A Campfire Chat

With Mike Mullenweg

Name:

Mike Mullenweg

Position/Occupation:

Park Interpreter

State Park:

Goose Island State Park

Closest city/town:

Rockport, Tx

Region:

Gulf Coast

Years with TPWD:

5

Years at this site:

3

Place of birth:

Beaumont, TX

Home:

Rockport, TX

Daily work duties/activities:

Leading interpretive programs for visitors to the park and working in the office checking in campers.

Favorite job duty:

Educating the public about the outdoors.

Accomplishment in the past year you are most proud of:

Getting the park’s Junior Angler Education Program started.

Most unique/interesting thing about your park or site:

The Big Tree; a thousand-year-old live oak that has survived countless hurricanes and other natural disasters.

Most memorable state park moment:

Trying to make it through the Red (Expert Only) Trail at Ray Roberts Lake State Park-Johnson Branch Unit for the first time on my mountain bike. I hope that tree made a full recovery.

Favorite outdoor activities/hobbies:

Scuba Diving, Spear fishing, Surfing, Swimming, Hiking, Camping, Mountain Biking, Snow Skiing.

Non-outdoor hobbies

Reading, Guitar (I’m terrible)

Who introduced you to the outdoors?

I grew up outdoors. My family used to go on skiing and rafting trips when I was young. Pawpaw lived on a farm in West Texas and we would go camping in East Texas on a deer lease the family owned.

Favorite book/TV show/website about the outdoors:

Last of the Blue Water Hunters by Carlos Eyles

Favorite field guide:

Reef Fish ID by Paul Humann & Ned Deloach

Favorite quote about the outdoors or parks:

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." - John Muir

Advice for people wanting to explore the outdoors or any state park:

The TPWD Web site is a great tool for finding any activity that you might enjoy learning and a program designed to teach it to you.