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US National Park Service
Although the United States National Park Service (NPS) wasn’t established until 1916, the idea was conceived almost a century earlier. It was America’s pioneering push westward that prompted concerns that the nation’s wilderness and wildlife might become threatened and that there needed to be an effort to preserve them. In fact it is striking to see how the progress of the NPS parallels the history of America and reflects the nation’s ever-evolving challenges, priorities and ideals. Ken Mabury from the USA Association of National Park Rangers reviews its history. Over the years, the role of park ranger has evolved.
The first US National Park
The artist George Catlin on a trip to the Dakotas in 1832
worried about the impact of America's westward expansion on Indian civilization,
wildlife, and wilderness. He wrote, “they might be preserved by some great
protecting policy of government... in a magnificent park.... a nation's park,
containing man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature's beauty!”
A few areas were set aside by acts of Congress in the mid-19th Century but it
was in 1872 the spectacular Yellowstone region was designated as a “public
park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”
thus becoming America’s first National Park. In the late 1800’s
an expanding railroad system created new possibilities for leisure travel. Suddenly
Americans were eager (and able) to see some of their country’s amazing
sights. Many private sector interests also started to lobby for the creation
of more National Parks with the hope of luring travellers onto the railroads
and into newly built grand “rustic” hotels. Sequoia; Yosemite; Mt.
Rainier; Crater Lake and Glacier all became national parks and popular travel
destinations.
The late nineteenth century also saw the stirrings of the first preservation movement as America began to realize the value of its history and the need to take steps to protect ancient Indian ruins and other treasures on public land. The US Congress first moved to protect such a feature, Arizona's Casa Grande Ruin, in 1889. In 1906 it created Mesa Verde National Park, containing dramatic cliff dwellings in southwestern Colorado, and in the same year passed the Antiquities Act authorizing presidents to set aside “…historic and other prehistoric structures …. as national monuments”.
Enter the Park Ranger
The growing popularity of parks and monuments created a management
challenge: “Who would oversee their day-to-day operation?” At first
the government assigned soldiers to the task. Military personnel developed roads
and buildings, enforced park laws and greeted the public. But soldiers were,
however able, were not recruited because of any special aptitude or zeal to
protect natural resources. Enter the Park Ranger.
In 1891, Harry Yount (known as “Rocky Mountain Harry”)
was hired by Yellowstone’s superintendent to protect the wildlife in the
park and is generally acknowledged as being the first civilian “Park Ranger”.
Hunting was then allowed in the park but Yount, a frontiersman, could not single-handedly
protect the herds of deer, elk, antelope and bighorn sheep, so he resigned in
frustration after a year. His report to the superintendent envisioned the National
Park Service of today plus "a small and reliable police force as being
the most practicable way of seeing that the game is protected from wanton slaughter,
the forests from careless use of fire, and the enforcement of all the other
laws, rules, and regulations for the protection and improvement of the park”.
By the time President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation to form the National
Park Service in 1916, park rangers were an indispensable part of many national
park staffs. Within two years the military was removed from the parks and Park
Rangers firmly took the helm.
During the 1930’s as car trips became the norm, Americans clamoured for destinations that combined recreation with scenic motoring. So for the first time NPS sites were established at lakes and seashores e.g. Lake Mead; Cape Hatteras. By the 1960’s a growing interests in ecology prompted the NPS to create educational programmes specifically geared to environmental protection. In 1980 the geographic area of the NP system more than doubled with the addition of 47 million wilderness acres in Alaska. Today the NPS comprises 388 different sites in nearly every state and US possession.
The role of the Ranger
Over the years, the role of park ranger has also evolved,
from that of a generalist wearing many different hats, to that of fulfilling
one of the many diverse roles the NPS of today has to offer. However, rangers
still need to be multi-skilled as they are all responsible for keeping the parks
safe and helping the visitors have a great experience, even though they may
fill a specialist role. Rangers who lead nature walks and education seminars
may also manage plant and animal life, enforce the park laws and administer
first aid when called upon. In addition each site brings its own special challenge
whether it be ecosystem restoration in the Badlands; cave rescue in Carlsbad
Caverns or tranquillising large wild animals in Yosemite. The examples of ranger
specialities are as numerous as the US National Parks are varied.
So whilst many things have changed, fellow rangers in the UK will be able to appreciate that tact, diplomacy and an engaging personality are still embodied by US ranger colleagues who have the good fortune to live the adventure of a National Park Ranger.
Ken Mabery: Park Ranger
Past President - Association of National
Park Rangers (USA)
http://www.nps.gov/