Local Property Manager & Interpretive Naturalist Discuss Passion, Diversity Of The Area & Hope For The Future
The texture of the forests of Indiana is undeniable as a path winds down into a narrow valley. Spring Mill State Park is nestled away with flowing streams, winding paths and an authentic grist mill that rises to greet the visitor along with a memorial to astronaut Gus Grissom of Mercury fame who grew up in the area. Property Manager Mark Young and Interpretive Naturalist and millennial Wyatt Williams talked to The Buzz on site at the park in Mitchell, Indiana during an evening event for the 2016 NASPD Conference about passion, diversity and hopes for the future.
The Buzz: Wyatt…what engaged you to do what you are now doing?
Wyatt Williams: Spring Mill has always been my favorite state park. It is about an hour away from Indiana University where I went to college and my wife and I…it was always a nice little weekend jaunt down here…and it just resonated with us on a number of levels naturally and historically. It was sort of like a dream come true when I was able to get the job.
The Buzz: Mark…can you talk about the identity of Spring Mill State Park since every place is unique.
Mark Young: Each park has its own personality. This park is definitely the village. You can walk to this village and tell people that there were over 100 persons living here in the 1830s and 1850s. This was a private area and they were here earning a living. It gives people the opportunity to see what their ancestors experienced.
WW: I’m the nature guy but to touch on the village which is our main draw…so often these living history places end up being a little cheesy and it’s just like somebody plopped an old building down…and we’d sort of take care of it. But here we try to make it really authentic and time specific and really keep it quality. But as far as the natural aspects go, from a naturalist perspective, [there are] tons of amazing things you don’t see in other places. We have 67 acres of old growth forest. It was never timbered. It was preserved by a Scottish immigrant named George Donaldson. We have a whole slew of caves…one we even offer a boat tour into. We go all the way from the secession era…where we have a little prairie area…all the way to old growth and everything in between.
The Buzz: Wyatt…between the boomers and the millennials there is a shared thirst for knowledge but with the millennials there is a connection between nature and technology.
WW: I think a lot of people picture our generation being way too attached to technology. I would disagree. It is the direction we are going…and while that is true…I would say that Spring Mill is very nice [place] to go and sort of get away from it all. As a millennial, our key development was technology. Some people think it’s an obstacle to getting outdoors. We definitely use as many technological venues as we can to reach people and encourage them to get outdoors: Facebook, Twitter…any sort of press release like that. But we do sort of partner [with technology] I suppose. A lot of naturalists will bring IPads instead of laminated pictures. People are doing Pokemon Go! events to get outdoors and tie that into our mission. But as a millennial with all the technology, another important thing that is true among our generation is that we recognize the need for protection and conservation of the land. I hope we don’t find we are young and idealistic and simply grow out of it while sort of staying with the technological side of things. I think they can be blended together.
The Buzz: Mark…how do you engage the younger generation and bridge the gap?
MY: Not directly related to history but a good example is that we love having school kids come into the Grissom Memorial because we have Gus’ school gradebook…and he flunked Latin. What we love to do is tell these kids who are coming in say “Listen…you don’t have to have great grades all the time…you can still be successful and make a huge contribution to humankind and not have great grades…so keep working at it.” It is determination and dedication to what you’re trying to do.
The Buzz: Wyatt…can you talk about the uniqueness of Indiana from a naturalist point of view.
WW: With Spring Mill sort of naturally we’re down here in Southern Indiana. It is a carst region…we have caves…we have limestone…we have sinkholes…that sort of defines it. We also have a lot of the Northern-most tropical fruit trees like persimmons. We have a major persimmons festival and we also have paw-paws here. But Indiana is a much more diverse area than people give it credit for. All the way up to the north we have glaciated kettle lakes. We have native jack pines that are like an Arctic species but you’ll also have prickly pear cactus which you would [normally] associate with the desert. So across the state…and we are a relatively long state…you have a whole spectrum of natural areas.
The Buzz: Where does your passion for nature come from?
WW: I grew up very in touch with touch with nature in a pretty rural setting. My family we had 150 acres of forest. I spent a lot of time in it. It sort of didn’t occur to me that I could have a career in wildlife because where I was from, everybody sort of had some land and managed it however they wanted. Then I got to college and realized that people have grown up in apartments.
The Buzz: And for you Mark?
MY: The passion came from my family taking us camping. We never camped here [at Spring Mill] but we camped at some of the other state parks. I started working at one of our other state parks when I was 16, so I have been working for the state since I was 16 years old and I just now am 60. But it’s the opportunity to let people see what Indiana was like in the past. But also with the Grissom Memorial here of what you can do successfully in the future
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Spring Mill State Park, which offers a powerful illustration of the link between the natural and cultural worlds. The water flowing from several cave springs led to the founding of an industrial village in the early 1800s. The park today continues to illustrate how nature shapes us and how we shape our environment.