Southwest Region - Alaska Department of Natural Resources issued the following announcement on March 8.
Adapted from the July Homer Tribune article by Christina WhIting:
From the moment his parents took him on his first camping trip, Jason Okuly knew he wanted to spend his life working and playing in the outdoors. "I smelled the hotdogs roasting and the wood burning and that was it for me," he said. After high school, Okuly studied natural resource management and then landed his first job, studying invasive species and range habitat management with the Corps of Engineers in Riverdale, N.D.. He worked as a security guard at a ski resort in Big Sky, Montana where got to pursue his longtime love of skiing and worked as a crew leader with the Montana Conservation Corp., leading volunteers on trail work providing his first immersion into backcountry living, where he fell in love with the lifestyle.
After various jobs around the country, and spending a lot of time travelling, he met his wife , Mallory. The couple spent four months in Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, eventually married and spent their honeymoon in Cambodia.
In 2015, Okuly applied for a job in Juneau and eventually became a river ranger with Alaska State Parks in the Kenai River area. He attended the required four-month law enforcement training at Sitka's Public Safety Academy, worked three years as a river ranger and then became a park ranger with Alaska State Parks, in Homer. "It seemed like it would be a good fit and we were excited to move to Homer."
His greatest sense of professional satisfaction comes in seeing people interacting with the environment. "The awe and wonder on people's faces when they see otters or whales reminds me how lucky I am to be here and to have this job," he said. "Knowing that state parks is doing outreach that helps others enjoy the same stuff I do is pretty great. And, of course, I have to thank my wife and staff who make everything go round."
#akstateparks #alaskastateparks
Original source can be found here.
Source: Southwest Region - Alaska Department of Natural Resources
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