|   Any Park Rangers on this board? | JGLukas
Dec 16, 2002 7:22 AM | | Saw a show on TV the other night about a guy who sold his restaurant because of all the stress involved with running it, and then became a Park Ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park. He says he's 10x happier than he was. I'm currently in a job thats not so good (high stress, long hours), and looking for other options. I was considering looking into being a Park Ranger. I know they don't make tons of money, but material things arent real important to me (anymore), but a low stress AND fun job is. I even saw a local Ranger on duty riding a mountain bike at one of our local parks, so who knows, maybe I could get some on-the-job riding in.
Thoughts, comments? |
| What hype? | JGLukas
Dec 16, 2002 7:37 AM | | |
| re: Any Park Rangers on this board? | mr_spin
Dec 16, 2002 8:54 AM | | If you're talking about a National Park Ranger, that's a tough gig. I even thought about doing it at one time. Examine your motives and goals before you apply, because there is a lot more to the job than leading nature hikes and fielding questions from tourists. A lot more, and not all of it is pleasant or stress-free. I don't know if you have noticed, but many National Park Rangers carry semi-automatics now, and it's not to fight the bears. In a park like Yosemite, Rangers are de facto cops, and have to deal with everything that cops do. People are generally stupid and slobs and Rangers have to deal with them.
If you make it in (best if you're not a white male), be prepared to spend up to fifteen years at "lesser" parks before you have enough senority to pick the the one you really want. Ideally, you don't care which one you get. It's still a cool job, being able to see a place like Yosemite in four seasons. That's worth a lot more than money. Do some research and talk to some Rangers. Who knows, maybe it is the job for you. It wasn't for me. |
| If this helps... | Bonee
Dec 16, 2002 9:09 AM | | I work for a software company and a few years ago I hired a guy who was working as a park ranger in San Diego, at one of the county parks. His goal was to work his way up and get to bigger and bigger parks. After a few years he decided he needed a change, here are his comments from when I interviewed him.
- The pay wasn't great, and while money wasn't a huge goal for him, he didn't realize how bad it would be to enjoy life with that little bit of pay with really no decent pay increases in sight.
- A lot more paperwork than you could imagine. Writing condition reports just to please the county, knowing that very few would read it or even care.
- Similar to what MR_Spin said, the worst park was the idiot yahoos that came into the park for day use and/or parking and caused nothing but grief, had no respect for the parks intended use, just sat around playing loud music and drinking brews. That was the most of the people.
- He loved the outdoors aspect of the job, that was about it, and it wasn't enough.
Personally I get the same impression. I've been to Yosemite and backpacked in the back country a little bit, and that is where the coolest stuff is and where you really feel the place. Down in the valley, its sad. All the concession stands and trash and people just getting off buses and walking into the gift shops, or the people that RFV it and just sit around camp all day with camp fires burning, despite the posted signs about no campfires after 8 am or before 6 pm (smoke kills the tree coverage). 95% of the people are there to do exactly what they could do in their back yard. Its really sad.
Thats why I like this board so much. 95% of the people here are educated, knowledgeable people who actually give a damn. |
| Wow, all negative comments so far... | JGLukas
Dec 16, 2002 9:24 AM | | Guess the job aint what its cracked up to be, and this documentary I saw was full of lies...or only told the good side. The guy (and his wife) seemed to be very happy with their decision, and he couldnt be happier. Hmmmmm, I guess this is something I'll have to do a lot of research on. The TV portrays it as being a great job, but so far everyone here has said just the opposite.
PS - I live near a National Park where i do some mountain biking on the back roads. I NEVER see the type of activity that I'm reading about here. Drunk campers, roudy visitors, etc. Hmmmmm, I guess its different out west. |
| not negative | mr_spin
Dec 16, 2002 10:05 AM | | It is a great job. We're just showing you the other side. The primary function of a Rangers is to manage the people who come to the park. That entails a lot of things, from advising them and teaching them to arresting them and cleaning up after them. You need to know the whole story before you dive in. There are plenty of people who sign on and spend many years in the park service, so don't be discouraged. If you are serious about this, you definitely need to talk to some Rangers, veterans and novices.
By the way, I was under the impression that Colorado was considered part of "the west." |
| I think it jsut depends on the person | Bonee
Dec 16, 2002 10:18 AM | | I love the outdoors, but can't stand idiots. When I see people throw a cig butt out the window it pisses me off. I'm not sure I could keep my cool with people in a park breaking beer cans and just being stupid on a daily basis. And the guy I hired is along the same lines. Very mellow guy, but was surprised at how much crap he had to deal with by his standards.
I suppose by contrast I should tell you that when I went thru MTB patrol training, one of the rangers that trained us on park policies and our roll as volunteers, absolutely loves his job. Mind you he's a big guy, might have some military background, loves the outdoors, loves the park he works at, loves working with the public, and has zero problem getting in someone's face in a calm manner and enforcing the rules. A person would be a fool to mess with him.
Now you have two sides.
Maybe volunteer at the park? I'm sure 99% of us have a program they could volunteer in if they had even an inkling of an interest in that as a career. I don't know you so I can't say if you'd enjoy being a ranger. I think it depends on many many factors. Volunteering is low risk. I think we'd just hate to see you quit your job and change of careers to find the grass wasn't greener. |
| re: Any Park Rangers on this board? | Davep2
Dec 16, 2002 8:59 AM | | I am not a Park Ranger, but I am in Law enforcment and have worked with many Park Rangers.
This sounds corny but is very true. To work in Law Enforcement you have to be prepaired to fight for your life in a moments notice and then turn around and administer aid to those that have been injured. If you think Law Enforcement is "low stress" you are very wrong. You are only respected when one calls for an emergency and hated at every other moment of the day.
If you think that being a Park Ranger is any different then other modes of Law Enforcement you are wrong. A State Park Ranger in California was recently shot while contacting an illegal camper.
Ask yourself if you are ready to give up your life for the amount of money that Law Enforcement Officers get paid.
Do a few "ride alongs" before making any hasty decisions. This career will change your life whether you mean it too or not. Where else can you take a life, remove a persons liberties, save a life, stop a violent crime, fight for your own life, conduct detailed criminal investigations, or drag your partner into your patrol vehicle after he has been shot.
That's my .02. Many people "burn out" quickly in this job. |
| another perspective... | Titan
Dec 16, 2002 10:37 AM | | I think it also depends upon _where_ you are a park ranger. Around here (Washington State), I've talked to rangers who say, "It's a lonely job," with lots of emphasis on the word "lonely". From what I've seen, I get the impression that the chores of most of our local rangers are to hike the trails for reports, pruning the sides back and clearing deadfall, drive the access/fire/logging roads doing the same thing, seasonally maintain and staff the fire lookouts (yes, they still use these), and seasonally maintain many tiny, obscure campgrounds.
I can assure you that many of our rangers hardly see a soul on weekdays, which is quite the other extreme from, say, a Yosemite Valley ranger. To some, the job up here could be pretty ideal. But I've always thought of it as one step up from volunteer work, since it pays so poorly that you would almost have to be otherwise financially secure to be a ranger. I think this is why I tend to only see rangers in the youngest and oldest age demographics. |
| different types of "park ranger" jobs out there, give one a try! | Mowerman
Dec 16, 2002 6:16 PM | | There are different types of park ranger jobs out there.
National parks have Rangers that are:
Law Enforcement
Maintenance
Interpretation
to name a few. These are all separate jobs.
Also, another thing people don't realize is that
MOST of the national park positions are SEASONAL.
So my recommendation would be to try to get on for a season, give
it a shot if you can, then form your opinion... if you can afford it.
National park jobs require filling out a 15 page application which is then scored along with the thousands of others they receive. Even when you score in the 98th percentile based on knowledge and experience, they usually rehire people from the year before and you get gaffed.
Like I said, give it a shot, if you can. Even a seasonal position (take a sabbatical from your "real" job) could be enough to get your life and temperament back on track. |
| As an X-Ranger and current spousal unit | AK Ken
Dec 16, 2002 9:56 PM | | of a National Park Ranger I'm in agreement with the perspectives offered above.
I was first hired in Rocky Mountain National Park in the mid 70s as a backcountry ranger. It was lots of fun. But what the park service manages is people, so you're more often dealing with people problems than hiking around in the woods by yourself. The longer you stay in the job, the more responsibility you get, the less time you spend in the field and the more time you spend driving a desk.
Also agree that the seasonals have the most fun. I've lived some spectacular places including Bear Lake in RMNP and Wonder Lake in Denali National Park where the view out the front window is of the north face of Denali. Consider that you're required to live in the ranger station, but you still have to pay rent. As far as the public is concerned there's no such thing as a "day off", so if you want some peace and quiet you'll have to leave your residence.
To me, being a park ranger was more of a lifestyle than a job. At that time in my life I loved it dearly and didn't mind working 30 or 40 days straight but only getting paid for half of them. Rangering in the summer and ski patrolling in the winter was great for about ten years. As life's priorities change (family, home ownership) the wages become more of an issue.
My wife is still a park ranger, but if she gets out of the visitor center twice a summer she's doing pretty well. Mostly she spends weeks and weeks trying to hire about 30 seasonals to work the entrance station and visitor center and then trying to keep them happy. Many of these people get other offers or don't show up and she has to go through the tedious hiring process two or three times a summer just to keep a full staff.
If you still want to try it, great. Applications for seasonal jobs are due by January 15. Pick 2 parks you want to work at and fire off an application. Keep in mind that out of a hundred possible points for the average applicant, veterans can add another ten. You can have a hundred point application/resume and be on page fifteen or twenty of the list of eligibles for the more popular parks. The Voulunteer In Parks (VIP) program offers housing and a food stipend. May be worth a try.
Good luck.
Ken |
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