Park Ranger note

[Recumbentman]

came across this on another site !!! park ranger note
and I thought park rangers had a cool job  

[AustinBoston]

That guy needs a new job.  Almost anything pays better than park ranger to begin with.

In several decades of camping, only twice have I seen things that I thought justified a call to a ranger.  Only once have I reported a problem to a commercial campground owner/host.

Austin

[TheViking]

You gotta admit it though, it would never be boring. It certainly isn't one of those routine jobs that you do pretty much the same thing everyday.

[wavery]

That guy needs a new job.  Almost anything pays better than park ranger to begin with.

In several decades of camping, only twice have I seen things that I thought justified a call to a ranger.  Only once have I reported a problem to a commercial campground owner/host.

Austin

I live in Los Angeles and I seldom (if ever) see a crime committed but we sure have an awful lot of Policeman that have to handle a LOT of calls.

I appreciate the guy's post and I'm glad that he has a place to vent. I'm also VERY GLAD that he is doing the job that he is so poorly paid to do.

My hat's off to the rangers everywhere :! .......they have a tough job...and somebodies got to do it.

[beacher]

That guy needs a new job.  Almost anything pays better than park ranger to begin with.......

For about a week, (when I was 11 - during summer camp), I decided to become a National Forest Ranger!  Then, when I went home I visited the library, did some research on how to become a ranger, and YIKES!!  I found out what real Forest Rangers gets paid!  The guys with a Bachelor's/Master's/or Doctorate in Forest Management/Biology/Geology or related field earn close to the poverty level wages.  It's almost a voluntary job!

However, the Park Rangers who are also trained Law Enforcement Officers, do earn just as much a LEO anywhere else, (and then some - because they are also Rangers), based on the State, or Federal pay scale, also a REAL old-fashioned pension plan upon retirement.  And, they get "free" room and board, clothing, tactical equipment, and a vehicle while on duty.  They get compensated fairly.

[CampDirt]

I worked in Grand Canyon Nat'l Park for five years with the consessionaires.  Even though I wasn't a ranger I got to know quite a few of them.  They, like all nat'l park employees, take these jobs for one reason.  Not the money, not the glory, not the uniform.  It's to be one of the few to actually work and live in a nat'l park.  

I still work for the same company that owns the Grand Canyon lodges, I'm just now living in a big city working at a corporate office.  I still miss very dearly my life in that park.  We all do, but bills come first and most of us move on.  There are rangers that I know still working there.  To them, and to those who make a career of working in parks, it's a lifestyle.  And a pretty good one, too.  

I left the park because of a promotion and I too got tired of the drunks, idiots, and lack of respect for the forests and canyons.  Someday I might compile a book of the five years of stories working in a nat'l park.  Most of my memories are great, but there were those tourists and employees that made you wonder about humanity in general.  Like the 50ish lady trying to hike to Phantom Ranch in high heels!  That was a rescue I'll never forget.  Or the idiot who tied a live deer to a tree so he could run home and get his gun.  Every park employee has horror stories, like this ranger.  But I think every one of us also have the best memories of our lives.  None of us would trade those times for anything in the world.  Working in a nat'l park is worth a lot more than money.

[Gone-Camping]

Ummm, I'm the one that posted that on the other site(s)...thought I had posted here too, guess I missed this one. Glad someone took up the slack for me. I'm not sure my friends at Skoolie.net appreciate the bandwith headache I must have caused them from all this hits that thread had to have taken!!