By Louis Hoglund

Pelican Rapids Press

Maplewood State Park is the ultimately logical place for Bill Anderson to serve as park manager.

Maple trees, maple leaves, maple syrup, and almost anything else maple have been a constant for Anderson. In fact, he arrived for duty just in time for the annual Maplewood-Vergas maple syrup festival, coming up on April 12.

Anderson’s appointment follows the retirement of Don Del Greco last fall. Anderson had a 22-year career with the DNR and is returning to the agency after about a decade in the private sector and as a small businessman. 

The Cumberland, Wisconsin, area native grew up around dairy cows, but these cows interspersed with maple trees. There are lots of maple trees in Wisconsin’s dairy country. Back in the 1920s, Anderson’s ancestors diversified beyond dairy—adding maple syrup production to the extended family’s business. But the maple connection extends yet further. 

Anderson and his wife have owned and operated a small café in Luck, Wisconsin, for about six years. Now that their children are nearly out of high school, the decision was made to get back to their roots – in a state park. With a family history in the maple syrup business, a restaurant named “Red Maple Eatery,” and a golden doodle pet dog named “Maple,” – it only fits that he comes back to Minnesota DNR State Parks & Trails as the manager of Maplewood State Park.

If you think Wisconsin is known primarily for cheese, Green Bay Packers, cheese, Harley Davidson, and cheese—think again.

Thanks to the Andersons, Wisconsin could rival Vermont and New England as “maple syrup capital.” In fact, according to Maplewood’s new park manager—Wisconsin’s Anderson Maple Syrup is the only “nationally distributed” U.S.-made syrup. At one time, the business tapped more than 30,000 trees, noted Bill.

Though the business is on his cousin’s side of the Anderson family—established in 1928—Bill grew up around maple trees and syrup. Consequently, he’s the perfect guy for the Friends of Maplewood and their annual April syrup operation—underway as you read this. 

Don’t let his Wisconsin roots fool you; Bill has solid Minnesota credentials. With a name like Anderson, he may as well be a Minnesotan. He earned his biology degree from Concordia-Moorhead—a short jaunt from Maplewood Park.

Bill started working in Minnesota State Parks as an interpretive naturalist intern in 1990 while attending Concordia.

After college, he worked as a seasonal naturalist at Lake Shetek State Park and Interstate State Park. In 2001, he became the assistant manager at Interstate and later the park manager at William O’Brien State Park.

From there, Bill moved up to the central office in St. Paul, managing the State Park reservation system and the Division’s retail program.

As Bill explained, he was a “parks and trails guy,” with a knack for computer technology. As he developed expertise in lodging and camping reservation software, it led to the St.Paul position. 

After two decades with the DNR, the 2011 Minnesota state budget crisis and subsequent shutdown of stage agencies took a toll on Anderson. Because of the shutdown, his department endured the most difficult of calls. Long-booked family reunions and wedding receptions in state parks had to be canceled, and the situation was especially stressful at Anderson’s statewide lodging and camping reservation department.

The shutdown led to serious soul-searching, leading to his decision to leave the DNR in 2013. Bill then transitioned to the private sector, working essentially as a consultant with various state, provincial, and federal park agencies to modernize their operations. His reservation system software expertise also led him to two years embedded in California State Parks and time in Queensland & New Zealand National Parks.

From there, he returned to Wisconsin and his experience as a small business family, running the “Red Maple Eatery.”

But returning to parks, rather than an office position, remained a desire. The family is in the process of selling the restaurant and the house in Wisconsin and fully relocating to the area.

“I remember the passion I saw in the older park rangers when I was a kid,” said Anderson, adding that he now feels like he’s one of those veteran park rangers.

Now—Anderson is one of those veteran park rangers— at a place with a perfect fit for a “maple guy.”