If you knew Bill Morton in his youth, you wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he grew up to be a park ranger. Everything Bill did in his formative years suggested he was destined for a career with Tennessee’s state parks.
Bill was reared in White Bluff only three miles from Montgomery Bell State Park. He’d ride his bicycle on park trails and roads where he connected with nature and developed a love for the outdoors. When Bill was old enough, he worked five summers as an attendant at the Park’s boat dock and later became a Seasonal Interpretive Ranger.
As a Boy Scout, Bill acquired a passion for conservation and became one of only 5% of Scouts to fulfill the requirements of leadership, service, and outdoor skills needed to attain the highly regarded Eagle Scout rank.
Bill expanded his interest in preserving nature when he attended the University of Tennessee at Martin where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in Natural Resource Management.
The next year Bill was sworn in as a full-time Park Ranger and served his initial assignment at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park. In 2001 he moved to Radnor Lake State Natural Area and in 2004 he became the first ranger at the newly formed Harpeth River State Park. Before then, The Narrows and Mound Bottom historical sites were managed as part of Montgomery Bell State Park.
In 2022, Bill accepted the position of Park Manager at the Harpeth River State Park and concentrated on the design and construction of a visitor’s center and picnic pavilions overlooking the Indigenous Mississippian Historical site at Mound Bottom.
Bill married his college sweetheart, Melinda, who is a school librarian in Fairview. The couple are parents of daughter Mallory, a freshman psychology major at Belmont University.
Be sure to say hello to Bill the next time you cross paths at the Park. Thank you, Bill, for all you do!
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