After 40 years of continual management, Spring Lake Park has a new park ranger.

Joe Allen recently started as the new ranger of the Greene County park. He replaced 40-year veteran Pat Sukup. Allen has a forestry degree from Iowa State University and for the last four years worked as a wildland firefighter in Wyoming. Allen is a Cedar Rapids, Iowa native who Greene County Conservation Director Dan Towers is excited to have on board, and who has some new ideas.

“He would like to get into some naturalist-type activities too (and) presenting programs out at the lake to campers. You’ve got a captive audience of about 1,000 people there on a busy weekend. And then during the slow time of the year, in the winter months, he would probably expand that and offer some of those same programs to some of the school classes.”

Towers appreciates Sukup’s 40-years of service to the county.