Get to Know Your Park Staff

Kelsey Lang, from Central Florida, grew up surrounded by nature, frolicking in the forests and orange groves of her State. At university she studied a broad spectrum of science subjects including marine biology, chemistry, ecology, physics and geology and originally planned to be a marine scientist but was willing to be flexible about the future. That variety of disciplines helped her find success in her current career as an Interpretive Specialist at Forts Worden and Flagler State Parks.

Before moving to Washington State with her husband and daughter, Kelsey worked as a tour guide, doing kayak tours and boat tours and even worked briefly as a guide in the Everglades. She also spent three years doing research in estuary environments studying sea grass, oysters, and birds in the Ft. Myers, Florida area. It was afterwards that she turned towards education and found her true strength and passion teaching people about the world around them and enabling them to look at nature in a new way.  

Shortly after realizing she wanted to work in aquatic or national parks, combining her love for teaching with more hands-on pursuits, Kelsey got a job as a ranger at a girl scout camp, helping her attain the generalist skills that working in a state park would require.  

For many years Kelsey and her husband thought of leaving Florida and moving to the Pacific Northwest. Kelsey looked at government job boards to find the right match for her skills and found a listing at Forts Worden and Flagler and applied.  While still in Florida with her husband and young daughter, after multiple interviews she got the call that she was going to be hired by Washington State Parks and was thrilled. Two years ago, during the pandemic they made the cross-country move and now live at Fort Flagler.

When asked what she loves most about her job Kelsey readily answers, “freedom and creativity.” She feels lucky to have a supervisor who trusts her and enables her to try new things and to figure out what the public wants and needs. Kelsey organized the Junior Ranger Program which has been enormously successful. Part of her job is training volunteers, creating interpretive displays and signs as well as planning walking tours, and interactive programs. At the five Olympic View Area parks including Fort Flagler it is a happy challenge for her to combine military history with the natural history and splendor that is characteristic of our area. In addition to her regular responsibilities, Kelsey is working with a team of Washington State Park interpreters to explore ways to incorporate technology into interpretation. She is excited for the future and all the possibilities that it holds.

Aaron Terada, Park Ranger and Operations Manager for Fort Flagler State Park, is a key to keeping everything running smoothly at our park. He was born in Seattle and has spent his entire adult life after college working in Northwest parks, a total of 28 years. After the first few years he became a Park  Ranger spending the past 12 years at Fort Flagler. 

With his love of nature and degree in oceanography, he’d rather be outside enjoying the beauty of the Fort Flagler rather than performing the indoor tasks he tackles daily. According to Aaron, he “protects the park from people and people from the park” and also focuses a lot of attention on the environment and preserving natural resources. As a Park Ranger he does everything from supervising, hiring personnel, repairing, and collecting fees, to law enforcement.

Aaron has been married for 24 years and has three daughters, ages 14, 11 and 8. They provide him with leisure activities related to their school lives. Aaron appreciates his interactions with the Friends of Fort Flagler and as a liaison to the Board of FoFF, he sits in on meetings and provides input and background. He hopes the FoFF continue to advocate for the park and support the mission of the Park Rangers, to be inclusive and communicative, sharing the same goals, preserving the Park and its history.

“There’s no place like home!” Ranger Karl Fisch spoke these words as he talked about growing up in Port Angeles, then working in parks all over Washington State, but spending the bulk of his career on the Olympic Peninsula. After thirty-three years with Washington Parks, Karl can definitely confirm that his career as a ranger was the right one for him.

Graduating from college at Western Bellingham University with a degree in geography, he explored many paths en route to becoming a ranger. Beginning as a seasonal ranger in 1990 in eastern Washington, Karl established himself with State Parks in that area before returning west. When asked which part of the state he preferred, he said that as he cris-crossed Washington in his career he found the east has a lot of beauty, but he missed the tree forests we enjoy here in western Washington. He did detour to Ocean City – Ocean Shores and enjoyed his time as a ranger on the Pacific coast. 

After that he was sent back east to Riverside in Spokane with its ponderosa pine forests, so that location satisfied his preference for an environment with trees.

Along the way, in Spokane, he met his future wife, and they married in 2002. Both found employment on the Olympic Peninsula, though not very close to each other -- Karl worked at Fort Worden and wife Ann was near Olympia as a mental health counselor. They commuted back and forth for a couple of years until eventually Ann began a private practice locally. They have one daughter who is currently in New York City at Barnard College.

Karl spoke enthusiastically about Fort Flagler, the woods, trails, beaches, wildlife, and historical attributes of the park. And the views! With the Cascades and Olympic Mountains both in sight depending on where you’re standing in the park. He often stops on his way in to work in the morning to take sunrise pictures which never fail to enchant him, especially when the sun comes up in gorgeous colors over Mount Rainier.

As for his daily work, he is involved with hiring personnel, supervising seasonal aides, camp registrations, and interacting with camp hosts who stay as volunteers for a month or two to meet and greet campers and help to clean campsites.  

Karl covers Mystery Bay and Anderson Lake Park along with Fort Flagler, checking park passes and educating folks about conditions and regulations. Talking to people and helping them is the favorite aspect of his job and he enjoys seeing park visitors enjoy the park as much as he does.