Scott crossley clearing the way to the great outdoors
Scott Crossley, Brown County State Park property manager. photo by Brian Blair
~ by Brian Blair
Inside Scott Crossley’ s office at Brown County State Park surfaces a figurative snapshot of his often dual roles in his first 14 months as property manager: his computer screen amid his wideranging administrative duties, and some of the forlornly fallen timber in the grass, just beyond the window behind his desk.
The toppled trees, when Mother Nature hurls them across the roads, require him and his staff and others to pull out chainsaws and clear paths for a park population that easily can top 30,000 on a picturesque fall day.
One storm alone in the first week of April had strewn some 35 such scenarios by next morning. He mentioned that it helps that he and his family live on the property so he can respond immediately.
Yet, more than anything, the 53-year-old Hoosier native, a 28-year Indiana Department of Natural Resources staffer, said that he sees his broad, overview role as preemptively clearing the way for park visitors to safely and happily unwind outdoors amid streams, lakes, overlooks, wildflowers, trails, campsites and much more.
22 Our Brown County • May / June 2025