go Bills!). Since my first seasonal job with WyoParks, I have gained my bachelor’s in Geography/Environmental Studies, master’s in Park and Resource Management, CIG through NAI, and Wyoming Master Naturalist through the UW Biodiversity Institute. Needless to say – I’ve come to love this niche in state parks!
The Absaroka District has six other full-time, year-round employees. Misty Moore is the District Manager of our district! She oversees our district personnel, projects, and collaboration with the other four districts statewide. Sharie Shada is the Superintendent of the Trail End Mansion AND Fort Phil Kearny! If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Sharie, you will know that she is a go-getter who always has a smile on her face. Greg Devereaux is the Superintendent of Keyhole State Park, and he has brought great improvements to Keyhole in the past couple of years since stepping into the position. Also on the Keyhole crew, Jentry Eatherton (Assistant Superintendent) and Keith Wilson (Maintenance Technician) work to keep Keyhole beautiful and functional! Last but certainly not least, Brad Purcell is our great Law Enforcement Lt who keeps Keyhole a safe place to recreate.
Seasonal Interpretive Ranger Olivia also joined our team this summer! Olivia is a Texas native, but she has a soft spot for the “cool” and beautiful Wyoming summers. She worked in Maintenance at Glendo State Park last summer, and she was up for the challenge of being my seasonal this summer! Olivia obtained her NAI Certified Interpretive Guide certification at the beginning of the season, and she was able to utilize this training throughout the summer when she led interpretive programs, pop-up programs, and guided hikes. Her and I often took advantage of our days off by exploring the Bighorns, Black Hills, and other local outdoor places together. Olivia has returned to Texas where she will finish her undergraduate degree as a Natural Resource Major at San Angelo State University, but we hope to see her back in Wyoming soon!
For context: of the five districts of WyoParks, only three currently have permanent District Interpretive Rangers -- meaning we work full-time, year-round (Angelina Stancampiano in the SE Shoshone District, Carlo Migliaccio in the SW Laramie District, and myself). Each district typically gets one Seasonal District Interpretive Ranger to help out through the summer.
So, what have we been up to? We all had a busy summer, but it was a particularly exciting one on the interpretive side. Since May, the district has hosted 1,178 visitors to 53 public programs/events, 431 visitors to 13 non-public programs/events, and 1,125 students on school tours for a grand total of 2,534 visitors. These programs and events ranged from library programs with the Moorcroft Library to guided naturalist hikes at Keyhole, White Glove Tours to Murder Mystery events at Trail End, and hikes to the top of Pilot Knob to Cemetery Tours at Fort Phil Kearny. We are also happy to have expanded our accessibility through women’s-specific programming, American Sign Language tours, and visually impaired tours. Shout-out to Sharie, Olivia, and the many TE and FPK volunteers who helped lead, facilitate, and help out at many of these programs and events!
We had a lot of highlights this summer, here are a few…
...it was a great summer!
I had some welcomed guests staying with me this past month (some rowdier than others, but I won’t name names)! First, Flat Stanley made the trip all the way from Ms. Kelly’s class in Perry, Oklahoma! Keyhole’s Seasonal Non-Commissioned Ranger and Oklahoma native, Ty, facilitated this connection for us because Ms. Kelly’s class is hoping to send Flat Stanley on adventures in all 50 states. We were happy to welcome him here in the Absaroka District, and we wish him safe travels! Then, the newest WyoParks Ambassador Animals – Shep and Hogg – visited Keyhole State Park to help educate visitors about black-footed ferrets. They joined Ranger Katie for a program with 43 Girl Scouts/family members as well as a public program with another 23 visitors. We even had a family from Gillette come to our program specifically because they saw the cute ferrets in the Visitor Center of Sinks Canyon SP in the Shoshone District during their camping trip the week prior!
If you’d like to stay even more updated with the Absaroka District’s happenings, we have good news! We have a new @Absaroka District Facebook page and @absarokadistrict Instagram! These accounts allow us to highlight district-wide and district-level news, updates, upcoming events, and of course, pretty site photos. These accounts are a great, consolidated place that you can reach us in between newsletters.
Did you attend one of our programs or events this summer? We want to hear from you! What did we do great? What can we improve next year? And what would YOU like to see at our sites? These are all things we want to hear. Please take our Program Feedback Survey here: wyoparks.info/programfeedback.
What are we up to next? We have lots of upcoming fall/winter events – including Full Moon Fort at Fort Phil Kearny in two short weeks (https://www.fortphilkearny.com/full-moon-fort)! We will also be attending conferences and trainings, pursuing grants, and planning for next summer.
Thanks for reading our newsletter and staying in touch with us in the Absaroka District. Know anyone who also may like to stay up to date? It’s as easy as signing up at our link: wyoparks.info/absarokanewsletter! Stay tuned for our next newsletter soon!
Ranger Katie
307-331-0264
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