This man keeps look, feel of Carolina Beach park up to par
Clyde Staley, 65, is about to take a good, long rest after 15 years of making sure visitors enjoyed their own downtime inside North Carolina state parks.
His last five years have been spent maintaining the look, feel and ambience of Carolina Beach State Park as the head maintenance mechanic.
Staley's goal each morning is to maintain all the facilities within the 761-acre park. That list includes:
A 54-wet-slip marina with two boat ramps and a marina store.
A 20-table picnic area with a restroom facility.
An 83-site family campground with two washhouses.
Two primitive group campsites.
A 6,000-square-foot visitor center.
A Maintenance complex.
Three on-site residences for rangers and their families.
"I'm responsible for maintaining all of it," said Staley, who started his career with the state in the maintenance department at the N.C. Zoo near Asheboro and later becoming a maintenance mechanic at Weymouth Woods Sandhills Nature Preserve near Southern Pines. He plans to retire this fall after five years at Carolina Beach.
Staley, and his maintenance staff of five, are always on.
The park hosted more than 550,000 visitors in 2012. The family campground fills up fast on weekends, and the sites are usually sold out every weekend April through September. Tent campers as well as RV campers stay in the park's campground.
"People come to camp with everything from $39 tents from Wal-Mart to half-million dollar bus campers," Staley said.
Depending on your definition of downtime, you can spend your days at the park hiking the 6 miles of trails, admiring the flora and fauna, fishing along the Cape Fear River, biking along the parks roads or boating in the surrounding waterways.
You may think that Staley spends most of his time cleaning up after all the visitors, but not so.
"I give credit for how nice the park always looks to a couple of things," Staley said. "Most of our visitors seem to take pride in leaving the park the way they found it. And, I give most of the credit to my guys on my maintenance crew. They are on top of things it seems before anything even becomes a problem."
Another one of Staley's responsibilities is to assist the park's staff of four full-time rangers as they prepare the park for controlled burns, also known as prescribed burning.
Fire plays an important role in the survival of many plants that live in the 13 different plant communities within the park, said ranger Carla Edwards. Pine savannas and pocosins are the plant communities that benefit the most from these fires. It is within these plant communities you'll find carnivorous plants.
The park's five bug-eating plant species – sundews, pitcher plants, bladderworts, butterworts and, the most famous, the Venus flytrap – are a top attraction for visitors.
"The prescribed burns," Staley said, "cut away at the under-story growth, getting rid of low oaks and shrubs."
But most importantly, he added, "the longleaf pines and grasses thrive off the fire because it adds nutrients to the ground for them." Longleaf pine seeds need bare soil to germinate. The fire removes the pine straw and leaves from the ground giving way for the seeds to take root.
Staley also helps other staff members with the control of invasive species. These are plants that are not native to the park, such as phragmites and Chinese privet, and compete with the indigenous flora for the same habitats.
Phragmites is a quick growing, giant type of reed grass that grows near the shores of the Cape Fear River and in and around the swamps in the park. It has a thick root system that easily chokes out the native grasses and sedges that grow in the same areas.
Chinese privet, which was a popular plant for hedge rows at old home sites, has now become a dominate plant in some of the forested areas in the park. This plant shades out many of the trees and shrubs found naturally in the park.
While these invasive plants demand a lot of time from the entire park staff, Staley says the park's animals do not.
"You may see the occasional deer along the roads, but most of the other wildlife remains hidden," Staley said. The park is home to many animals, including rabbits, raccoons, opossums, bobcats, foxes, coyotes and even snakes.
"You need to be aware (about snakes), but not worried," Staley said. "As long as you stay on the trails, you should be OK."
There are 37 species of snakes found in North Carolina. Six of these species are venomous. Carolina Beach State Park is home to five of those six snakes. The copperhead is the least venomous of the six and is the one most seen in the park, although it's generally not aggressive and will usually not bite unless stepped on.
Pets, mostly dogs, can receive a nasty bite from these snakes.
"As long as you stay on the trails and keep your dogs on leash you should be OK," Staley said.
There is a leash law at the park. Dogs must be on a leash 6 foot or less while in the park. "If dogs go running free and off the trails, they can get bit," Staley said.
Keeping up with 761 acres of the park and all its facilities, along with the half a million visitors each year, makes work days full.
"There is a lot to do, no question," Staley said. "But if you work it right, it all seems to work out."
Staley is one of eight permanent employees that work at the park. During the spring through the fall the park hires another seven temporary employees to help with the busy season.
Staley, who relaxes on his days off by fishing at the park's marina, has only one worry about the park as he moves into retirement.
"I wish they would have a ‘no-wake zone' in Snow's Cut because of the way boats fly up and down the Cut," he said. "The park is losing 2 feet of shoreline every year. Pretty soon, I think some of our family campsites will be riverfront."