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COE Chief
Ranger Lapina moves to Louisville District Office
By Pamela A. Keene
 After
two separate stints at the Buford Dam Project, U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers Chief Ranger Michael Lapina is headed north to serve as a
Natural Resources Management Specialist for the Corps’ Louisville
District Office in Kentucky. For Lapina, it will be somewhat of a
homecoming.
Lapina began his career with the Corps 1991 in the
Louisville District at Caesar Creek Lake in Southwestern Ohio while
he was earning his bachelor of science degree in Parks and
Recreation Administration from Ohio State University. Shortly after
graduation he returned to another small Corps lake in Springfield,
Ohio for about two years.
“My first permanent job with the Corps began in July
1994 when I moved to the beautiful Lake Sidney Lanier,” Lapina said.
“At that time, I was amazed at the size of the lake and its
beautiful clear blue color as I first drove across Buford Dam ... a
sight that I certainly will miss as I move to Kentucky.”
He worked at Lanier from 1994 until 2003 in park
operations and shoreline management, accepting several temporary
assignments throughout the Mobile District, including serving a year
as chief ranger at Lake Seminole. He returned to Lanier in 2004 and
was promoted to chief ranger, where his duties have included working
with the media.
“While I’m looking forward to returning to the
Louisville District, where I started my career with the Corps and
I’ll be closer to my family, I certainly will miss everyone at Lake
Lanier,” Lapina said. “From all the visitors I’ve met over the
years, the organizations I’ve worked with and the staff here, I
couldn’t have asked for a better place to work.”
The Louisville District has 20 lakes located in
Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana. In his new job, Lapina will coordinate
the district’s real estate functions, working with marinas, state
and local government parks. He will interface with other
organizations and concessionaires who lease land from the Corps to
provide recreation and related services to the public.
In 2002 he received the Hiram M. Chittenden Award for
Interpretive Excellence in the South Atlantic Division for outreach
and educational efforts to the community. He also received a Safety
Achievement Award for revising and managing the safety plan for the
Lanier staff. In his years at Lanier, he has worked to create many
partnerships with community organizations.
Some of the partnerships which are most memorable to
me include helping the Lake Lanier Association coordinate the annual
Shore Sweeps and the Super Sweep, building of the Little Hall
Fishing Tournament Complex, producing water safety-oriented Park
Ranger Cards with the Gainesville Jaycees and working with the
fisherman, fishing clubs, bait and tackle stores and other partners
last winter to extend several dried out boat ramps.
An avid participant in hiking, fishing and kayaking,
Lapina also does metal detecting and worked with the Corps to set up
its Geocaching sites at Lanier.
“I enjoy my job with the Corps of Engineers because
it involves working with people,” Lapina said. “When the right
people are put together, great things can result. Remembering these
successes, the partners who made them happen and knowing there are
more yet to come, makes it hard to leave this beautiful park that is
Lake Sidney Lanier.”
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