![]() 'Originally, it was mostly farmland, so they had to plant a lot of trees. Kayaks, canoes and paddleboats are available to rent.Ī 100-year-old park can be challenging to maintain, Sunne acknowledged. You can fish for trout in a stream that feeds the lake and boat on the lake (electric motors only). The park has a lodge, a museum, campgrounds, four-season cabins and picnic shelters 21 miles of trails and rough, rocky staircases and rock climbing on dolomite limestone cliffs. Its name comes from the steep, narrow ridge of bedrock that forms the highest point in northeast Iowa - originally called the 'Devil's Backbone.” Sunne also spends a considerable amount of time checking people in and out of the park's two campgrounds and 16 cabins.īackbone State Park was the first state park created in Iowa after passage of the State Park Act in 1917 the park was dedicated in May 1920. Rangers have to be certified in water and wastewater management because they are always testing and making sure the outflow of the sewer lagoons meets federal requirements. We've got wastewater facilities, drinking water facilities, just like a small town would,” Sunne said. 'A state park, you've got to look at it like a small town. Sunne holds the officer position, 'so I work more on the law enforcement end of it, and a little bit of management, and then I also get involved in maintenance, too,” he said. Three full-time rangers work at Backbone State Park. 'You have to prioritize, what has to get done today, what can wait till tomorrow.” 'In the summertime, it's definitely hard to stop sometimes,” he said. Living in the park with his wife, Julie, and with a never-ending list of things to take care of, Sunne has had to learn to prioritize his to-do list. It's also a job that is hard to put a time clock on. Rangers have to have a four-year college degree - Sunne's is in fisheries and wildlife biology from Iowa State University have at least three to five summers of job experience working in parks and, as conservation officers, go through the same training at the police academy as any law enforcement officer in the state. His plans changed after getting a summer job at McIntosh Woods State Park near Clear Lake.īecoming a park ranger requires more than a love of nature. Growing up in north central Iowa, he started off wanting to be a game warden. Sunne, 57, has been a park ranger for more than 30 years. 'We like to honor, not so much the program itself, but the young men who worked so hard while they were here and all that they accomplished.” Because there were two CCC camps here at Backbone, so you can't hardly talk about the history of Backbone without talking about the history of the CCC,” Sunne said. 'My favorite talk to give is the history of Backbone, which includes a lot of the CCC stuff. When talking about the history of the state park, longtime Backbone Ranger Dave Sunne's already upbeat voice gains new animation.
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