(upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to Prairie Pulse.

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we're hearing music from Tyler Herwig.

But first, joining me now is Cody Schulz the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Development director.

Thanks for joining us today, Cody.

- Happy to be here.

- As we get started, tell the folks a little bit about yourself and your background, and maybe where you're originally from.

- Sure.

Well, thanks John for, appreciate the opportunity to talk about the exciting things going on at parks and rec in North Dakota.

So I grew up in rural New Salem, about 30 miles west of Bismark.

Grew up hunting, fishing, camping with my grandparents, actually just a couple miles from a county park, so grew up doing that.

After high school, went to college, first at Bismark State College.

And then went into the workforce for a little while in sales and sales management, and then continued my education.

I got my undergraduate degree from Dickinson State University and my master's, my MBA from the University of North Dakota.

And for the last 15 years, I've worked at the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services the last four years as the Director of Homeland Security, where had the opportunity to lead the homeland security and the emergency management functions within state government.

And then parallel to that, for about the past eight years from 2012 through 2020, I served as a County Commissioner in Morton County, the county I grew up in, born and raised in Morton county and had the opportunity to lead.

I was the Chief Elected Official, the Chairman of the County Commission in 2016 and 2017, which corresponded with the Dakota access pipeline protests, and then again in 2020 during the COVID pandemic.

So had an opportunity to both learn and lead in some pretty dynamic environments, and I met some great people along the way.

- Well yeah, that's so interesting background.

What made you decide to make a change over to parks and recreation?

- Just was a really, really intriguing opportunity.

The governor did reach out when my predecessor, Dr. Travnicek moved over to the Department of Water Resources from Parks.

The governor reached out to me to gauge my interest and in my years as county commissioner, the parks were within my portfolio, my area of responsibility and really enjoyed the interaction with the visitors.

And I think there's such opportunities in parks and rec, not just because it's a passion of mine, love the outdoors and fishing and hunting and everything that goes along with that.

But I truly believe that parks and rec and the environment we're in as a state can be a multiplier or a way for economic development in the communities that we're in.

I mean, we serve the public, our visitors, I know that it is a huge piece of the tourism economy within the area, it brings folks in.

But that's a long answer to a short question, frankly, I'm just very passionate about the outdoors and the people that we work with.

- And I may have misspoke when I introduced you, you're the Department Director, I think I called you Development Director.

- I am the department director, yes sir.

- You're the Department Director of State Parks and Recreation.

So what is your role and what do you oversee?

- So, I really view my role, I'm a huge believer in, that everything flows from culture.

So creating a culture of collaboration, which is something I think I bring over from my emergency management experience but ensuring that we've got a great team and we do of passionate individuals that are serving the public.

We try to take a people first approach.

I know we are a land manager and a property man manager, but we're in the hospitality business, we serve the public, we serve people.

But our portfolio is pretty vast and diverse, we have 13 state parks, a recreation area, number of nature preserves that we manage as well as some grant programs around trails and land and water conservation, as well as safety programs in the OHV, off highway vehicle and snowmobile areas.

So it's a pretty broad and diverse portfolio, just happy to be able to lead it and try to approach it from a people first perspective.

- Yeah.

So you've been in the position less than a year, how's the transition been so far?

- It's been great, yeah.

The team that we have at parks and rec, it's a good mix of some folks that are relatively new to the agency and others that have a lot of experience and historical knowledge, they've been really welcoming.

I've learned a lot as you can imagine, there's a pretty steep learning curve but they've been great.

One thing that's been incredibly useful and helpful to me in that transition is a lot of the real, back to that kind of people first approach, a lot of the stakeholders and partners that we have, I had relationships with through my time in emergency management and county government so, relationships help transitions like that certainly.

Definitely a little bit different culture from a strictly public safety environment, over to one that has a recreational angle.

But many people may not know that all of our park managers and park rangers are sworn law enforcement officers as well.

So there we certainly have a public safety mission, but as well as a recreation, a conservation and I will say a hospitality mission.

So it's been a really good transition, I've learned a lot, a lot more to learn but I've got a great team teaching me, and I love an environment where I can both learn and teach, so it's been exciting.

- Yeah, I think you mentioned 13 but talk about the mini state parks in North Dakota and what people can see while they're visiting there.

- Well, I think we've got just a wonderful diversity, both in geography and topography, so the 13 parks are mixed across the state.

And we've got really wonderful offerings kind of in the environment, the topography, we've got parks in the badlands.

We've got Sully Creek State Park just outside of Medora, Little Missouri State Park in the badlands, north of Killdeer.

We've got lake parks, where we've got three state parks on Lake Sakakawea and one on Devil's Lake.

And then on the Cheyenne River, we have Fort Ransom and on the Missouri River, we have Fort Lincoln State Park, so really diverse offerings in terms of just kind of the aesthetics.

We have wonderful historic parks with opportunities for interpretation and education, which is something we continue to grow just because of that rich history and the partnerships we can gain by doing that and reaching the next generation as well.

And then in the Northeast part of the state, we've got Turtle River State Park, Icelandic and Lake Metigoshe State Park, very far north tier, right on the Canadian border.

And no matter what your interests, and one thing I say a lot when asked about that portfolio is, not every single part can be everything to everyone, but I believe the diversity that we have in that portfolio that the entire population in North Dakota is within a two hour drive of a unique experience.

From whether it's fishing on the lake, or if you're into trail riding and equestrian issues, we've got parks that cater to that, or trails of off highway vehicles.

We've got a really diverse offering throughout our system and I think we're very fortunate when I talk to my counterparts in other states that just the diversity within our system is pretty amazing.

- I understand maybe it's been a year of record visitations at state parks.

Can you discuss why?

And I mean, is it because of COVID and people wanted maybe just stay closer to home and go to state parks?

- Well, it has been the last two years, 2020 and 2021, we've record numbers in terms of our overnight camper stays is one of the metrics that we look at.

And using 2021, we're just below a hundred thousand, what we call camper nights and you can, we use a multiplier of about three and a half, so about 350,000 people slept one night in our parks which is a huge number but.

The precipitating factor, I do believe that 2020 COVID did, was something that did launch that as social distancing and some of the opportunities for recreation and socialization were curved, somewhat folks got back out into nature.

They were coming to the state parks, maybe not traveling as much.

So I think that in 2020, certainly had something to do with it.

I attribute part of 2021 to some of the new people coming into our systems, realizing the treasure that we had in North Dakota and going to new parks maybe in 2021.

And one thing I'll point out is that, this all happened these last two years with the Canadian border closed and a large percentage of our visitorship, especially in our Northern tier parks are Canadian citizens.

So we're trying to build that into our planning and staffing that now that the border's open and we expect that tourism coming again.

It's gonna have an impact and we believe a very positive one on our park visitorship coming in the 2022 season as well.

- So you anticipate high visitation in state parks again this summer?

- We absolutely do.

We had a little bit of a slow start to the, with the cold weather because we have cabins as well that have winter stays, that are down a little bit in the first quarter of this year and with the winter storms in April, may curb some of that early camping.

But I believe the Canadian visitorship and just the trajectory we're on, we're gonna have another great year, if not a record year.

The only thing that we're trying to work into, to our analysis and our planning is what effect will some of the higher gas prices have on visitor visitation.

And actually just had a conversation with Game and Fish Director, Jeb Williams yesterday on that subject and how it'll affect hunting and other things as well.

And our analysis is we don't believe it'll have a significant impact either way.

- You and I were talking before we came on camera here, you have a $74 million backlog of deferred maintenance and I guess you have 17.9 million in Coronavirus aid.

So how will you address that?

And what is that backlog?

- Within our system, we do have a very large portfolio of infrastructure.

We own for example, over 330 buildings in our system, 130 miles of roads, 32 bridges and just a number as you can imagine, a lot of underground utilities, water, electrical, and sewer systems.

So the 17.9, incredibly grateful to the legislature for recognizing the need that we have and that was robust, I'll it an opportunity to make a generational investment in our infrastructure.

So we went through a very robust planning process on what we're gonna focus on with that money, working with our maintenance teams out in the field, our park managers and our planning and projects team in Bismark.

And we did in essence, put it into three buckets or functional areas and it's the utility piece, the underground work buildings and then lastly, our transportation infrastructure roads and bridges within our system.

And we've got a mix of that programmed over the next two to three years with this year, our focus in the 2022 construction season is gonna be the utility areas.

Not the sexy infrastructure that you can see in buildings, but it's really, as we do customer surveys, the demands and the needs of the modern camper, necessitate us to do some things especially in our electrical systems so that we can service those folks, but we're really excited about it.

And some of that deferred maintenance is just the typical shingling of buildings and other things, but the expectation is with that bucket of money, there's gonna be some really new and innovative buildings.

We're gonna make every effort and it's really a focus of mind to integrate technology in smart ways that doesn't diminish the experience.

Things like rapid entry systems and ticketing and reservation systems, things like that, that can help our staff focus back to that people first focus and get away from some of those mundane activities they have to do.

And then just allowing our visitors and our customers to interact with us on their schedules and in a medium that they choose, whether it's online or in person, so it's a big backlog of infrastructure.

And as you can imagine, some of our park systems, some of the buildings, I'll use Lake Metigoshe State Park as an example.

A lot of the buildings and infrastructure there goes back to the thirties and the days of the CCC putting infrastructure in.

So there is some things that are old and they've been maintained well, but some are at the end of life cycle and some just need that typical cyclical maintenance.

- Yeah.

This question is about your employees, kind of how many employees do you have?

And I assume you have seasonal employees, is it hard finding people to fill all the positions needed at the parks?

- It is a challenge.

So our staffing model, we have about 80 to 85, 12 month a year employees, that's both in, in the parks and within the headquarters in Bismark.

And then we hire anywhere from it ranges, but in that 150 to 200 seasonal employees for summer work.

And as you can imagine, the labor market, there are some certain challenges there, especially on the seasonal work but we're trying to do some innovative things there through our recruiting and scheduling.

What we call job share where it's more part-time work, if that's what's requested by the employees that have the skills to come and work in our parks but.

The other thing that's important for us is we do have to do some seasonal employee housing, right on our park properties just cause some of them are very rural, the commute would be tough.

And we're bringing workers in from outta state that are in degree programs in natural resources, biology, looking to be a park ranger from outta state.

So finding housing for the employees is also a challenge, but we're looking to partner with our stakeholder agencies within state government and outside, trying to do innovative things there.

But it is a challenge, I think we're still 30 to 40 short for this upcoming year and we continue our recruitment efforts around that.

- Yeah, talk a little bit about the recreation portion of your department and your job title.

What are some of the great opportunities, I guess especially for this summer?

- Well, we have an incredible trail system within our parks.

We own, manage about just over 200 miles of multi-use trail and that does not include the Maah Daah Hey, which is contiguous to our Sully Creek Park, great partners there as well.

So I'd say a diverse and robust trail system, multi-use whether you're hiking and back again to that diversity in the portfolio, whether hiking is your interest or trail riding on horses, we've got some trails that do both, some that are specific to one or the other.

And then for the off highway vehicle trails, the Pembina Gorge Area is a wonderful opportunity there.

And then we have just within the portfolio again, everything from kayaking and canoeing, winters thing, sports like snowshoeing and cross country skiing are built in.

We do some rental equipment around those things as well.

We have bicycles, kick bikes, scooters, all of those things.

And we also host upward of 100 different events within our parks every year.

And we try to have fold in recreational activities with those along with educational and partnering with our communities and some of the trade associations and groups that we deal with so, huge opportunities for recreation in our park system.

- We don't have a whole lot of time left, but you mentioned Devil's Lake and Sakakawea, how are fish populations looking for the summer?

- Populations are looking great.

As I mentioned, I discussed this with Game and Fish Director, Jeb Williams just yesterday.

This year's gonna be great fishing, the water levels at Devil's Lake are doing well.

Sakakawea, we have some challenges on water levels and certain boat ramps that won't be usable, but the fish populations are great and they should be hungry.

- Yeah, and there there's one here that I don't know much about, Gunlogson and State Nature Preserve, what's that about?

- So within our park system, our department manages five nature preserves and Gunlogson is an incredible nature preserve just outside the city of Cavalier, contiguous to Iceland State Park.

Super grateful to GB Gunlogson and his family donated that property to the system back in the 1960s.

Just a really diverse ecosystem about 200 acres with three miles of trails, real natural beauty undisturbed, rare plant species and animals, and the ability for our visitors to interact with that in a real natural state.

And as I mentioned, five of those across the state is something we're really, really proud of.

- And I know Memorial day, I understand there's Sky Fest at Fort Stevenson, can you talk just briefly about that?

- Incredible.

One of those hundred events that we're really proud of, May 28th, 29th, 30th I believe at Fort Stevenson State Park, we invite our visitors to come in and fly kites.

We have professional kite flyers that come in with some of the largest kites in production, these things are huge and incredible to see in person.

Activities around that, interacting with the professionals, there's there's kite building and other activities that day.

But one of the many exciting opportunities in the system and the events.

- Yeah, well we are running out of time and I know you have camping and you mentioned cabins and yurts, and if people wanna know about yurts.

If people want to find out more information, where's the best place for 'em to go?

- Our website is great, parkrec.nd.gov, and we have social media, Facebook for all of our park systems, interact there, we'd love to have you.

- Cody, thanks for joining us today.

- Thank you for having me.

- Stay tuned for more.

(upbeat music) Tyler Herwig is a charismatic personality who sings from the soul and connects with audiences as a result.

The honesty in his jazzy pop lyrics are a true Testament to his unique talent.

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♪ ♪ The room keeps spinning ♪ ♪ Pouring me out then you fill me up ♪ ♪ I'm paying the price, gimme one more try ♪ ♪ I'm giving you all my love ♪ ♪ I don't need this anymore ♪ ♪ When you are walking out the door ♪ ♪ Come on and give me something ♪ ♪ Giving you all my love ♪ ♪ After all that we've been through ♪ ♪ What did I mean to you or was it nothing ♪ (guitar music) ♪ I'm giving you all my love ♪ ♪ I don't need this anymore ♪ ♪ When you are walking out the door ♪ ♪ Come on and give me something ♪ ♪ Giving you all my love ♪ ♪ After all that we've been through ♪ ♪ What did I mean to you or was it nothing ♪ ♪ Or was it nothing ♪ - Well, that's all we have on Prairie Pulse this week and as always, thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] Funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4th, 2008, and by the members of Prairie Public.