Management of Story Park comes under review

A change in the makeup of the county park board has led to a review of how Story Park is managed.

The county parks and recreation board was created in 2009, and Sheridan County commissioners have traditionally appointed themselves as the board’s members. But this spring, the board was reorganized into a seven-member body whose members are Sheridan County citizens, but not commissioners.

As part of their duties, Deputy County Attorney Clint Beaver said the new board members are looking at the county’s parks and, in particular, Story Park.

In a report to commissioners earlier this week, Beaver said Story Park is currently managed under five different agreements. The result, he said, have been layers of overlap in park management.

Beaver said the agreements related to Story Park have involved Sheridan County, Wyoming Game and Fish, the Sheridan Area Recreation District – which is tied to Sheridan County School District 2 – and the Story Park board. The oldest of the agreements, he said, goes back 30 years.

He said the agreement between the county and the recreation district is renewable every five years and will expire next year, in 2021.

In an interview with Sheridan Media after his meeting with commissioners, Beaver said Sheridan County maintains a “handful” of parks and recreation areas including Story Park, Kleenburn and the Three Poles Recreation Area.