From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Park ranger or Forest ranger
is a person in lead of protecting and preserving parklands -
national, state or provincial parks. Different countries use
different names for the position. Ranger is the favored
term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within
the United States, the National Park Service refers to
the position as a Park Ranger. The US Forest Service 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
"protecting the people from the resource, and the 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
The term "Ranger" was first applied to a reorganization of the
Fire Warden force in the Adirondack Park, after 1899 when fires
burned 80,000 acres (320 km2) in the park. The
name was taken from Rogers' Rangers, a small force famous
for their woodcraft that fought in the area during the French
and Indian War in 1755. The term was then adopted by the National Park Service[1], 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 Rangers in particular, park rangers share a
common uniform regardless of work assignment.
- Dispatcher: Some
rangers work as park dispatchers, answering emergency calls and
dispatching law enforcement rangers, wildland fire fighters or Park
EMS crews by radio to emergency calls. Dispatcher Rangers typically
perform other duties such as taking lost and found reports,
monitoring cctv cameras and fire alarms. Dispatch rangers are
assigned to the Park Protection Division.
- Park guard:
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 magnetometers and
x-ray devices. Many people understand these functions as similar to
the work performed by security guards, except that they are
performed by employees in park ranger uniforms.
- Law enforcement: 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
paramilitary
organizations against organized poachers or even guerillas. 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
Justice 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.[2].
- Interpretation and education: 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 programs to
visitors intended to foster stewardship 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 curriculum-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 rescue 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 crewmembers.
- Firefighting:
Rangers are often the first to spot forest fires and are
often trained to engage in wild land firefighting 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.
- Maintenance: 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.
Vehicle
and equipment
A typical ranger vehicle is a well-marked and specialized
vehicle that is suited specifically for the unique tasks of the
area where it is assigned. In some parks the patrol vehicle might
be a full-size sedan equipped with a "police package" engine and
suspension, easily recognizable as a law enforcement vehicle. In
other areas the patrol vehicle might be a full-size, heavy-duty
pickup truck or sport utility vehicle adapted for off-road use.
Whatever the case may be, the ranger's patrol vehicle must be
capable of holding all of the equipment they might need to be
entirely self-sufficient while on patrol. For example, a primarily
law enforcement vehicle may also have to carry emergency medical
equipment, climbing ropes, helmets and harnesses, hand-tools and
protective gear for fighting fires, etc. The variety of equipment
carried gives some idea of the many roles of the park ranger.
- flashing emergency lights and siren, police traffic RADAR unit,
mobile video recorder
- a reliable camera, traffic flares, and fingerprinting and
evidence collecting equipment
- a portable breath tester and field narcotic test kits
- a reliable radio or mobile telephone, often with a backup
device for emergencies
- an electronic locator unit such as a GPS, in remote areas supplemented by an EPIRB for
signaling for help
- detailed maps of the area protected and guidebooks about local
flora and fauna
- a clipboard and paperwork used to document activities,
including a daily patrol report, citation book, incident reports
and maintenance reports
- informational handouts and maps to be given to visitors
- a collection of keys that open gates, locks and buildings
scattered across the park or preserve
- personal survival equipment for an extended stay in the
wilderness, including a backpack, tent and sleeping bag as well as
fire-starting equipment
- a comprehensive first aid kit including supplies for
response to trauma and vehicle accidents
- kevlar bullet-resistant vest, Taser, high-power rechargeable
flashlight, folding pocket knife, multi-tool, handcuffs, chemical
defense spray, defensive baton, and other standard police
equipment
- blankets, emergency food and water, and portable tarps or other
shelters (for any persons rescued)
- hand tools including a shovel, axe, rake, Pulaski tool,
crowbar, bolt cutter, and other miscellaneous tools
- a power winch for extricating stuck vehicles, with associated
cables
- rope and life preserver for unassisted water rescue
- hand fire extinguishers, a backpack fire pump, a one inch
(25 mm) diameter 50 foot (15 m) length of fire hose with a 50
to 150 US gallon (200 to 600 L) fire water tank and
gasoline-powered reversible pump, fireproof turnout coat, and a
self-rescue fire shelter
- metal or acyllic screen to separate the ranger from arrested
persons who may be violent
- additional firearms, often including a high-powered rifle with optical sights and a
pump-action shotgun for
close-range defense
- additional supplies of fuel and water as appropriate
These supplies are often augmented according to the geographic
area and the local hazards. A park ranger in urban areas may carry
less survival gear and more law enforcement equipment; a park
ranger in the desert will carry much more drinkable water; a park
ranger in the Alaskan outback will carry additional shelter
materials and stove fuel. In more remote areas, pre-positioned
caches containing survival equipment will be scattered throughout
the park.
Worldwide
ranger deficit in developing countries
The Adopt A Ranger Foundation has calculated that worldwide
about 140,000 rangers are needed for the protected areas in
developing and transition 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.[3]
See also
References
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