Louisiana State Parks Director, Gene Reynolds announced his retirement Thursday through a Facebook post.
“Over the weekend, I discussed it with the Lieutenant Governor and others. It was just time to come home and do something different,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds took the position as State Parks Director the day after leaving his position as State Representative in June 2018. During his time as director, Reynolds led streamlining of staffing and promoting employees from within the department. The state parks also saw growth in revenue to $11 million. Reynolds visited all 21 parks and 18 historical sites multiple times within the 10 months he held the position.
“We stayed pretty busy on the road. I think the last three or four months I put like 22,000 miles on my car just travelling to parks,” Reynolds said. “I love the parks and parks people and will continue and go and visit these guys, our place is a wonderful place to be.”
Reynolds says he has no immediate plans other than looking after his three properties in Dubberly, Baton Rouge and Holly Beach and spending time with his family. He says he will continue to support the parks and rally for legislation supporting state parks.
“Parks are coming back, they got knocked down pretty good with all of the budget cuts back in 2012 but they are well on their way to becoming one of the best park systems in the United States,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds plans to return to his primary home in Dubberly after his time in Baton Rouge.
“You never say never and you see what’s going to happen going forward but right now I’m just happy to be in Dubberly, Louisiana,” Reynolds said.
“I’ll be able to get back involved with some local things. For the past eight years, I’ve been down in Baton Rouge most of the time. So I’ll be able to come back and maybe get involved with some local things that are beneficial to the school system and different things.”