The Lake Ray Roberts Rotary Club meeting brought in guest speaker, Mark Stewart, the superintendent of the Isle du Bois Unit of the Ray Roberts Lake State Park, for its Feb. 3 meeting.
Stewart has over 27 years in total with the agency.
“It's been a long career,” he said. “I don't see myself going anywhere else, so I'll probably retire from Ray Roberts.”
Stewart gave a presentation to discuss questions related to the park as well as its achievements and challenges.
He started with an explanation about how Ray Roberts State Park is divided into nine units.
Isle du Bois Unit, which takes up 1,397 acres, and the Johnson Branch Unit, 1,514 acres, are the largest two at the park.
Other units include the Ray Roberts Greenbelt, a 20-mile trail; the Jordan Unit, which houses the Lone Star Lodge and Marina; Elm Fork, which is on 290 acres; Sanger, on 20 acres; Pond Creek, on 20 acres; Pecan Creek, on 48 acres; and Buck Creek, on 11 acres.
In total, across all parks, that’s 6,600 acres of land.
Because the park is so expansive, Stewart said, “it's really hard for us to patrol on a regular basis to see everything, to be honest.”
Stewart added that it can take its toll on the staff to meet the needs of every unit in a prompt manner.
“A lot of our boat ramps, we get there about once or twice a week,” he said.
While the 2025 economic impact study is underway, Stewart shared the most recent data on the park.
In 2018, the Ray Roberts Lake area generated $7.3 million in sales and provided full-time jobs to 154 individuals.
The total income to Denton County was $3.9 million, Stewart added.
“We definitely make an impact on the community,” Stewart said. “… We enjoy being part of the community, and we definitely hope the community enjoys having us here.”
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department doesn’t own the land it maintains at the Ray Roberts Lake State Park, but instead that property and water are “under lease from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the cities of Dallas and Denton,” according to the TPWD website.
However, both the city's lease and the TPWD park management contract end in 2040, which, as Stewart explains, creates challenges, especially for the concessionaire businesses like the Lone Star Lodge and Marina as well as the Lake Ray Roberts Marina, which was recently purchased by a new company and wants to extend its lease.
“Part of our challenges is trying to work with our concessionaires and provide those opportunities for them to build a strong business for an extended amount of time,” Stewart said.
He also added that the Texas Parks and Wildlife is working with the city of Denton and Dallas to extend the lease.
Stewart shared more stats from 2018, including that all Texas State parks, “provide $891 million in sales, $240 million in income and provide 6,081 jobs.”
The park employs around 30 full-time staff, seven state park police officers and two residents at the Johnson Branch and the Isle du Bois Unit who live there year-round to provide 24-hour safety and staffing, with Stewart being one of them.
“If something happens in the middle of the night, that's what we're there for—to get called out and help people,” Stewart said.
With seasonal staff during the summer months, the park relies heavily on the support of volunteers.
For camping or spending a day trip at one of the two largest parks, Stewart said, the Isle du Bois Unit sells out for camping almost every weekend.
The best way to beat the line is with a state park pass, he said.
“It guarantees you entry into the park, and you can make that reservation up to five months in advance,” Stewart said.
