National Park Ranger: An American Icon Paperback – 4 Jun. 2003

The Park Ranger takes a deeper look at the history and duties of a Ranger. Good read for those interested in becoming a Park Ranger.

No issues with this order, came as described.

With 30 years of first-hand experience, Butch Farabee captures the culture, values, language, objectives, history, unspoken processes and people of the National Park Service - rangers. A wealth of photographs and inside knowledge makes this essential reading for spouses and visitors. There is a thorough and illustrated discussion of uniforms and badges, evolution from predator control and fire suppression, to sustaining natural processes and recognizing the integral role of wildland fire in healthy ecosystems.Rangers must have and constantly upgrade diverse knowledge, skills and abilities, and be able to diplomatically use those skills alone in the wild or in crowded urban settings. Rangers carry out technical search and rescue in every ecosystem - from 594 meters below the surface of Crater Lake to the top of Denali in Alaska at 6,194 meters, and under water in the Florida Everglades and Hawaii - while working efficiently using appropriate skills and equipment in team efforts. Commissioned rangers are federal law enforcement officers who effectively work with felons, traffic infractions and other local, state and federal agencies. Other ranges are interpreters who share the human and natural history of an area with visitors. Resource management, for the parks and people, permeates everything and every day. A ranger may repair a plumbing problem in the morning, help a visitor identify a plant, animal or rock before noon, carry out a custodial arrest or technical search and rescue in early afternoon, while working creatively within budget and administrative limitations.The "way of life" of being a ranger is hard on rangers, spouses and children. Living conditions are often sparse and distant and people must be very tolerant, proactive for food, education and routine maintenance and be able to think and act long-term. Advancement comes competitively, often requiring major long-distance moves and extreme changes in climate - from cold interior Alaska, to warm Death Valley, to warm and humid Guam or Florida, to the snowy Great Lakes.Rangers are female and male, come in every type of skin pigmentation, are physically abled and disabled, speak a wide variety of languages and come from many cultures. National Park Service rangers are consistently the most admired people and the most admired agency. Too many legislators use the NPS for political expediency and short-term gain. This is a good read and underscores the strong need for much better funding and support of rangers and the National Park Service.

good

As a Ranger, I really wish Butch had taken more time with this book. It's poorly done. The NPS and the Rangers have such a history, but this book rushes through it like being a Ranger is just any other job. It was disappointing.