Jim Schuh was promoted to Moran State Park Manager on October 1. “They were down to two candidates when I got the call to come in for a final interview on my birthday. I had been planning to take the day off but figured it might be the best birthday present to go. Two days later I found out I had the job. This is as high as you can go in the field and Moran is a primo park,”Schuh said.

He had been in the position of Acting State Park Manager since July 7 and had spent 12 years at Moran but taking over the number one position at the park required him to participate in a lengthy interview process in competition with several other candidates. His career started as a seasonal park aide in 1986, has included eight Washington State Parks and ever-increasing responsibilities.

Schuh says that he and his wife Kari fell in love with Orcas and the islands from the very first and made the commitment to stay. “The beauty of the islands and the community were a factor in our decision but we also wanted to give our kids the stability of staying in one place,” Schuh said.

The decision slowed down Schuh’s career path through the state park hierarchy, but he says “We love it out here. My wife is the Special Education Director and I have two kids. A son in eighth grade and a daughter who is a sophomore.”

This year saw the completion of several major projects: the Cascade Lake Lagoon Bridge reopening, the construction of the park manager residence, and the Kokanee Fish Hatchery project in cooperation with the the Friends of Moran and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Schuh is now looking forward to concentrating on building maintenance, clearing and improving trails and maintaining bridges as well as preparing for the 2013 State Park Centennial and the new interpretive center.

He will also be working on step two of the Kokanee project which hatched and released 75,000 Kokanee three weeks ago. “That will involve the restoration of the stream so that the fish can return to spawn and we can establish interpretive displays,” Schuh says.

The best and worst thing about his job Schuh says has always been, “The people. I have met and work with wonderful people. There are also the people that occupy your time when you have to reinforce the rules and remind them of expected behavior.”

Schuh says the park manager position has a lot to do with people management. He supervises a full-time staff of five rangers, an interpretive specialist, an office assistant and two construction and maintenance specialists. During the summer, the numbers swell to include six to seven Seasonal Park Aides, volunteers and camp ground hosts. He works closely with the Friends of Moran volunteers, the schools, the Sheriff’s Department and with the numerous locals and visitors that come to the park.

Schuh, who has a B.S. degree in forestry from the University of Washington, still finds time to enjoy the park. He said,”Many people have lived here a long time and have never hiked more than to Cascade Lake and Mountain Lake and have never experienced some of the other trails. One of my favorites is to hike a spiral from Cold Springs to Twin Lakes and out to Mountain Lake. There are trails in the park that you can hike and not see another soul. Some of my favorites are on Mt. Pickett.

“Each season has its own uniqueness. In the fall when the weather is still decent, some of our trails open to bicycles again. Winter is amazing in the park. In can be raining down below but we get can get some significant snowfalls at Mt. Constitution. It is beautiful to hike up to the summit in the snow and look out at the spectacular view of the trees loaded with snow in a winter wonderland. There are also some pretty amazing sunrises and sunsets that you can see from Mt. Constitution.”

In his spare time Schuh is an avid mountain and road bike rider and has volunteered for the Fire Department as an Emergency Services Technician since arriving on Orcas.