September 2025
Change is inevitable. It often brings new ideas, and sometimes new directions. All of this is good, as needs themselves often change over time.
Transitions and probably some changes appear to be the theme of this IPA newsletter. Brant Baughman has been announced as the new director of the Division of State Parks, an appointment that IPA enthusiastically applauds. Ginger Murphy has retired after 40 years with DNR, serving in her last years as Deputy Director for Stewardship of the Division of State Parks. That’s definitely a loss for DNR, but a gain for IPA as she joins us as a board member. She joins two other new IPA board members, Dave Williams and Steve Wolter. At the same time we will be losing Sonok Deutscher as a board member, including 6 years serving as our treasurer. Good treasurers are hard to find, and IPA owes a huge thanks to her for her service in that role.
This is my last Conservation Thoughts article as president of IPA. I will be stepping down as president when my current term ends in November, and happily turning over the gavel to Milt Grissom as my replacement. Milt brings a wealth of experience and abilities to the position, and I am confident that he will do a great job.
It is definitely time for me to move on from my position as president of IPA. When I agreed to became our first president in 2013, I never imagined that I would serve in that capacity for 12 years. Those 12 years have at times been rewarding and at other times frustrating.
Our state parks and nature preserves have always enjoyed tremendous bi-partisan support. Unfortunately, when IPA was formed, they were quietly deteriorating due to lack of maintenance, and no one was pointing that out. The goal of IPA was to speak out about that deterioration, and make both the public and elected officials aware of the problems.
Employees of DNR are sometimes in an awkward position. They know better than anyone the challenges that DNR properties face, and see firsthand the condition of facilities and natural areas. Yet they are not allowed to say so publicly. They are employees of the State of Indiana, with the governor as their primary spokesperson. That is the void that IPA stepped into.
With a board composed at that time primarily of retired DNR employees who were no longer restrained on what they could say, we made it our primary focus to make legislators and even the governor aware of the problem. After these educational efforts, both Governor Holcomb and the legislature stepped up and started to commit funding to solve the problem. While IPA cannot take sole credit for this turnaround, I believe our efforts were a major contributor.
During this twelve year stretch, IPA did not ignore grants and private fundraising. In fact, we have raised and donated almost $200,000 for assistance to the Divisions of State Parks and Nature Preserves. That is a significant sum, but our main focus was still the advocacy portion of our mission.
Unfortunately, tight budget times have again brought on a budget that requires cutting services to visitors and that will allow buildings to deteriorate. Some things apparently do not change. There will always be a need for both advocacy and
fundraising.
While I will be stepping down as president of IPA, I will not be leaving. There is still a role for a past president in our bylaws. In addition, I will remain active in the advocacy portion of our mission, helping our Advocacy Chair, John Goss, with the excellent job that he does. However, this change will free me up to spend a little more time on some of my other “hobbies.”