After three months of interim staff, Roaring River State Park has a new superintendent taking the reins.

Carl Bonnell, deputy director of the Ozark Lakes Region of Missouri State Parks, has announced that Melinda Kitchens has accepted the position of superintendent at Roaring River State Park and began her duties on Oct. 7.

“As park superintendent, Melinda’s responsibilities will be to manage the overall operation of Roaring River and Big Sugar Creek State Parks,” Bonnell said.

Kitchens completed undergraduate studies in environmental sciences and land use planning at the University of Illinois, the state from which she hails. Afterward, she worked for a couple of summers as a seasonal employee in Yellowstone and Denali National Park before attending the University of Montana’s School of Forestry, where she received her Master’s degree.

Kitchens then joined the ranks of Montana Foresters, marking timber sales and fighting wildfires for Plum Creek Timber Company in Libby, Mont.

After leaving Montana, Kitchens crossed over to state parks/ “I enjoyed the awesome privilege of serving as park superintendent for most of my career,” she said.

Kitchens joined the Illinois Department of Natural Resources team in 1996 as a park superintendent, worked her way up to a Regional Park Manager, and managed parks throughout northern Illinois for several years.

She has spent some time in Missouri. During grad school, she worked on the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project (MOFEP), based in Ellington, as a seasonal research forester.

“That’s where I learned about using duct tape to remove seed ticks and learned to spot and avoid rattlers and copperheads,” Kitchens said.

Kitchens said that’s also where MDC Foresters introduced her to the best swimming holes on the Current, Eleven Point and Jacks Fork rivers.

“[That’s where] I fell in love with the Ozarks,” she said.

In her spare time, Kitchens enjoys spending time outdoors with her three adult children backpacking into wilderness areas, fly fishing their favorite mountain streams, kayaking, geocaching, mountain climbing and hunting.

“My children grew up living in our beautiful state parks, calling each park residence ‘home,’” she said. “I’m excited to join the Missouri Parks family, Bonnell asked the community to join him in extending Kitchens a heartfelt welcome.