National Parks Impact On The Economy

I have written on this blog several times in the past about the significant positive impact National Parks have on our Country's economy.  Preservation, emotions, and ethics aside; like most tangible items and concepts in our society today it can all be boiled down to dollars.

Go to this website listed below for a graphic example of how our parks are related to our financial security.

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-funding-cuts-could-mean-for-national-parks-infograph

A Park Ranger's Life Blog Selected As One of Top 100 Forestry Resources

The organization Forestry Degree.net has selected this blog as One of the Top 100 Forestry Resources on line today.

From the ForestryDegree.net web site:

• Conservation
• Silviculture
• National & State Parks
• Forestry Business
• General

Forestry is defined as the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and other resources to meet a variety of goals and for the benefit of humans and the world at large. This broad term covers a multitude of occupations, organizations, and causes. As such, there are a many fantastic forestry resources available online, and it can be challenging to sort through all of them. We here at ForestryDegree.net have done that for you by compiling this list of 100 top forestry resources. We based selections on a variety of factors including traffic, search ranking, quality of content, and their overall success in achieving forestry’s many goals. They aren’t listed in a specific order, but are simply the best of the best. Any forestry student, professional, or anyone simply interested in the great outdoors should find something useful on this list.

You will find "A Park Ranger's Life" as one of the nine selected under the category of National and State Parks.  For more information and to see the entire list go to:

http://forestrydegree.net/top-100-resources/

Park Ranger - A Dangerous Job

One of the most common comments I get from those that have read my book, "A Park Ranger's Life,"  is that they are surprised how dangerous a ranger's job can be.  Although I have to admit facing a few potentially hair raising adventures during my career they do not come close in comparison to the dangers faced by Park Rangers in other parts of the world.

According to the Game Rangers Association of Africa 60 Park Rangers world wide have been killed in the line of duty this past year.  Most of these deaths occurred in Africa where it is like a war zone attempting to protect large game animals.

Elephants are still killed for their ivory and rumors of rhinoceros horn being a cure for cancer is resulting in the slaughter of these animals.  There is so much money available through international markets that the impoverished people of the African Continent find that risking their lives is worth the risk for the pay day.  A result is that they have no reservations about killing others to illegally take wildlife.

You can add years of war in certain regions of the continent and the related availability of military grade small arms resulting in heavily armed poachers going up against lighter armed and in most cases outnumbered and under trained park rangers.  A poacher who is desperate is quick to make the decision to kill to escape with their prize.

You can learn more about this situation at the National Geographic Daily News website.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/09/120909-elephants-ivory-rangers-need-help/

Author of "A Park Ranger's Life" to Speak at Roads Scholar Program

I will be one of the guest speakers at the Roads Scholar week long session on "Shenandoah National Park and Human History in the Blue Ridge."  The program will be conducted during the week of September 16th to the 21st based in Staunton, Virginia.

This Roads Scholar presentation is being coordinated through Virginia Commonwealth University.  For more information go to;

http://www.roadscholar.org/n/program/summary.aspx?id=1-4EBTRM

A Park Ranger Looks Back - Follow Up Questions From a Reader

A follow up to the reader questions posted earlier today;

The answer was very helpful, it's hard to find a lot of information like this online. Do you have any other advice? Will the pro's out-weigh the con's in becoming a park ranger? Are the politics worth dealing with? I'm currently working toward my B.S. in Criminal Justice and Recreation Administration and getting into the NPS is one of my goals. I realized after watching the documentary " The Law of Nature: Park Rangers in Yosemite Valley " that it really is hard to balance budget along with the battle between generalization and specialization. I guess I have a lot of questions to ask since it's not only hard to find straight forward answers, but because I want to make sure I am looking past the romantic image of the park ranger. Especially after reading your book, and with me currently reading Ranger Confidential, what I am planning in going into has never felt so real. As with any career there are many pros and cons.  As I used to advise people later in my career, "There is no Utopia out there."   And at times when individuals would become overly frustrated with administrative matters, thoughts of transferring would dance in their heads.  At this point my advise would be that every job is going to have "B.S" you have to put up with.  But sometimes you just need some fresh B.S. The other thing I learned related to this topic is that the park you work in is not as important as the people you work with.  You can be in a not so famous or well regarded park, but if you are working with people you like and work well with you may find this to be the most rewarding part of  your career. Yes, there are some hard parts about being a National Park Ranger.  It is not for everyone.  To paraphrase an old saying, "If it was easy, everyone would do it." Many I worked with had their own frustrations and demons to deal with.  I talk about many of these in my book.  But in the long run I have to say I can not think of a career path that could have been more rewarding or fulfilling for me than being a National Park Ranger.  The key is to keep yourself focused on the mission of the agency and what drew you to the job in the first place.  That is not always easy to do and life's distractions will certainly step in the way.  You have to decide that this is a life path you want to commit to.  If you have a family, you need to be sure they know what you are getting into. For one starting into this career I would advise that in addition to keeping your personal focus you maintain an outside life away from the park.  In many instances individuals that become tied to their park 24/7 with no outside support system are in danger of burn out and suffer for it.  Make and keep friends that do not work for the Park Service.  It is amazing the emotional grounding that can provide.  Luckily for me my wife is a teacher and that gave us an additional social group away from the park.  Parks can be very busy and demanding places that can eat away all your soul if you let it.  At first this is an exciting adrenalin rush, but over time this can wear on the emotional threads of our lives. I would highly recommend that you find and read the book "Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement" by Kevin Gillmartin.  His research included working with National Park Rangers so this is not just information for big city police officers. I was privileged to attend a session given by Dr. Gillmartin at a training course later in my career and found his research astounding and resonating like it was written about my life in dealing with the demands of being a Park Ranger.  I really wish I had this information earlier in my career.  I was so moved by this that I bought a copy of the book for all the Rangers on my staff.  So check that out. So bottom line, after working as a National Park Ranger for almost 33 years and now having been retired for three would I do it all again.  Yes, I have to say I would not hesitate.  There is something about belonging to an organization that has what I feel has such an important mission that sings still sings to my soul.

Generalist Park Ranger Positions

Questions from a reader:

Hello, I have read your book and understand that the NPS have rangers specialize in specific fields. Are there certain areas where there is still the "ranger-does-all," such as law enforcement, firefighting, EMS, interpretation, maintenance, etc...?

I noticed looking through USAJOBS that there was one listing out of the other listings titled "Park Ranger (I)" that hopefully will still be up on this link: http://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/324159700 Would this be the kind of career I am talking about?

Thank you for writing the book!

Thanks for reading my book.  I hope you enjoyed it.

The type of job you are describing is termed a "Generalist Ranger" in National Park Service parlance.  Truly  and totally generalist positions are becoming harder to find.  The demands of modern society have required park rangers to receive specialized training to be certified to perform duties in law enforcement, firefighting, EMS, and search and rescue.  This time and education commitment is good on one hand, but on the other tends to lead toward more specialization of individuals.

As a result in most parks rangers are divided into two main categories.  Protection Park Rangers are the ones who are mainly charged with law enforcement, fire fighting, EMS, and Search and Rescue.  

The second category is Interpretive Park Rangers or what you noted on the USAJobs web site a Park Ranger (I).  This is where you find your naturalists, historians, and educators.  These Park Rangers in many parks also get involved in protection functions other than law enforcement.  This is not normally part of their job description and is done more often if the employee is interested in doing that work and they have a supervisor who supports it.

Some parks will tend to have their personnel in more specialized positions and others will have people more involved a variety of duties.  It may even depend on where in the park a person is assigned.  As an example in Yosemite National Park if one works in protection position in the main Valley they will be spending most of their time focused on law enforcement.  There are also park rangers who specialize in search and rescue and others in interpretation.  If the position is in another area of the park that is less populated with visitors the duties will be more general in nature.

When reading through vacancy announcements on USAJobs.gov be sure to carefully read through the section on Qualifications and Duties.  This will give you some idea of what that specific position will entail.  If possible, I would recommend that you contact the park and talk with the Chief Ranger or other Park Rangers to ask what duties and the percentage of time Park Rangers spend conducting each activity run.  Even better whenever possible would be to visit the park in person.

Look at parks in a bit more remote areas with smaller staffs.  These areas tend to have their staffs work in more general positions to cover all the functions within a park with their limited personnel resources.

I hope this in some way answers some of your questions.

National Park Service Seasonal Law Enforcement Park Ranger Training

I have received several requests for information and guidance in the process to qualify for a job with the National Park Service as a Law Enforcement certified Park Ranger.  As I have written in the past,  the vast majority of individuals start working as a temporary or seasonal employee.  Not only myself, but most of the park rangers I worked with during my career started out this way.

One of the, what many consider, the oddities of the National Park Service is that to qualify for a seasonal law enforcement or protection positions an individual must complete a training academy certified by the Park Service.  You will hear this referred to as the Seasonal Law Enforcement Training Program or SLETP.  These training academies are operated by colleges and universities across the country.  The odd part is that this program is done by the prospective Park Ranger on their own time and at their own expense.  Once completed the graduate can be considered for hiring for jobs that last for up to six months at a National Park anywhere in the country.  In some cases these programs will also qualify graduates to work for state and local agencies where they are located.

In addition, once someone is fortunate enough to be selected for a permanent Park Ranger protection position, they will be required to complete the training program at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).

You can learn a lot more at these sites:

http://www.nps.gov/personnel/seasonalle.htm

http://anpr.org/academies.htm

Park Rangers Looking Out For Visitor Safety

From the National Park Service Morning Report:

Blue Ridge Parkway – A traffic study launched in 2001 identified particular locations and times where accidents most typically occurred.  The park then began an innovative signing and targeted patrol program that has since cut the number of annual accidents nearly in half, down  from over 450 in 2000 to just over 250 last year.

This effort started in 2000 involved Park Rangers identifying a concerning trend in the increase of  motor vehicle accidents on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Rangers worked on an interdisciplinary team with Engineers, Landscape Architects, Dispatchers, and others to identify locations where accidents were revealing patterns.  One example was at Mile Post 36.5 where there were over a dozen motorcycle accidents in the same curve within one year.  During the following year there were zero accidents at this location.

The plan included three elements; education, signage, and increased enforcement.

What is not shown in the above morning report entry is that due to more aggressive enforcement of traffic regulations the number charges for more serious crimes such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, distribution of drugs, etc. also went up significantly.

After approximately two years of this work by Rangers that was not popular at times unpopular with the public, the crime rate turned decreased significantly.

Why did this happen?  I believe there was a change in the perception of local communities and violators.  In the past I had heard many times that people were using the Blue Ridge Parkway as a travel route because they did not think they would get caught.  Once the number of violation notices and arrests went up, that perception changed.

So not only did the Blue Ridge Parkway make a significant impact on the number of serious motor vehicle accidents the were causing personal injuries, property damage, and at times death, they made the Park a much safer place to visit.

I credit the Chief Ranger at the time Gordon Wissinger and his Assistant Chief Ranger John Garrison for not only taking a leadership role in developing this plan of action, but standing by it at times when certain members of the public and politicians did not like the increased enforcement actions being taken.  They are both examples of what a good manager can still accomplish in our National Parks.

Examples of more aggressive signage that was developed for high accident areas.

The Fourth of July in National Parks

July Fourth to most people brings memories of family picnics, outdoor fun, and cookouts punctuated by a fireworks display to celebrate the birth of our Nation.  During my National Park Service career it meant time away from my family, long hours of hot working conditions, and getting to meet all kinds of interesting people literally ranging from the President of the United States to drunken idiots.  I spent the vast majority of July 4th's away from home in such places as Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Saint Louis working at jobs ranging from parking cars, crowd control, dignitary protection, and eventually Incident Command positions in planning and operations at the national level.

So today do not forget all those National Park Service employees that are having to work protecting our resources and making your July 4th visit a safe and pleasant one.

More On The Potential Affects Of Pending Legislation Before Congress

More from the Coalition of National Park Retirees on the impact of new legislation on management of our National Parks.


H.R. 4089/S. 2066 would elevate fishing, hunting, and shooting over all other uses of the National Park System. Throughout the National Park System, authorized public uses are not distinguished from each other; they are all managed on the same level, unless singled out by the enabling legislation for a specific area. No one activity is given favored status throughout the System. The bills would alter that balance, however, by requiring NPS to “support and facilitate” hunting, fishing and shooting. No other public recreational activities are subject to a statutory mandate imposed on NPS to affirmatively advance the opportunities to engage in such uses of the park area’s resources. These bills would require NPS to take extra steps to assist hunters, trappers, fishermen, and recreational shooters. H.R. 4089 subsection (I) tries to brush this problem away by stating the bill does not require a “preference” to be given to these activities over other uses. This provision does not negate the fact, however, that NPS would be legally required to take action to support and facilitate hunting, fishing, and shooting, when a similar affirmative duty does not apply to any other uses.  


I would point out that even if as stated above the bill does not require "preference" to be given to hunting, fishing, trapping, and recreational shooting it does open an argument for special interest groups to file law suits against the National Park Service if they do not agree with their interpretations.  This would end up costing our government money and time that could be dedicated to more relevant issues.  If you do not believe this could happen just look at the long history of court actions by the NRA to open parks to hunting and other cases involving the use of snow machines and personal water craft in our National Parks as just a few examples.