Rangers must have and constantly upgrade diverse knowledge, skills and abilities, and be able to diplomatically use those skills alone in the wild or in crowded urban settings. Rangers carry out technical search and rescue in every ecosystem - from 594 meters below the surface of Crater Lake to the top of Denali in Alaska at 6,194 meters, and under water in the Florida Everglades and Hawaii - while working efficiently using appropriate skills and equipment in team efforts. Commissioned rangers are federal law enforcement officers who effectively work with felons, traffic infractions and other local, state and federal agencies. Other ranges are interpreters who share the human and natural history of an area with visitors. Resource management, for the parks and people, permeates everything and every day. A ranger may repair a plumbing problem in the morning, help a visitor identify a plant, animal or rock before noon, carry out a custodial arrest or technical search and rescue in early afternoon, while working creatively within budget and administrative limitations.

The "way of life" of being a ranger is hard on rangers, spouses and children. Living conditions are often sparse and distant and people must be very tolerant, proactive for food, education and routine maintenance and be able to think and act long-term. Advancement comes competitively, often requiring major long-distance moves and extreme changes in climate - from cold interior Alaska, to warm Death Valley, to warm and humid Guam or Florida, to the snowy Great Lakes.

Rangers are female and male, come in every type of skin pigmentation, are physically abled and disabled, speak a wide variety of languages and come from many cultures. National Park Service rangers are consistently the most admired people and the most admired agency. Too many legislators use the NPS for political expediency and short-term gain. This is a good read and underscores the strong need for much better funding and support of rangers and the National Park Service.


An Absolute Must for Fans of Our National Parks   June 23, 2003
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

The mission of the National Park Service to preserve and protect our natural and cultural resources for future generations. Charles Farabee's knowledge and experience is portrayed superbly in National Park Ranger: An American Icon. Farabee is able to make the reader feel like they've been transported back to the late 1800's where our earliest parks were protect by members of the U.S. Army. Farabee then takes the reader to when the park ranger comes onto the scene and beyond. The history of the park ranger is very romantic and makes the reader yearn to travel back in time.

The only "slight" disappoint was the forward by the current NPS Director, Fran Mainella. While I understand that having the current Director involved with this passage is the proper thing to do, I can only take her comments with a grain of salt as the current leadership of the NPS and Department of the Interior (Secretary Gale Norton) do not appear to fight for the best interest of the service nor the environment. By no means should you let this deter you from purchasing this book.