Is anyone a Park Ranger at a Nat'l park?

I think in general that the pay sucks, and the job isn't what people hoped it would be. Clean bathrooms, empty trash, etc.

Nope. No one is a park ranger.

Slave of Required Education wrote:

Being a ranger at a national park out west is pretty much my dream job.

Agreed.

From

http://www.nps.gov/personnel/rangers.htm

Career Potential

Depending upon qualifications Park Rangers begin their service at various grades. From the entry, Rangers may move through the ranks to become District Rangers, Park Managers, and Staff Specialists in interpretation, resource management, park planning, and related areas. At upper levels, Rangers' responsibilities and independence increase as their influence covers more staff and area. Upper level managers in the Park Service are recruited primarily for their managerial capabilities. Competition exists for Park Ranger positions in all grade levels. The starting salary for summer Ranger hires with a college degree is a GS-4 ($18,687); Permanent Ranger hires are GS-5 ($20,908) to GS-9 ($31,680) depending on college degrees and experience.

Damn, those salaries are bad. Surely those are not for 12 month assignments. I wanted to be a Nat Park Ranger as well but bailed out after I realized what a previous poster stated, you are a glorified cop and janitor.

Usually the way park ranger's work is more during the summer (no vacation period) and much less during the winter months. It is different in warmer climates but here in the northeast you usually work 40 hours a week during the summer with no vacation, then work much less in the winter because less staff is needed. You get full salary but it is based on the difference in hours during seasons.

Also, many live there rent free...whioch in California is worth another 2-3k a month.

I work for the Forest Service but am not a park ranger. If you want to seriously get a job as a park ranger for the NPS, you should look towards a school with a dedicated park ranger program. NAU in Flagstaff is the one I am aware of, and there is one in New York State that I know nothing about. I highly suggest NAU. If you complete the program, you should be able to find a job.

Pay isn't great but rewards are. Keep in mind a park ranger is essentially a cop in the woods. People that go through the program go through firearms training, hand-hand fighting/wrestling training, and are tased and pepper-sprayed just like at a LEO academy.

Man, how can you get by on $18,000 a year if you're not living with your mom?

hoodz in woodz wrote:

Keep in mind a park ranger is essentially a cop in the woods. People that go through the program go through firearms training, hand-hand fighting/wrestling training, and are tased and pepper-sprayed just like at a LEO academy.

Not totally true because NPS has 2 kinds of rangers, protective and interpretive. The protective rangers are law enforcement, and the full time ones go through the Land Management Police Training academy at FLETC in Georgia. The worst problem with being a protective ranger with NPS is that NPS is not very supportive of its law enforcement rangers. The interpretive rangers perform the "typical" ranger stuff most people think of, like nature walks, outdoors programs, etc. Some may actually write citations, but they do not carry weapons or make physical custody arrests.

To the OP, most rangers I know absolutely love their jobs and wouldn't do anything else. Pay is low at first, but if you can move up the food chain some of those guys are making really good money (well, for a G employee that is).

Check out usajobs.gov for listings, do a series search of 0025. These jobs are extremely competetive, and you will probably have to do years of part time positions before getting a full time gig, especially if you want a major park like Yosemite or Yellowstone. Also consider the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Fish and Wildlife as well. Once you get on with one agency and get some experience, its really easy to move to one of the others.

Inane wrote:

Man, how can you get by on $18,000 a year if you're not living with your mom?

Most of us grad students do. I don't pay my car insurance, but I pay for everything else. The most helpful thing for me is rent in central MA is way cheap, even with the rising heating oil costs. You just have to be frugal, avoid the plastic, and, for me, hang on until you're done.

Keep in mind a park ranger is essentially a cop in the woods. People that go through the program go through firearms training, hand-hand fighting/wrestling training, and are tased and pepper-sprayed just like at a LEO academy.[/quote]

I don't see why a ranger needs all that macho training. Wouldn't an air horn work just as well to drive the nosy critters away?

Lloyd Christmas wrote:

I don't see why a ranger needs all that macho training. Wouldn't an air horn work just as well to drive the nosy critters away?

Drug cartels and smugglers have been using the parks for marijuana growing and other operations. From what I've read, park rangers are under-armed.