'Mr. James River Park' to leave in 2013

He leads children on snorkeling trips in the James River. He works weekends. He even cleans toilets.

But only for another year.

Ralph White, the longtime manager of Richmond's wild-but-welcoming James River Park, is retiring.

White, 67, said a combination of health problems and bureaucratic headaches is telling him it's time.

"I'm a little weary," he said.

White plans to step down in January 2013, 33 years to the month after he began at the park.

James River Park is a series of riverside lands and islands, including the popular Pony Pasture Rapids in South Richmond and Belle Isle near downtown.

An estimated 1 million people a year visit the park. Many are quick to notice White, a soft-voiced man with a gray Hemingway beard, spectacles and, in summer, shorts with dark socks. He could be leading a salamander hunt, slapping paint over graffiti or going on at length about the beauty of the park.

White said he is suffering from an unknown neurological ailment that occasionally causes blurred vision, loss of balance and "dull-wittedness."

The symptoms could be linked to some sort of early dementia or perhaps Lyme disease, White said.

When White began work at the park in 1980, it was a haven not just for nature lovers but also dope smokers and beer-bottle-smashers. Today, it is frequented by parents with children, paddlers, rock climbers, bikers, runners, anglers, birders and dog-walkers.

About 100 acres were open to the public when White started. Today the park covers more than 500 acres.

Also during White's tenure, clean-water laws helped cleanse the James, and many people now swim and snorkel in it.

Many people helped enlarge and improve the park, of course. But Chris Hull, a Henrico County engineer and park volunteer, said it was White's vision to keep it wild.

"It's a natural area in the heart of the city. He hasn't turned it into an amusement park. ... I don't think there's any place like it. It's a world-class resource."

White tends the park with a handful of city employees and numerous volunteers. He makes about $52,000 a year.

White is known not just for his love of the park but also for his dislike of bureaucracy.

In spring 2005, White got in trouble for unlocking park gates, against orders, that were closed to ward off nighttime crime. White said he did it to allow dog-walkers, birders and others to visit during off-hours.

Hundreds of park lovers rose up in support of White, who eventually received a two-week suspension without pay. The next year, White received a national conservation award from the Sierra Club.

White says he is fighting City Hall again. Among other issues, he wants to accommodate night visitors who want to catch catfish, listen to owls or paddle. But city officials, according to White, still want Richmond's parks closed at night.

Night visitation has caused no problems, White said. "Why do we want to stop young lovers from paddling in the moonlight in June? It's beyond me."

Norman C. Merrifield, director of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, complimented White on his tenure.

"While I have not received official notice from the Retirement Board regarding Mr. White's retirement plans," Merrifield said, "it is obvious that he has a true passion for the James River Park and has been a driving force in making it a prominent resource for the city of Richmond and the entire region."

Despite his concerns, White said he doesn't want to go out sounding like a malcontent.

"This," he said, "has been the best job that any park manager or teacher-naturalist could have anywhere."