Ranger Kurtis StUkes 

Ranger II, Santee State Park

“You always find some way to make lasting memories and they always remember who you are.” Ranger Kurtis Stukes

With a little more than two years under his belt as a park ranger, Kurtis Stukes has found a career he feels will make memories to last a lifetime.

Born and raised in the Sumter County town of Rembert, Stukes got the fever at Poinsett State Park where he worked as an assistant ranger. “I loved being outside doing things with my hands and communicating with people from all walks of life,” Stukes said.

He pursued and earned a degree in Natural Resource Management from Central Carolina Technical College in Sumter where Professor Michael Shealy stressed the importance of protecting the environment.

“I learned how what we as humans do impact the environment and the small changes we can make to ensure our natural resources are protected,” said Stukes. “A lot of time also went into public relations with emphasis on communication and listening skills to effectively relay information to others.” 

Full-Time Ranger Duties and “Other Skills”

His first full-time ranger position was with the SC State Parks Service at Aiken State Natural Area in Aiken where Stukes performed duties that ranged from camper registrations and interpretive programming to accounting and book keeping, landscaping and more. But he found out that oftentimes his job required “other skills.”

Spread along the south branch of the Edisto River, Aiken State Natural Area is especially inviting to canoeist who enjoy the scenic waterway. It was here that Stukes’ “other skills” came into play. It seems he was instructing a family of three on maneuvers to keep the gravity towards the center of the canoe to avoid flipping.

Beginning canoeists, the family asked Stukes if he would accompany them part of the way. The canoes were lined up and off they went.

Things went fine until Stukes decided to demonstrate skills on how to operate and maneuver a canoe quickly around a bend while keeping your center of gravity.

Now, Stukes had done this practice maneuvers many times. The river, however, was always low. Stukes picks up the story –

“This day the waters were up due to lots of rain the weekend before. So as I came around the bend with the left side of my canoe banked upward, I hit a tree limb that wasn’t there before. This sent the canoe rolling over me and down the river the canoe and I went.”

“It took a minute or two to come from underneath the canoe to face the fact that I was supposed to be a pro, yet ended up in the water.”

Stukes enjoyed his time at the Aiken park and sees the canoe trail as one you could just float away on for a day of relaxation. The park’s small 25-site campground gave him the opportunity to know the visitors and he fell in love with the community. “You always find some way to make lasting memories and they always remember who you are,” he said.

Ranger II – Santee State Park
Today Stukes is a Ranger II at Santee State Park, where he resides with wife, Crystal, sons 9-year-old Gwenden, Miles, age 5 and infant daughter Rosemary Elizabeth, born March 11.

At Santee he oversees the Campground Host program and the annual Big Daddy Fishing tournament, held the first weekend in August. “We reach a lot of kids and the event allows them and their parents to come to the park and have a wonderful time. All participants leave the park with a prize bag filled with goodies donated by the surrounding community,” Stukes said.

Cabin and camping registrations, patrolling the park, revenue tracking, maintenance and serving as the park’s safety officer are among Stukes’ other responsibilities at Santee. Off site, he does volunteer programs for local elementary school groups. “Just to give a little extra back to the community,” he added.

Stukes looks forward to continuing his career with South Carolina Parks and is happy being able to have the parks as a home to raise his family.