Proud of the past, excited for future

Tilton shadowed a park ranger and held an internship at the visitor’s center, but the greatest influence on what would become her future career was her love for the outdoors.

“I figured out my favorite thing to do was go to the park,” said Tilton.

There are different kinds of rangers, but all rangers get involved with this line of work because of their passion for the outdoors, she explained. They want to share that passion with the community.

Tilton describes her job as “managing public land and connecting people with resources. We help create opportunities so that people can come and learn about what’s in their own backyards.”

She has been a park ranger in The Dalles for seven years. For that same amount of time, she was a park ranger in Macomb, Ill., where she attended Western Illinois University and graduated with a bachelor degree in park, recreation, and tourism administration.

“Part of what drew me here was the river,” said Tilton, who grew up on the Mississippi River.

“I couldn’t imagine working on a lake. I’m a river rat.”

The 11 parks that Tilton manages are scattered onboth sides of the river, from The Dalles Dam to the John Day Dam.

As a park ranger, Tilton’s job consists of tasks like managing the visitor center, giving tours, patrolling parks and doing maintenance.

“What I like about my job is that every day is different. I’m constantly learning,” said Tilton.

One of the new things Tilton is undertaking this year is contract management. In addition to that duty, Tilton manages the volunteer program. Partnering with other organizations and utilizing volunteers is what’s going to keep parks and recreation sustainable as budgets fall, she said.

There are numerous ways in which Tilton tries to engage the community in parks and recreation.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hosts events like Kid’s Fishing Day, where kids are given the tools and teaching needed to learn to fish, and Take a Warrior Fishing, where military veterans are invited to spend the day together fishing.

Tilton also goes to schools and events, like the Cherry Festival, to teach about safety.

In 2012, Tilton played a vital role in organizing the Life Jacket Loaner Program, which provides life jackets at parks, boat launches and other sites along the river.

“It’s really rewarding when people start recognizing you at events, and tell me things like ‘I bought my family life jackets because of what you said.’” Tilton’s job is not what she expected.

“At first it was for me, but now I do it for others. It’s kind of flip-flopped on me,” she said. “In reality, being a park ranger is giving back to the community. It’s very gratifying.”

Tilton added: “I want to be the best person I can be. And just like in your work, you have to set goals to achieve that.”

She defined being the best person you can be as being close to family and friends.

“It’s harder now that I have family spread across the country, but it’s important to maintain those relationships,” she said.

Tilton’s younger sister lives in Oregon, but she added, “I’ve been here for seven years now so the community is kind of my family.”

“This job is the best in the world. I just love working with people and I love the outdoors, of course.”

Tilton admitted that the most difficult part of her job is “balancing the needs with our resources.”

One example of this is the Tour Train that transported people to all of the visitor facilities at The Dam and surrounding parks. Visitors loved the train, but the cost of the train became too much to maintain.

To meet the need, an electric shuttle now runs the same route as the tour train, uses clean energy and saves the taxpayers money, according to Tilton.

She wants to continually see things improve.

“I’ve already gotten to see things change,” she said. “The community knows more about what we do because of the outreach.”