r/ParkRangers

Im a 3rd year ecology student who is loving their courses on wildlife management but im currently dealing with some stuff that is likely heart related and cant really do the physical element of being a Ranger atm. I have done previous volunteering with my local rangers before, and I want to do more, im just wondering if its possible to earn experience in stuff like desk based jobs while I recover?

There are major staffing changes happening at my park but I'm mostly just seeing ranger (p) and maintenance positions advertised. Putting some feelers out there - I'm ready for a move. How many (and which) permanent positions are vacant at your park?

Ours needs a new superintendent + deputy, AO, chief interp (plus loads of interp rangers), fee collectors, and maintenance. I'm a GS-11 looking for a lateral or GS-12.

Hi, so I am currently in community college and would love to get some reccomendations on potential paths going forward. Would it be best to finish my pre-reqs and transfer to a 4 year college or try to do a 2 year course? Im very passtionate about protecting natural life and wildlife and fighting against erosion, especially since majority of State Parks in my state deal with erosion. Any advice would be amazing and much apprectiated. thank you:)

Hello all! Im currently working as a Program Manager in Recreation for the USFS, and a local park is advertising for a Supervisory Rangers postion. ReOrg has me looking at getting back into operations and seeing as Im familiar with our local park this would be an ideal transition. This would be my first time leaving the USFS since starting my federal career 8 years ago. Does anyone have expirience they'd be willing to share regarding leaving the Forest Service for the Park Service? How competitive is the future move from an 11 Interpretive Ranger Supervisory postion to say a GS-12 in park/program management?

I appreciate the insight folks!

How did you guys keep yourselves occupied for 8 hours a day without a cell phone

I’m currently in the process of enlisting in the reserves of the armed forces. Nobody at my park really seems to know how that will shake out whenever I’m shipped off.

I’m aware that there are strict protections for civilian jobs, but it’s less clear with it being seasonal and all.

will my job be held if i leave halfway through the season? will i have rehire rights? will I get the two weeks of double dipping pay? any advice is appreciated y’all!

For a little background information, I was arrested a few months ago by ICE and was charged with assault on a LEO & resisting (not felonies). I am applying for a state park ranger position and while all charges were never filed/dropped, I know the arrest itself is still on my record.

Should this be something I should worry over? Should I mention it in any potential interviews or wait for it to be brought up?

I'm wanting to become a Biologist, It's something I've been contemplating for a while. I recently signed up for community college, majoring in Biology, and just saw the college payments. They're doable, but I'm going to have to be extremely frugal. (Even after FAFSA). I didn't do well in Highschool, as I didn't think I was going to college (Real smart I know) so scholarships are second to none. Me and my girlfriend have a place where we rent and pay bills, and its been damning towards my bank account, this also makes relocating pretty much impossible. I don't make much money at all, so I don't have much free time to Volunteer, as I have bills to pay. I also live in Missouri, closer to Illinois, so Park jobs around me are few and far between. I'm wondering if you all have any tips on how to make this easier? Are there any spots around Missouri/Illinois to get good experience? I also would like to know if college is the best route to take? I've been reading through posts, and have seen split answers, so I thought giving my specific situation would help. If anyone could also direct me to threads where this is answered, that would be helpful too. Thanks!

P.S. Also wondering if there are any Permanent Biology jobs, the ones I am seeing on USA Jobs are usually temporary (About 1-5 years) I just don't want to constantly reapply for jobs. Stability is wanted.

I feel like I already know the answer to this, but does the summer burn out this year seem worse this year?

I just got referred to, one of the few, jobs that are flying and I just don't care. Usually I'd be feeling great about a new opportunity or career advancement. But now it feels like the emotional equivalent of drinking tap water.

From my personal experience and conversations I've had with others; feel free to correct anything that's wrong:

National Park Service: Many different jobs are called Ranger, but they all center on interaction with the public in some capacity: law enforcement, interp, visitor center. I've seen some Park Ranger (General) postings that mention Search and Rescue which is pretty cool.

Forest Service: FS doesn't call anybody a ranger. Law Enforcement Officer is its own title and there aren't that many interpretative roles to begin with. Almost everyone else is a Forestry Technician, some of whom become Forest Protection Officers (FPOs) and take on unarmed security duties (see NY State Park Ranger below).

BLM: ???

FWS: ???

Army Corps of Engineers: I know they have park rangers, because they were the only agency that came up on USAJobs before I knew what I was doing and just searched "park ranger". I believe they fit the visitor services/unarmed security description.

California State Parks: Rangers are technically State Park Peace Officers and they're all armed law enforcement officers. Interestingly, the seasonal Park Aides and Maintenance Aides report to them as the rangers are broadly in charge of anything public-facing in the parks.

New York State Parks: Park Rangers are unarmed visitor service and security personnel. A step up from there would be NY State Park Police, who fill the armed law enforcement role within parks.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation: Forest Rangers are armed law enforcement responsible for state-managed lands outside state parks. Most comparable to Forest Service LEOs at the federal level in terms of their duties.

I am currently employed through the NPS but have not heard anything yet regarding winter seasonal positions. I’ve asked around two friends from different regions, and it seems like nobody really knows. Do we have a definitive date like last year?

Kinda caught between a MS in Recreation and Sports Management or a MAg in Natural Resources Conservation.

In the former you can get a certified parks professional cert, and courses are more focused on things like facility and personnel management. The latter is pretty broad, but more interesting to me, personally. Courses included environmental law and policy, silviculture, and statistics for animal science. As someone without a natural science background, I was hoping the MAg in natural resources could help fill some of those educational gaps in the natural science area.

I have over 3 years of local and state park and preserve experience from selling permits out of the booth to land management. I've done prescribed burns, shaded fuel breaks, made reservations, and cleaned bathroom haha. Titles include customer service rep, park maintenance worker, natural resources tech, and park operations specialist. But I still struggle to land permanent entry level park ranger, arborist, or natural resources jobs locally. I'm doing maintenance now.

The plan was to get equipment experience to really transition into fire and land management, but I don't know if that's my lane anymore. I'm interested in interp, recreation coordination, resource communication/outreach, outdoor programs etc... I'm not against park management. I've also seen stuff like wildfire mitigation specialist that seems like outreach for wildland fire groups. Local park ranger jobs seem like a mix of technical conservation work and outreach which also is up my alley.

I guess I'm not sure which degree might be more valuable as far as a return on investment. I feel like the natural resources degree is more broad and could help me land some more natural area outreach positions. It also may help cancel out my lack of a natural resources bachelor's for those jobs that require it. While I've learned a lot on the job, I still have a lot of gaps in my academic knowledge when it comes to natural science. The parks focused degree has some valuable practical courses. All of these places have personnel and facilities and finances to manage, after all. Lastly, I am eligible for my ISA arborist cert, and I'm studying for that.

Any advice appreciated!

Been trying to buy the green backpack, but it's been out of stock for months. I asked them but they said its a busy season and they try to keep stock but should be stocked soon.. which was a month ago.