State Awards Three Emery County Men for Work at State Parks

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Three Utah State Parks workers were presented with awards for their continued drive and hard work at Green River State Park and the Huntington State Park Complex.
The trio of Jonathan Hunt, Jerry Jones, and Aaron Farmer were presented with the awards at their regional meeting in Green River on April 19. Utah State Parks Southeast Regional Manger, Tim Smith, said all three men have outstanding worth ethic and do their best to ensure the work gets done, not only how it is supposed to, but with extra efficiency and careful attention.
Hunt, who received the Division Manager Award, has done an astounding job managing the Huntington Complex, Smith said. The park became profitable in 2015, and revenue increased by over 36-percent.
“Hunt improved his bottom line by adding additional recreational opportunities that did not add to the cost of operating the park,” Smith said. “In Fiscal Year 2014, on his own initiative and with his own budget, he purchased a rental fleet of kayaks and stand-up paddle boards.”
Hunts drive to improve, Smith said, is what helped him clinch this award. He is also very supportive of all the regions programs and is personally very active with patrol work and snowmobile trail grooming.
While he originally began working at Scofield State Park, Manager’s Choice Award Winner Jerry Jones recently made the decision to spread his time and work around to other surrounding parks in order to help out more. Now, he
works at all three parks in the complex area ” Huntington, Scofield and Millsite State Parks.
“Jones’ impact at Huntington and Millsite was immediate and tangible,” Smith said. “He did the dirty work and got things done.”
The decision to spread his work to all three parks, Smith said, was
self-initiated which showcases the type of character Jones possesses. This allowed for greater revenue growth, saved money, and noticeably improved the maintenance of all the parks involved.
Since Aaron Farmer arrived at Green River State Park, Smith said, he has been extremely proactive and even aggressive in his drive to develop a positive and increasing bottom line at his complex. This drive helped him to earn the Southeast Region Park Manager Award. His additions to the parks have been significant and out of the box.
Farmer led the charge at adding the first mountain bike trail at Goblin Valley State Park, Smith said, and added water hookups at the Green River campground.
“Probably his biggest success was the development of the Green River Disc Golf Course,” Smith said. “This full 18-hole course has received and A-rating, and he found an excellent team to develop the course.”
What Farmer brings to the table, Smith said, is the ability to see the big picture. He will tell you the cornerstone of his business plan is to have the best maintained parks in the division and to provide outstanding customer service.
The Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation would like to formally recognize these individuals for the work they do and for all the time and effort they put in to ensure the public has clean, safe and enjoyable parks
to attend. We thank them immensely, and hope they can inspire others with their dedication and drive.