MOUNT VERNON — David Heithaus, Knox County native and former director of facilities for Brown Family Environment Center, will be the new Knox County Park District director in 2024.
Lori Totman, director of 10 years, will pass the torch to Heithaus this new year.
Heithaus isn’t a stranger to wildlife and nature within the region.
While being in charge of the Brown Environmental Center, Heithaus was also tasked with the college’s climate action plan, prioritized decarbonization, a goal Kenyon College has to be carbon neutral by 2040. This includes figuring out ways to convert campus infrastructure toward renewable energy and electrified systems.
Though the jobs aren’t the same in title, Heithaus can see similarities transitioning to parks district director.
“We’re talking about ecosystem services from recreation through clean air, clean water on the lands that the park district is responsible for,” Heithaus said. “Basically those things translate almost exactly at the Brown Family Environmental Center.
“We were in charge of managing the expectations for recreation for research in the context of managing the natural resources themselves.
“So I think that the Park District just kind of allows that to expand.”
It goes beyond natural landscapes, Heithaus said, noting the district’s multi-use trails and river trails echo back to his preservation efforts with the Kokosing Scenic River that flows through Kenyon College’s property.
The future of the parks district
To begin, Heithaus is focused on conservation efforts, working alongside the Nature Conservancy for two projects in the eastern part of the county.
The low-head dam in Brinkhaven was removed recently, Heithaus said, which is part of the wetland mitigation project.
Another wetland mitigation project is at Bat Nest Park, where a new wetland is being installed to mitigate the loss of another wetland elsewhere in the region.
“In terms of other things on the horizon, I think one project that I’m looking forward to is seeing how we might be able to shore up and improve the Kokosing State Scenic River landing,” Heithaus said.
Improving accessibility options is another focus for Heithaus, noting parking lot installation or improvements are in the works.
The first one likely to be completed is the parking lot at the Zuck Road river access, Heithaus said.
“(I’m) just trying to get a handle on sort of the whole suite of resources in the district and how we kind of take stock of everything that we have and come up with a strategic plan to be proactive and forward-thinking in terms of the way we prioritize things and manage it.”
Though there’s a grocery list of items Heithaus would like to work on it doesn’t overwhelm him, he said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming. It’s an awful lot,” he said. “What I’m trying to do is rather than play Whac-a-Mole, is set it on the board, put it on the whiteboard and take a step back and just kind of look at everything so we don’t lose track of something that might be important to the elements of the community.
“Sure at some moments it feels overwhelming and other times it feels like we’re never gonna run out of things to do and that’s great ’cause we’re here to manage a park district for the Knox County community and beyond.
“I consider it an honor to be able to manage a resource like this for it’s accessible to everybody. That’s pretty cool.”