On behalf of the entire team here at Roaring River State Park I’d like to welcome you to the 97th Opening Day. 

March 1st marks not only the start of the catch and keep season, but also the kickoff of many family traditions — and for many families, these traditions span decades. This will be my 7th year attending Opening Day. It’s the one day a year that I don’t mind coming into work in the early morning hours. 

I always enjoy seeing the park come to life, from the first parked car, to the first cup of coffee served, to the first cast, the Opening Day experience is something I tell everyone that they need to have at least once in their lifetime. 

This year, my opening day experience will be different than past years. This year, I’m excited to serve as Superintendent here at Roaring River. Our team here has spent the past few months of the off-season working across many areas of the park. They have tackled everything from remodeling the exhibit area at the Nature Center, to performing a prescribed fire in the pollinator area near campground 3.

The talent that the team brings to the park continues to amaze me, I hope you see their dedication to the park everywhere you look.

The new full hookup loop of campground 3 is complete. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to see how much work was completed in just nine months. K&B Equipment of Crane, our general contractor for the project, did an amazing job managing everything. 

Their dedication to working through the hot and dry summer conditions truly amazed me! As the drought deepened across the park this past fall, the construction area became a dusty mess at the slightest breeze, but the dedicated team carried on!

K&B Equipment will also be staying on this spring to complete upgrades to our wastewater system. This project is being funded through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. While the updates won’t be as apparent or visible as the campground 3 construction project, it will be a massive upgrade to our aging wastewater system. 

The project will entail rebuilding all 8 of our lift stations, replacing sewer lines that serve many of our bathrooms, and installing a new sewer line that will be bored some 20 feet below the stream to connect our lift stations to our wastewater treatment infrastructure.

You’ll most likely notice a few less trees in the park this year, between the historic Memorial Weekend storm and emerald ash borer, our trees took a hit. As we look to our next generation of trees, our Ecologist and Nature Center Staff spent the fall collecting tree seeds from the park to be sent to Forrest Keeling Nursery in Elsberry. These seeds will be grown into saplings by Forrest Keeling, leaning on their decades of experience, and will be returned to the park for planting.

As we near our 100th anniversary as a State Park, we’re looking to the future and making investments in our infrastructure. These investments will ensure the park remains a place that not only you can enjoy, but we will be ensuring that another centuries worth of visitors will be able to continue making memories and traditions at Roaring River State Park. The next time you find yourself in the park there is a good chance you’ll see our team tackling another project!

If you see me out on the stream feel free to stop and introduce yourself. Most evenings, I’m usually somewhere in zone one enjoying the evening with my family. 

Mike Busekrus is the Superintendent at Roaring River State Park. He may be reached at Michael.Busekrus@dnr.mo.gov, or by phone at 417-847-2539.