A busy 2017 has helped prepare J.R. Tinch for an opportunity of a lifetime.
Tinch will officially step down from his position as park manager for Roan Mountain State Park this week to accept one of the two recently-created assistant chief ranger positions through Tennessee State Parks.
In the new position, the former park manager will be directing training programs for emergency preparedness at each of the 56 state parks.
“Everything has really happened so fast,” Tinch told the Elizabethton Star Wednesday. “I actually received the call for the job after we had the flooding issues at the park a couple of weeks ago.”
Tinch has been on the forefront of dealing with issues presented by Mother Nature, especially over the past year. Along with the recent flooding in Roan Mountain, Tinch was one of the several park officials that assisted with work during the wildfires that spread throughout Gatlinburg months back.
“I really feel like some of the recent work has helped set me up to be in a better spot for this position,” he said. “I’ve been able to learn a lot and I hope to bring that to the position.”
But the decision to leave didn’t come easy.
Over the past four years, Tinch has been with the Roan Mountain park, with a little over two years being in the position of park manager.
“It was a tough decision. I put down roots, bought a house, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” he said. “We have been able to accomplish so much in the park.”
During Tinch’s time as the manager, an aviary was created to house “birds of prey,” Miller Farmstead was able to receive improvements and recognition by the National Register of Historic Places, and, most recently, RMSP was named the 2016 State Park of the Year.
“The park continues to grow,” Tinch said. “It all comes back to the staff. They’ve been here, putting in the work and making this happen. I can’t say enough about how great it has been to work alongside them.”
Tinch has discussed the importance of Roan Mountain receiving Appalachian Trail Community status.
When discussing each event, Tinch circled back to the amount of work and support put in by park staff and community members.
“We were able to work with the Roan Mountain Citizens Club to help get the community status,” he said. “Carter County has been such a great place to work. There’s been so much support from the community. Not only for Roan Mountain, but for Sycamore Shoals State Park. It’s rare to have a county that has two state parks right in its backyard. My goal is to take everything I’ve been able to learn and bring those to the other parks across the state.”
Once this week concludes, Tinch said he’ll begin the transition to Middle Tennessee to begin work. Before officially taking the new ranger role, he added he’s hoping to have resurfacing of the basketball and tennis courts on site underway.
“There are still some projects I want to see through,” he added.
Tinch anticipated that a new park manager will be in Roan Mountain by January.