DCNR Names New Manager at Little Pine State Park, Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources today named Michael Dinsmore as manager of Little Pine State Park Complex, based in Lycoming County. He had been assigned as an assistant manager at Hickory Run State Park Complex in Luzerne and Carbon counties.

"From serving in park and DCNR ranger posts to staffing a Bureau of State Parks headquarters position, Michael's experience has been broad-based and most productive," said Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Richard Allan. "His most recent assignment at Hickory Run, where annual visitation approaches 350,000, helped to hone his already keen public relations skills."

Enveloped in Tiadaghton State Forest, Little Pine State Park is a multi-use park with overnight camping facilities and year-round recreational activities. The park's 2,158 acres offer modern camping, picnicking, hiking, fishing, hunting, environmental education and interpretation programs. The 94-acre Little Pine Lake offers both warm- and cold-water fisheries, with anglers seeking trout, smallmouth bass and other species in the lake, and trout in Little Pine Creek.

In addition, Dinsmore will oversee the 6-acre Upper Pine Bottom State Park, also in Lycoming County; and the 180-acre Hyner Run and 40-acre Hyner View state parks in neighboring Clinton County.

"I am very excited to work with the outstanding park staff, neighboring agencies and the active community members that make these state parks and their surroundings such a special place," Dinsmore said. "The plethora of recreational opportunities provided by Little Pine, Hyner Run, Hyner View and Upper Pine Bottom -- as well as the wealth of surrounding state forests and game lands -- make this area not only a beautiful place to visit, but a wonderful place to raise a family."

Dinsmore replaces Michael Winters, who was named manager at Bald Eagle State Park, Centre County.

Dinsmore has been employed by the Bureau of State Parks since 2002, working first as a park ranger at Reeds Gap State Park Complex, based in Mifflin County. He later worked as a DCNR ranger within the Reeds Gap complex and also the Parker Dam State Park Complex, based in Clearfield County. In 2007, Dinsmore was named a park manager in the bureau's Harrisburg headquarters, working in the Park Operations and Training section. In 2009 he moved to the assistant manager's post at Hickory Run State Park Complex.

Dinsmore, 30, a native of Dagus Mines, Elk County, is married and has two daughters. He holds an associate degree in wildlife technology from Penn State University, and completed Act 120 police training at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

For more information on Pennsylvania's 120 state parks, call 1-888-PA-PARKS between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; or visit DCNR's website at www.dcnr.state.pa.us and choose "Find a Park."

Media contact: Terry Brady, 717-772-9101

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources