Heitstuman named ranger for Kamiak Butte park

The newest staff member of the county parks department, Todd Heitstuman, introduced himself to the park board at the Oct. 7 meeting.

Heitstuman has been hired to be the ranger at Kamiak Butte, a slot vacated by the resignation of Justus Barton.

Heitstuman will live at the ranger residence at the park and manage the campground and trails, along with projects at the other county parks.

“There are more pine needles than I know what to do with right now,” Heitstuman joked of his new job.

The county parks department employs two rangers; Heitstuman and Dave Mahan, who manages Wawawai and Klemgard Park. Between the two of them, the rangers manage the six county parks and trails.

Originally from Uniontown, Heitstuman graduated from Colton High School in 1994 and from Eastern Washington University in 1998 with a recreation degree.

He worked 11 years at a destination resort located an hour north of Bend, Ore.

He decided to return to the Palouse and applied in 2008 for the Kamiak job which went to Barton in that hiring round.

The thought of returning to the Palouse compelled him to keep trying for a job in the area, he said.

“I thought, ‘I’ve been in Oregon long enough. I’d like to get back to the area’,” he said.

He moved back to the Palouse in 2009, and worked at temporary jobs at Washington State University until being hired for the county’s open ranger assignment on Aug. 29.

Heitstuman said he and Mahan will be working on fixing up the Kamiak ranger’s house which is in need of an upgrade.

There are other minor repair projects at the park, such as the fencing, which he’ll be working on. As for preparing for the occasionally intense physical labor the job requires, Heitstuman said he is already physically fit.

Heitstuman’s parents, Tom and Jeannie Heitstuman, reside in Uniontown.