Ryan Penwell
Ryan started as a volunteer. He quickly realized he had found a path to a rewarding career.
Ryan Penwell started with the Blackwater team as a volunteer in 2021 helping staff with the maintenance of facilities and equipment. For Ryan, volunteering was a way he could give back to his new community after moving to Florida from Louisiana to be closer to family and to find a job he enjoyed.
When a position opened up with Blackwater River State Park to become the Environmental Specialist fire technician working primarily out of the Yellow River Marsh Preserve, his commitment became a well deserved employment opportunity.
Now Ryan spends his time mowing and disking fire lines around the management zones, maintaining the essential equipment to meet prescribed fire goals, assists with the invasive plant management goals and even provides interpretive programs to school groups about prescribed fire.
With little visitation, the marsh preserve is a quiet and peaceful place to foster his appreciation for Northwest Florida’s largest conserved wet prairie. He especially appreciates the dryer months in the fall to complete the consistent effort of fire line maintenance with little risk of getting equipment stuck in the mucky soils. His favorite task of all is applying a well-planned prescribed fire to the landscape that depends on it.
Working on the Blackwater team was an ideal choice for Ryan because it is close to his home, his co-workers make work enjoyable, and he loves working in inland parks managed by fire. He has found a job and community in the Florida Park Service that he loves to come to each day.
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