Read the second reply. My bad.
Read the second reply. My bad.
Last edited by Arkansas_Ranger; 06-16-2008 at 02:23 PM.
I'm a state park ranger, and I was once in your shoes hoping someone would tell me so I'll tell you what I did. Feel free to PM if I leave anything out.Originally Posted by Blood Groove
My job as a park ranger is one of many hats. I am a law enforcement officer with statewide jurisdiction over criminal, traffic, boating, and game and fish laws. Additionally, I can obviously enforce park regulations since they are misdemeanor offenses. Also, we're trained at minimum as medical first responders (although I came in as a paramedic) and firefighters. Additionally, you can get training in search and resuce, wildfires (USFS Red Card), etc. We also supervise other park employees such as gift shop workers, marina workers, lodging workers, etc. Here, rangers have their own budget that they prepare and work from, and obviously if you're over say the gift shop manager and visitor center then you're over his/her budget, inventory, etc. We tend to a lot of managerial matters and are typically in the top ranks of a park.
I got a degree in general science when I was in college. I graduated, went thru the "non-traditional teacher licensing program" here in Arkansas, and I then taught biology and earth science for two years while working part-time as a paramedic. I got tired of teaching and went back to school by day to earn a degree in accounting (although I've forgotten why), and I worked at night for the county sheriff's office doing dispatching, jailering, warrants, transport, and whatever else came up. I then left and became a full-time city police officer. My stint in the police academy was with several other park rangers who told me too many good things about state parks. From the time I was at the academy until the time I got my park job I began applying for ranger jobs.
Some rangers work out in the woods like you want to, but since I'm at a big park I spend most of the day doing administrative stuff. We have a superintendent, an assistant superintendent under him, me a ranger acting as another assistant superintendent, and everybody else. I'm told my position here is a good one to get promoted to a supt somewhere else.
A lot of people in our agency went to college and earned degrees in park administration from one of two universities here. That's just a trend, and the degree is mostly useless in relation to the job. Most of them (the vast majority!!!!!) worked as seasonal employees prior to getting hired full-time. Full-time, uniformed positions are rare in our agency, and they are seldomly offered for hire from outside of the department. I got lucky and came in as an outsider although that doesn't hurt me. The department isn't at all clique-ish.
Briefly, our other uniformed positions are superintendents who are the park's "general managers." They are also commissioned law enforcement officers, yet they seldomly do law enforcement as they're too busy tending to the rest of the park. Under them are assistant superintendents, yet not all parks have an assistant supt. They almost always supervise the maintenance staff, and their other duties are individually assigned. Rangers are the principle law enforcement / emergency responder guys, yet often we are involved with park administration. Very few parks here, out of our 52 sites, actually have rangers. There are also park interpreters who are like the park's educators. They wear the same uniform, but are not law enforcment so they don't have guns, etc. Most people start out as seasonal interpreters while a select few get to start out as seasonal rangers. The other employees will be maintenance, tour guides, museum staff, house keepers, marina workers, restaurant staff, gift shop staff, secretarial positions, and so forth.
Our benefit package includes a livable salary in line with other law enforcement officers in the state as well as state retirement and good health benefits. Also, we get free housing provided by the department, and the houses are generally well kept. The department also provides for the utilities so you save a lot of money not having to pay for housing. Make sure you're investing in an IRA or some other avenue though. You also get uniforms which helps out a lot, and I have an assigned vehicle so I save a lot of mileage on my own vehicle as I can often work my small errands in when I make "town runs" for the park.
If you're interested in working for the National Park Service or a similar agency then PM me, and I'll tell you what I know about that.
Hope this helps.
I'm a carpenter/cabinet builder as well as a knife maker(not much money in that though, too much stuff to buy to do it,lol) I'm a transplanted hillbilly though, at home I built cabins and kayak'd all my free time away. Can ya get a job hiking the AT?lol
aw crap does that mean i will have to go to work for you now? what are you paying a top journey man who can do it all?
always be prepared-prepare all ways
http://wareaglesurvival.blogspot.com
The only one that would live harder than me working for Bragg is...let me see...you.
Gonna have to start bein' nice to people.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
i've got a sinking feeling that your probably right
always be prepared-prepare all ways
http://wareaglesurvival.blogspot.com
I just couldn't resist. A while back there were a few that had in their bio's that they were into "killin". Now these were just pimply faced, bogger eating trolls that thought it sounded cool. Blood Groove - I own a pest control company and kill bugs.Crashdive, vagueness of that answer is rivaled only by it's disturbingness
half the servicemen i know in my age group joke and boast that they kill for a living. i figured it was just disturbingly common.
Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice - Grey's Law.
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To see what's going on in my knife shop check out CanidArmory on Youtube or on Facebook.
LOL!! Bugs, that's great, I was thinking you were some kind of hit man or something. Oh did those kids post the Best weapon of the forest thread?? I read that thread before I joined the forum and started laughing out loud at how much you guys yelled at him. That's part of the reason I joined was because I knew you guys wouldn't take any of that type of non-sense.I just couldn't resist. A while back there were a few that had in their bio's that they were into "killin". Now these were just pimply faced, bogger eating trolls that thought it sounded cool. Blood Groove - I own a pest control company and kill bugs.
"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry"-Dick Cheney
Arkansas Ranger, thanks so much for all that information, that's very helpful!
"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry"-Dick Cheney
Or, "If I told you I'd have to kill you". Puh-lease.
I am a Wilderness Survival and Wilderness Navigation Instructor and rum my own company the Boreal Wilderness Institute in Edmonton Alberta. As well I am a Company Sergent Major in the Loyal Edmonton Regiment (A Canadian Reserve Infantry Regiment) which operates sort of like a National Guard unit in the US i.e. part time.
Why don't you just move out into the woods, or the edge of the woods, and live on very little money? That way, you can spend the vast majority of your time doing what you like in the woods, and putting in a couple months of paid labour a year, doing whatever job, would be all you need to do. Otherwise you may be working outside but not necessarily doing the stuff you love, or where you want to be. The world is your oyster...just think outside the box. Why work all day if you can play instead??
Last edited by wildWoman; 06-17-2008 at 03:03 PM.
Actions speak louder than words
Arkansas Ranger, thank you for your detailed post! I have always been curious as to what your duties entail, other than being sweet and helpful and pleasant to scores of people, in all kinds of weather, and making sure that things are running smoothly in the parks.
Thank you for what you do! Because of folks like you, my time outside is so much safer and definitely more enjoyable!
"Be prepared, not paranoid!"
Oh, and I'm a mortgage loan underwriter, when the mortgage business isn't in shambles! LOL! Right now, several of my friends and I are unemployed. But it's all good, because my grandmother moved in with me in April and she is in very poor health, so I'm able to take care of her instead of moving her into a nursing home. I'll take care of her until she doesn't need me anymore, then I'll go back to work. Hopefully by that time, the mortgage business will be more stable.
In the meantime, I'm hiking every chance I get, I'm taking outdoor classes, I'm reading and learning all I can about survival and I'm enjoying my "time off" from the corporate world!
"Be prepared, not paranoid!"
Sunshine - I see it picking up now. Started about 3-4 months ago. I do WDO inspections for the sale of homes, and they have been steadily increasing. Not quite to where they were 2 years ago, but getting better.
I'm a Janitorial Engineer. I go around cleaning up everyone elses crap and messes all day. Sometimes I have to take work home with me and catch more crap over that. You can pretty much say I have a pretty crappy life.
And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
Fear of destruction and imminent danger are those that will ultimately drive us forward onto survival in the future.
It's only a crappy life if you decide to let it be. Life is like sailing a boat - you can't change the wind, but you can adjust the sails.
If you start thinking your job isn't important. Think what a crappy life the rest of us would have if you stopped doing yours!!!!!
I always told new managers there are two groups of people you want to make friends with. Building maintenance and janitorial. When that sewer pipe breaks in the ceiling you won't be calling the president of the company. If you've been a wipe to building maintenance you can bet they will take their good sweet time about helping you.
I always stopped by both offices every week and just spent time with them. One, because they were good people and two, because I needed them.
Last edited by Rick; 06-17-2008 at 08:05 PM.
Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.
I'm a residential remodeling contractor and I hate all my customers,the building department,my subcontractors and material suppliers. maybe I'm burnt out.
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