Park ranger
Encyclopedia
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
refers to the position as a park ranger. The US Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
refers to the position as a forest ranger. Other countries use the term park warden or game warden to describe this occupation. The profession has often been characterized as "help protect people from people, people from the natural resource and the natural resource from the people" The profession includes a number of disciplines and specializations, and park rangers are often required to be proficient in more than one.
History
Early RangersThe term Ranger first appeared in 13th-century England. Rangers were officials employed to "range" through the countryside providing law and order (often against poaching).
In North America rangers served in the 17th and 18th-century wars between colonists and Native American Indian tribes. Rangers were full-time soldiers employed by colonial governments to patrol between fixed frontier fortifications in reconnaissance providing early warning of raids. In offensive operations, they were scouts and guides, locating villages and other targets for task forces drawn from the militia or other colonial troops. During the revolutionary war, General George Washington ordered Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowledge to select an elite group of men for reconnaissance missions. This unit was known as Knowlton's Rangers
Knowlton's Rangers
Knowlton's Rangers were the United States of America's first organized espionage organization, as well as the first American Ranger unit formed after America declared its independence from the United Kingdom. Named after their commander, Thomas Knowlton, they were formed in 1776.-Formation:On...
, and was the first official Ranger unit for the United States, and are considered the historical parent of the modern day Army Rangers.
Early Conservation or Park Rangers
The term "Ranger" was first applied to a reorganization of the Fire Warden force in the Adirondack Park, after 1899 when fires burned 80000 acres (323.7 km²) in the park. The name was taken from Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers was an independent company of colonial militia, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years War . The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant...
, a small force famous for their woodcraft that fought in the area during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in 1755. The term was then adopted by the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, and the U.S. Forest Service (ref Pinchot, Gifford, "Breaking New Ground", first pub 1947)
Duties, disciplines, and specializations
The duties of the modern park ranger are as varied and diverse as the parks where they serve and in recent years have become more highly specialized. Regardless of the regular duties of any one discipline, the goal of all rangers remains to protect the park resources for future generations and to protect park visitors. This goal is accomplished by the professionalism and sometimes overlapping of the different divisions. For example, an interpretive ranger may perform a law enforcement role by explaining special park regulations to visitors and encouraging them to be proper stewards of natural and cultural history. Law enforcement rangers and other park employees may contribute to the mission of the interpretive ranger by providing information to park visitors about park resources and facilities. The spirit of teamwork in accomplishing the mission of protecting the parks and people is underscored by the fact that in many cases, the U.S. National Park RangersNational Park Ranger
National Park Service Rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and/or the President of the United States...
in particular, park rangers share a common uniform regardless of work assignment.
- Law enforcementPoliceThe police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
: Law enforcement rangers have police powers and enforce national laws as well as park regulations. In some developing countries, the park rangers patrolling natural preserves may be heavily armed and function as paramilitaryParamilitaryA paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
organizations against organized poachers or even guerrillas. In many other developing countries however, park rangers have no law enforcement authority, they don't carry firearms as they seek to achieve respect for nature by building good relationships with local communities and the visiting public. In units of the U.S. National Park System, law enforcement Rangers are the primary police agency; their services may be augmented by the US Park Police, particularly in the Washington, DC and San Francisco metropolitan areas. The U.S. National Park Service also has a section of "Special Agents" who conduct more complex criminal investigations. According to U.S. Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
statistics, National Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers suffer the most number of felonious assaults, and the highest number of homicides of all federal law enforcement officers. - InterpretationHeritage interpretationHeritage interpretation is the communication of information about, or the explanation of, the nature, origin, and purpose of historical, natural, or cultural resources, objects, sites and phenomena using personal or non-personal methods....
and educationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
: Park Rangers provide a wide range of informational services to visitors. Some Rangers provide practical information—such as driving directions, train timetables, weather forecasts, trip planning resources, and beyond. Rangers may provide interpretive programsHeritage interpretationHeritage interpretation is the communication of information about, or the explanation of, the nature, origin, and purpose of historical, natural, or cultural resources, objects, sites and phenomena using personal or non-personal methods....
to visitors intended to foster stewardshipStewardshipStewardship is an ethic that embodies responsible planning and management of resources. The concept of stewardship has been applied in diverse realms, including with respect to environment, economics, health, property, information, and religion, and is linked to the concept of sustainability...
of the resources by the visitor. Interpretation in this sense includes (but is not limited to): guided tours about the park's history, ecology or both; slideshows, talks, demonstrations; informal contacts, and historical re-enactments. Rangers may also engage in leading more formalized curriculumCurriculumSee also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
-based educational programs, meant to support and complement instruction received by visiting students in traditional academic settings and often designed to help educators meet specific national and/or local standards of instruction. All uniformed rangers, regardless of their primary duties, are often expected to be experts on the resources in their care, whether they are natural or cultural. - Emergency response: Rangers are often trained in wilderness first aid and participate in search and rescueSearch and rescueSearch and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
to locate lost persons in the wilderness. Many National Parks require law enforcement rangers to maintain certification as Emergency Medical Technicians or Paramedics. Depending on the needs of the park where assigned, rangers may participate in high-angle rescue, swift-water rescue, may be certified scuba divers, and can become specially trained as helicopter pilots or crew members. - Firefighting: Rangers are often the first to spot forest fires and are often trained to engage in wild land firefightingWildfireA wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
and in some cases structural fire fighting. Rangers also enforce laws and regulations regarding campfires and other fires on park lands. In the face of a fire outside their control, rangers will call for help and evacuate persons from the area pending the arrival of additional firefighters. - DispatcherDispatcherDispatchers are communications personnel responsible for receiving and transmitting pure and reliable messages, tracking vehicles and equipment, and recording other important information...
: Some rangers work as park protection dispatchers, answering emergency calls and dispatching law enforcement rangers, park fire fighters or Park EMS crews by radio to emergency calls for service. Park Dispatchers provide pre-arrival instructions to callers to help them stay alive until responding units arrive. Dispatchers coordinate multi-agency responses to emergencies within the park boundaries and utilize computer systems to check for criminal histories of subjects stopped by park law enforcement rangers. Park Dispatchers typically perform other duties such as taking lost and found reports, monitoring cctv surveillance cameras and fire alarms. Dispatchers are assigned to the Park Protection Division.Park guard: is an NPS employee who is used to supplement law enforcement staff. Park Security Guards assist in providing a uniformed presence within a site and perform general security functions to prevent criminal activity. Guards check to see that gates are locked, that closed roads are not in use, that unauthorized persons keep out of closed or sensitive areas, etc. Some parks have been identified as potential targets for terrorist attacks and in these areas, such as the Gateway Arch, Independence Hall and parts of Boston National Historic Park, guards may screen visitors using magnetometerMagnetometerA magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...
s and x-ray devices. These are generally contracted security. Any individual in a National Park service uniform wearing a duty belt and firearm is likely to be a US Park Ranger, a federal law enforcement officer. - Scientists and scholars: Rangers are responsible for protecting the natural resources or cultural sights for which they work. This includes obtaining and preserving knowledge about the area. As such many different types of historians and scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
are employed as rangers. Some scientific positions often filled by ranges include archeologist, many different types of biologistBiologistA biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
, ecologist, fire scientist, geologistGeologistA geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, hydrologist, paleontologist, soil scientist, volcanologistVolcanologistA volcanologist is a person who studies the formation of volcanoes, and their current and historic eruptions. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, especially active ones, to observe volcanic eruptions, collect eruptive products including tephra , rock and lava samples...
etc. Rangers in these positions are expected to study, monitor, and inform others (in the from of published peer-reviewed scientific papers as well as internally) about their findings. These people add to the knowledge dispersed in interpretive and educational programs, and provide information need by managers and others to more effectively protect the resource. - MaintenanceMaintenance, Repair and OperationsMaintenance, repair, and operations or maintenance, repair, and overhaul involves fixing any sort of mechanical or electrical device should it become out of order or broken...
: Some rangers perform routine maintenance on facilities or equipment—especially in preparing for winter closures and spring re-openings. Rangers are often the first to discover vandalism or weather-related damage to roads or facilities. - Administration: In many cases administrative staff members are categorized officially as park rangers and may wear the distinct park ranger uniform while working "behind the scenes" to ensure the continued operation of the parks. These rangers may set policy for the parks, or handle park budgets, computers and technology, human resources, or other fields related to the administration of parks. In the case of managementManagementManagement in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
these positions are usually field by individuals who have moved up from other field based positions. These individuals are often heavily cross trained in order to allow for a knowledge of all other areas and duties under their authority.
Worldwide ranger deficit in developing countries
The Adopt A Ranger Foundation has calculated that worldwide about 150,000 rangers are needed for the protected areas in developing and transitions countries. There is no data on how many rangers are employed at the moment, but probably less than half the protected areas in developing and transition countries have any rangers at all and those that have them are at least 50% short. This means that there would be a worldwide ranger deficit of 105,000 rangers in the developing and transition countries.One of the world's foremost conservationists, Dr. Kenton Miller, stated about the importance of rangers: "The future of our ecosystem services and our heritage depends upon park rangers. With the rapidity at which the challenges to protected areas are both changing and increasing, there has never been more of a need for well prepared human capacity to manage. Park rangers are the backbone of park management. They are on the ground. They work on the front line with scientists, visitors, and members of local communities."
Adopt A Ranger fears that the ranger deficit is the single greatest limiting factor in effectively protecting nature in 75% of the world. Currently, no conservation organization or Western country or international organization addresses this problem. Adopt A Ranger has been incorporated to draw worldwide public attention to the most urgent problem that conservation is facing in developing and transition countries: protected areas without field staff. Specifically, it will contribute to solving the problem by fund raising to finance rangers in the field. It will also help governments in developing and transition countries to assess realistic staffing needs and staffing strategies.
See also
- Conservation officerConservation officerA conservation officer is an employee who has the role of protecting conservation values.-United States:*Michigan Conservation Officers*Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries - Enforcement Division*Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police...
- Game wardenGame wardenA game warden is an employee who has the role of protecting wildlife. Game wardens may also be referred to as conservation officers or wildlife officers...
- GamekeeperGamekeeperA gamekeeper is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is...
- Ranger (disambiguation)Ranger (disambiguation)-Law enforcement:* Arizona Rangers* California State Rangers* Colorado Mounted Rangers* Council ranger, a type of officer in Australia* Newfoundland Rangers* New Mexico Rangers* Pakistan Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force* Texas Ranger Division...
- The Thin Green LineThe Thin Green LineThe Thin Green Line is a documentary film, made by Australian Park Ranger Sean Willmore. In 2004 Willmore travelled the world, across six continents and nineteen countries, interviewing and filming the lives and stories of park rangers, recounting their experiences and extreme difficulties.The...
- US National Park Rangers