What We Do:
A quality of life agency, the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources provides the state's citizens and visitors a variety of opportunities to enjoy our arts, parks and history. Wyoming's state parks, historic sites, and state trails program offer abundant recreational and educational opportunities. Additionally, through the efforts of the Division of Cultural Resources, Wyoming's history and pre-history is studied and preserved, and artistic opportunities for both the artist and the patron are promoted and enhanced.
We provide memorable recreational, cultural, and educational opportunities and experiences to improve communities and enrich lives.
Provide the best opportunities and experiences in the Nation.
Leading Team Members:
Dave Glenn - Director, State Parks & Cultural Resources
Dave Glenn serves as the Director of the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, providing leadership and strategic direction for the agency’s diverse programs and statewide initiatives.
Prior to his current role, Dave served as Deputy Director for the Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails Division and helped oversee the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, playing a key role in advancing outdoor access and recreation opportunities across the state.
Dave brings a broad and dynamic background rooted in outdoor recreation, education, and conservation. His career has included leadership roles in university outdoor programs, management of remote destination lodges in Alaska, work in the outdoor products industry, and the development and administration of extended backcountry expeditions worldwide.
He is passionate about helping people build confidence in the outdoors and ensuring they have the knowledge and tools to safely enjoy Wyoming’s landscapes. Outside of work, Dave spends as much time as possible in the mountains, often with horses in tow, and is an avid fly fisherman and backcountry hunter. He lives in Cheyenne with his wife and a full complement of animals.
Sara Sheen - Deputy Director, Cultural Resources Division
Sara Sheen is the Deputy Director over the Cultural Resources Division, including:
- Wyoming State Arts Council
- Wyoming State Archives
- Wyoming State Museum
- Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
- Wyoming State Archaeologist’s Office
- Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund.
Previous to this, she worked as an Archaeologist conducting fieldwork and research throughout Wyoming before taking a position with the State of Wyoming as a Senior Archaeologist. She was then appointed by the Governor and served for three years as the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Officer, before accepting her current position. She received her BA and MA in Anthropology from the University of Wyoming.
Chris Floyd - Deputy Director, Division of State Parks
Chris Floyd serves as Deputy Director for the Wyoming Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, where he provides leadership and oversight for parks and historic sites, the State Trails Program, and the Office of Outdoor Recreation.
Floyd has been with the division of State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails since 2016, holding several leadership roles, including Manager of the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation, Manager of the Shoshone District of State Parks, and Superintendent of Fort Bridger State Historic Site. Prior to his work in Wyoming, he served as a site manager with the Texas Historical Commission and Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites.
He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia. Floyd relocated to Wyoming in part for its abundant outdoor recreation opportunities, which he views as an important component of the state’s economic diversification.
Outside his professional role, he enjoys exploring Wyoming’s wide-open spaces through hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, biking, and riding his dual-sport motorcycle.
Nick Neylon - Deputy Director, Division of State Parks
Nick is the Deputy Director for Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails. He has more than thirty years experience working with state parks, historic sites, and museums in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. He manages many programs within the agency, including: Law Enforcement, Concessions & Revenue, Planning, Construction & Engineering, plus the operations of four parks and fifteen historic sites and museums.
Nick enjoys Wyoming history and the outdoors with his wife and family, which includes three children and five grandchildren. He is an avid reader, book collector, board gamer, and Badger fan.
Tatum Soto - Executive Assistant, State Parks & Cultural Resources
Tatum is the Executive Assistant to the Director. She joined the SPCR team in May 2020, with 15+ years of experience as an Administrative Assistant. She started her service with the State of Wyoming in 2014 and served as the Executive Assistant to Governor Matt Mead. She enjoyed learning about multiple state agencies and appreciates the effort it takes to run this great state.
Tatum, along with her husband and adult children, has spent more than 20 years camping and boating in Wyoming, and one day hopes to show her grandchildren all of the wonderful state parks and historical sites that Wyoming has to offer.
Caryn Erickson - Manager, Fiscal Services
Caryn Erickson serves as the Manager of Fiscal Services for the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, where she oversees the agency’s financial operations and supports strategic budgeting and fiscal planning efforts.
She brings extensive experience in government finance, having begun her public service career as a budget specialist with the Wyoming Department of Transportation and later advancing to a senior budget analyst role overseeing complex, large-scale budgets.
Prior to her work in state government, Caryn worked in the private sector as a marketing manager with Unicover World Trade Corporation. She remains actively engaged in her community, contributing her time and expertise by serving on various committees and boards, including the Board of Directors of WyHy Federal Credit Union.
A Cheyenne native, Caryn earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Economics, graduating with highest honors from the University of Wyoming.
Stacy Sprengeler - Manager, Human Resources
Stacy Sprengeler is the human resources manager for the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. She has been with the department since 1993. Prior to this, she worked as a benefits specialist in the Employees Group Insurance Office, and as a bookkeeper/office manager for a construction company in NC. She was born in NC and graduated from college in SC with a degree in accounting. She loves to camp so if you find her tucked away in one of the State Parks campgrounds, stop and say hello.
Laurel Stephens - Manager, Communications & Marketing
Laurel Stephens is the Communications and Marketing Manager for Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, where she leads the development and implementation of agency-wide communications strategies, brand standards, and marketing initiatives that support the agency's state parks and outdoor recreation and cultural resources programs, and public engagement efforts.
Originally from Georgia, Laurel developed a strong connection to the Rocky Mountain West and has lived and worked in Colorado and Wyoming since 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Georgia State University and has built a career focused on strategic communications and marketing within the hospitality, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors.
Prior to her current role, Laurel served as the agency's Outreach Coordinator for the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation beginning in August 2021, where she supported statewide initiatives to promote outdoor recreation and strengthen partnerships across public and private stakeholders.
Laurel lives in the Bighorn Basin of north-central Wyoming with her husband. Her personal interests reflect the breadth of her work—spending time outdoors fishing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, and rafting, while also staying connected to her performing arts roots through her background in theater and ballet and her continued enjoyment of live performances.
Mark Torroso - Manager, Office of Outdoor Recreation
Although not born in Wyoming, Mark has spent nearly his entire life in the state, primarily in Evanston, and considers it home. His connection to the outdoors began early, with snow and water skiing, motorbiking, and hunting and fishing. In high school, a close friend introduced him more deeply to outdoor recreation, including backpacking, horseback riding, and flyfishing.
After college, Mark and his wife taught English in Japan, where he began fly fishing and continued exploring the outdoors on summer backpacking trips. As their family grew, he shared those experiences with his children through fishing, hunting, and time outside.
Professionally, Mark managed a lodge near Evanston, guiding outdoor activities and running daily operations, before transitioning into the newspaper industry. Over the course of his career, he advanced from advertising sales to publisher of multiple newspapers in southwest Wyoming.
Mark later launched the Southwest Wyoming Off-road Trails (SWOT) initiative, which has grown into a statewide effort to connect communities through motorized trail systems. His work with SWOT led to an appointment to the Wyoming Office of Tourism.
Mark’s life continues to center on outdoor recreation, from snowshoeing and hunting to mountain biking and dual-sport riding. He is honored to serve on the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation team.
Mark lives in Evanston with his wife, a longtime local educator, and their golden retriever. They have two adult children, both graduates of the University of Wyoming, with one living in Boston and the other in Laramie.
Sara Davis - State Archivist
Sara Davis took on the role as the Wyoming State Archivist in September 2022. Prior to coming to the State Archives, Sara was the university archivist for the University of Wyoming at the American Heritage Center. Before that, she worked as a digital archivist/project manager for the National Association of Olmsted Parks in partnership with the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Sara is a Cheyenne native with an A.A. in music from LCCC, two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Wyoming (one in humanities and fine arts and the other in English with a minor in psychology) and a Master of Science in Library Science with a specialization in Archives Management from Simmons University. She also holds a Digital Archives Specialist Certification from the Society of American Archivists. Sara served as the chair of the Society of American Archivists Digital Archives Specialist Subcommittee from August 2021-September 2022, and was awarded the 2022 Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Award from the Society of American Archivists.
Sara's goals are to increase accessibility, preservation, and management of historic documents and vital records; and to create an inclusive, accurate, and comprehensive record of all the people who have been part of Wyoming and its ever evolving landscape. Being part of the Wyoming State Archives provides an opportunity to work with the community and our government to ensure that we can save evidence of a time, place, people, and event for current and future generations. Archives help us understand where we came from and can influence how we determine to move forward.
Forrest Kamminga - Manager, State Trails Program
Lander Native Forrest Kamminga joined the state parks and cultural resources team in 2009 as a trail crew member working on both winter and summer trails. In 2013, he was promoted to the Regional Trails Supervisor in charge of snowmobile and ORV trails across western Wyoming.
In announcing Kamminga’s most recent promotion, Division of State Parks and Cultural Resources Deputy Director Dave Glenn stated “Forrest will oversee all aspects of the motorized trails program as well as the division's grants program. His passion, knowledge, work ethic, and ability to build and expand partnerships will be a great asset not only to motorized trails, but also to our division and to the recreation industry in the State of Wyoming as a whole.”
Kamminga has a passion for outdoor adventures which include fishing, hunting, and dirt bike riding, along with his favorite activity – snowmobiling. Prior to coming to work for the Trails Program, he worked in the construction industry building log homes, framing houses, doing road construction, working in the oil fields, and then eventually started his own construction business. Kamminga and his wife, Karen, have two grown daughters and a teenage son who shares his passion for motorized recreation activities.
Kamminga stated that he looks forward to leading the Trails Program down the path of success. “I take a huge amount of pride in managing the State’s high-quality motorized trail opportunities and look forward to working with land managers across the state to perfect and expand the trails system where feasible and manageable, while also promoting responsible motorized recreation” he said.
Spencer Pelton - State Archaeologist
Spencer Pelton became the Wyoming State Archaeologist in November 2019. Spencer has maintained a varied career in government, private, and academic sectors, working in Tennessee, North Carolina, California, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, and the Khovsgol Province of northern Mongolia. As a faculty member of the University of Wyoming Department of Anthropology, Spencer places an emphasis on training well-rounded students with a diverse set of knowledge and skills, offering educational opportunities in Plains and Rocky Mountain prehistory, global human dispersal, cultural resource management, archaeological excavation, and evolutionary perspectives in anthropology.
Spencer primarily researches the early prehistory of hunter-gatherers in the High Plains and Rocky Mountains of the American West, but also maintains research interests in geoarchaeology, site formation, chronological modeling, experimental archaeology, and global human dispersal. Spencer conducts excavations at several Paleoindian archaeological sites in Wyoming including the Powars II red ocher quarry, the Sisters Hill site, and the La Prele mammoth site. As the Wyoming State Archaeologist, Spencer focuses on the publication notable Wyoming archaeological sites and the dissemination of this knowledge to Wyoming’s residents through public presentations, research monographs, and interactive outreach efforts.
Rachel Clifton - Director, Arts Council
Rachel Clifton is the Executive Director with the Wyoming Arts Council, a State Arts Agency, and has worked as an arts administrator for over 15 years. Prior to being named Executive Director in 2023, she served as the Arts Council’s Assistant Director where she was responsible for administering the state’s Art in Public Buildings program, overseeing special programs, and managing the agency’s federal grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Previously she was at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, where she was the Assistant Curator. She has held jobs and internships with several prestigious museums, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Denver Art Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Rachel attended the University of Wyoming where she received a BA in Humanities and Fine Arts. She received an MA in Art History with a concentration in Museum Studies from the University of Denver. In her current role as Executive Director, she is responsible for managing the agency’s state and federal budget, staff development, strategic and long-term planning, and working with the Arts Council advisory board.
Renée Bovée - Program Coordinator, Cultural Trust Fund
Renée Bovée is the Program Coordinator for the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund. She re-joined the department in October 2006 to develop the WCTF granting program for the then re-authorized Cultural Trust Fund and take over general administrative duties to the WCTF Board. From 1988 to 2000, Renée worked with the Wyoming Arts Council. It was a pleasure to reconnect with the arts organizations in the state and to develop new relationships with archaeological and historical programs, as the Cultural Trust Fund touches a broader range of cultural programming and activities throughout Wyoming. Her six year hiatus was spent in Colorado in a variety of capacities, including working with the Colorado Council on the Arts.
Renée has her Master of Arts in Community Arts Management and spent several years "in the trenches" of arts organizations in Oklahoma before moving up to Wyoming, where she continued to volunteer with local theatre groups. Born in Colorado to military parents, she has traveled extensively, but kept finding ways to get back to the Rocky Mountain West.
Mark Caughlan - Chief Ranger, Division of State Parks
Mark Caughlan has over 27 years of experience in the natural resources profession and currently serves as the Wyoming State Parks Chief Ranger. He oversees the park ranger program for the state of Wyoming. His duties include chief law enforcement officer, park ranger program manager, community engagement, external agency coordinator, agency leadership team member and many other duties with Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources.
Caughlan has 27 years of experience as a District Manager and Commissioned Ranger with Larimer County (CO) Department of Natural Resources. For the 20 of those, he was responsible for overseeing daily operations for Horsetooth Reservoir, which is the third-busiest reservoir in Colorado with 1.2 million visitors per year. Caughlan is experienced in all aspects of ranger and patrol duties, park operations, facilities development, park construction, and maintenance and ranger training programs. Caughlan is currently on the Board of Directors for the Park Law Enforcement Association and serves as the current Past President.
In his free time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and son on beach trips, visiting national parks, camping, fly fishing, hunting, and mountain biking.