Roger Fickes, who has been Director of the Bureau of State Parks since 1992, will retire this year after a life-time of service to the Commonwealth.

Roger was born in Everett, Pennsylvania, a small farming community in Bedford County. After high school and during college, Mr. Fickes worked as a field supervisor for the state Department of Agriculture.

While attending Pennsylvania State University, Mr. Fickes was an intern for the Bureau of State Parks.

In 1969, Mr. Fickes received his Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from the Pennsylvania State University. While attending Utah State University, Mr. Fickes was an instructor of landscape architecture while earning his Master of Landscape Architecture.

In 1973, Mr. Fickes returned to Pennsylvania and took a position as a landscape architect for the Bureau of State Parks. Many of his early assignments dealt with regional recreation planning, information for the State Recreation Plan, and conducting use and user surveys.

In 1976, Mr. Fickes was appointed Chief of the State and Local Coordination Section in the Bureau of Resources Programming. During his tenure as section chief, he was Chairman of the Pennsylvania Wild and Scenic Rivers Task Force, and a member of the State Recreation Plan Advisory Committee and the Forest Resource Plan Advisory Committee.

In 1988, Mr. Fickes was appointed Chief of the Division of Rivers and Wetlands Conservation and supervised the study, designation and implementation of management guidelines for designated scenic rivers. He also was responsible for the implementation of the department’s Wetlands Protection Action Plan.

In 1992, Mr. Fickes was appointed Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks. Mr. Fickes manages and guides one of the nation’s largest state park system, and is the past president of the Northeastern State Park Directors Association.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/rogerbio.aspx

6/9/2006