His State Parks Origin Story
Dan's family has been connected to Indiana State Parks for generations. His father was a freelance photographer who worked for the DNR’s Outdoor Indiana magazine. Dan and I flipped through stacks of magazines that included photographs his father had taken. It was fun to see young Dan in some of the pictures, a kid who never would have guessed he would end up a steward of all of these properties 50 years later.
The state parks were a vacation spot for Dan and his family and remained that as he had kids. He explained, “We didn't have the money to go to Disney World like all the other kids were going. We went to a state park. This is what we did. When I had a family of my own, we've always been parks people. We’d camp and hunt and fish and do those things that Hoosiers do.”
As an adult, Dan's pre-park experience was in human resources. At 40 years old, he was hired into the agency as the human resources director. His initial plan was to stay with DNR for six months, but it eventually turned into a 20-year career! He attributes any success he’s had to the people around him.
He told me, “We hire a lot of smart people around here, and so we don't go about telling them how to do their job. We assume when they come here, they know how to do it. My job is to provide the method, manpower, and material to allow them to get it done.”
By putting people first, Dan was able to see many projects come to life like planting 1 million trees throughout the state by 2025. DNR also used $180 million to construct miles of trails across the state through the Next Level Trails Program. Dan was also excited to see construction start on a new lodge at Potato Creek State Park that will serve Hoosiers in the northern part of the state.
Making Parks Accessible & Inviting
One original goal of the state park system was to have a park within an hour’s drive of every Hoosier. However, for DNR, availability wasn’t enough. One of Dan's proudest accomplishments over the last four years is how the state makes sure parks are accessible and inviting to everyone.
Dan acknowledged, “The demographics of this country population-wise are changing, and we're seeing that very clearly here in the state of Indiana.” Why do these shifting demographics matter for a park system? Dan explained that if a state's population is diverse, but the park's users are not, that's a problem. It means the majority of the state may not realize the incredible resources that are here.
He continued, “If they don't realize they're here, how can they care about them? Or if people do know the parks are full of beauty and resources, but still aren't visiting them, that means they may not feel comfortable in the parks, or may not understand the value they offer. So finding ways to invite everyone into the park and make it accessible for people is a vital initiative. If you live here, or if you're a guest here, these are yours.”
Practically, that includes making sure everyone feels welcome in the parks no matter their age, race, or physical limitations. How are state parks doing that? One way is to make sure the parks are accessible by updating older facilities. This can be challenging in parks where historic buildings are often unavailable for people due to stairs. With every chance for renovation, the parks are trying their best to literally and metaphorically open doors for more people while still leaving the park in its natural state.
One place Dan feels they struck the right balance is at Spring Mill State Park. He said, “The iconic part of Spring Mill is the village, which is very accessible. You can get around there, but there's also, that's Indiana's cave country. There's a very large cave there at Spring Mill called Donaldson Cave.” The cave was originally accessed by over 400 steps which are still at the park, but the staff also “created an opportunity to come into that a different way… we created a trail to where a wheelchair or a mobility device can be utilized to get there.”
The park also built a ramp up into the mouth of the cave so people could feel the temperature difference and observe how dark it is. Dan continued, “Today, a child who's in a wheelchair can actually get inside that cave and experience the same thing that everybody else does instead of just watching a video of it. Every place where we have that chance to be able to come in and make it accessible, we want to do that. And it's not just physical limitations. If it's a hearing limitation, a vision limitation, across the board, we want everybody to have that opportunity to experience, because again, it's theirs.” While many trails may not be accessible for everyone, the state parks are trying their best to have the rest of the facilities be open to all.
Making Memories IN the Parks
For Dan Bortner and the DNR staff, opening the parks to everyone is important because they are the places where memories are made. Dan has made plenty of his own in the parks. He said, “I caught my first fish at Spring Mill. I took my children, my daughters, when they were young… Took my wife on our first date to Spring Mill. So you get these emotional connections around the properties that exist out there, and you talk to anybody, it's the same thing… it's the backdrop of your life.” The deep attachments we make at each park are why we love coming back so often.
Dan concluded by reminding me why he was honored to be appointed the DNR director. “We're the caretakers. These properties, these wonderful special places here in the Heartland, they belong to Hoosiers. We're just the caretakers.”
So thank you, Dan, for your service over the past decades!
Follow and Share
Want to join my IN the Parks journey? Check out the podcast, follow along on Instagram and Facebook, and be sure to share with a friend. Now, get out and make some of your own memories, and I hope to see you IN the Parks!
