photos). I wanted to stay in North Dakota, but there was only one archival photographer position and my friend Todd said he planned to be around for at least another 30 years. By this time, I had started working during the summer as a seasonal park ranger and found a strong pull to give it a chance. Over the next four years, I alternated between working as a park ranger in North Dakota for seven months and the winters in Colorado as an assistant supervisor on the Lift Crew for the Aspen Ski Company. Eventually, I got a fulltime job first as a chief ranger and later the state’s interpretive ranger. MM: Can you share a few experiences from your time as a park ranger that illustrate the parts of the job you enjoyed the most? SK: The first thing that comes to mind is how you never know what your day would be like as a park ranger. It could run the gamut of taking care of a pissed-off badger in the campground or searching Lake Sakakawea all day for a missing canoe or assisting the U.S. Border Patrol with people crossing the Canadian border illegally. As a park ranger, you were responsible for making sure people were warned before a tornado touched down in the park and the next moment cleaning the toilets. My first summer was spent out at place called Little Missouri Bay State Park taking care of 5,000-plus acres in the Badlands and riding horse while maintaining 25 miles of trails and living in a 15-foot trailer. During the 15 years I worked in the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department in a variety of parks, I oversaw a nature preserve, managed an environmental learning center and assisted in the construction of a log cabin. By the time I left, I had started to focus more on interpretation and conducting education programs. MM: What were your observations of the Minnesota River Valley when you first arrived here in 2006 and began working at the Water Resources Center? SK: I actually got my first view of the Minnesota River Valley in 2002 when I took a job conducting an assessment of the Lac qui Parle-Yellow Bank Watershed on the far western end of the basin. It was probably typical of what many people see: a wide valley with a fairly small river flowing through it and fields upon fields of corn and soybeans intermixed with large livestock operations. Only later when you begin to get off the main roads does a person discover a very unique place with many amazing and wonderful features. Even after being in the New Ulm/ Mankato area for more than seven years, I can still be surprised at finding places like Red Rocks County Park in eastern Cottonwood County or some new stretch of a river I hadn’t paddled before. MM: You began working for the DNR in May 2012, assuming a newly created position. Tell us a little bit about your current position: SK: I am responsible for interpretive and education programs at three state parks: Minneopa, Flandrau and Fort Ridgely, along with the Minnesota River and all of its tributaries, the communities of Mankato and New Ulm and, just for good measure, the Sakatah Singing Hills Bike Trail. My work revolves developing and presenting a wide range of programs, leading paddles and bike rides, and
Kudelka hosts a variety of public programs in the area’s three state parks. working with a diverse range of partners to put on special events. The thing I love about my job is that I never know what will pop up on my radar screen and it is always evolving and changing. MM: What are your impressions of the people and programs that exist in the area to preserve and protect the Minnesota River ecosystem? SK: Dedication is the word that comes to mind right away. I have never experienced the number of unique and wonderful people as here in the Minnesota River Basin coming at it from different directions. Most of the cherished experiences I’ve had have been the result of meeting someone like Tom Kalahar with the Renville SWCD or Carrie Jennings, a geology expert on the Minnesota River, or Patrick Moore, who has devoted his life to this basin. There are Art and Barb Straub of rural Le Sueur teaching hundreds of people about nature, Audrey Arner and Richard Handeen raising grass-fed beef, and the Friends of Minneopa Board looking out for a true treasure in the Minnesota River Valley. Water quality problems are still an issue in the basin, but it would be far worse if it hadn’t been for the dedication of these people and many more. MM: What are a few things people may not know about the parks in which you work? SK: At Minneopa, the creek runs through a tunnel for the railroad and highway that was constructed in three different sections. There is also the confluence of the Minnesota River and Minneopa Creek and the diversity of plant life. Flandrau had been a former World War II Camp and you can stay in the same buildings the German Soldiers had lived in. A number of Works Progress Administration buildings are still being used like the Beach House and Picnic Shelter. At Fort Ridgely, there is a small creek that runs through the park filled with all this cool aquatic life. MM: Spending so much time in parks and on trails yourself, do you still have moments of discovery? SK: Constantly. It is one of the reasons I really enjoy my job whether I am off by myself or with a group of people. In this job you are always learning something new and I love the challenge of that. I don’t think there is a better feeling than teaching someone something new and getting feedback with a high five or just a simple smile. M MANKATO MAGAZINE • september 2013 • 11