This spring, the National Park Service unveiled a monument honoring the first ranger killed in the line of duty. Thirty three have died on the job in the hundred years since the agency was created, gunfire being the number one cause of death. The types of crime that happen outside park boundaries also happen inside. That’s why many park rangers are also commissioned law enforcement officers. Northern Arizona University has one of the few training programs in the country for these prospective rangers. Arizona Public Radio’s Justin Regan reports.
Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park was a haven for bootleggers during prohibition. And it was a bootlegger who shot Ranger James Alexander Cary to death in 1927. His son, now 94 and also named James Cary, remembers that day.
“He was chasing down some bootleggers up in the mountains. And for some reason he didn’t have his gun, and they shot him in the back. And I was five years old and we really had a hard time after that,” said Cary.
Protecting public lands and the people who visit them can be a lot more dangerous than you might think. Rangers don’t just take people on tours and give interpretive talks. They also handle homicides, fight drug smugglers and serve as small town police forces.
Brianna Vollmer is a student in the Ranger Training Program at NAU in Flagstaff. She wears a training belt that contains among other things, handcuffs, pepper spray and a plastic gun.
“I grew up going into a lot of National Parks as a kid. For me it’s a great step forward because, I get to be one of the stewards that can help kids coming into the park, and make it possible for these parks to be around for future generations,” said Vollmer.
The program is 750 hours. Students learn everything from constitutional law and behavioral science to defensive driving, using firearms and hand to hand combat. Mark Maciha is the director. He’s been a ranger for over 25 years at Parks across the Southwest.
“We conduct scenario based training so we will bring in role players and instructors and create campsites with rowdy visitors. We will create building entry problems. A lot of folks don’t realize that law enforcement is a function carried out by the National Park Service,” said Maciha.
In the 1960’s there was a push for increased training and hiring of federal police officers including national park rangers. Depending on the area, rangers enforce park, local and state laws, and are trained in structural and wildland firefighting, emergency response and search and rescue. Maciha says it’s a big job.
“We run small cities. If you look at Grand Canyon for an example, there are two thousand residents. My time as a law enformcent ranger was everything from speeding tickets to taking down a meth lab operated by the Hells Angels,” said Maciha
Rangers made about 200 arrests last year at the Grand Canyon, most at the South Rim. Almost 15 percent were for violent crimes. Matt Vandzura is the Chief Ranger at the park.
“Unfortunately we work our fair share of domestic violence cases, sexual assaults. And working that kind of case load is very odd to be juxtaposed to being a friendly tour guide,” said Vandzura
Karyn Matthews is a ranger at Wupatki, Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon National Monuments. About half a million people each year visit the 40,000 acres she patrols.
“We train and we train and we train and we practice everything the same way so that when things do happens in the field you automatically fall back on your training. You’re don’t even have to ‘what do I do what do I do?’ Your body just takes instinct,” said Matthews.
This year, the National Park Service is hiring even more law enforcement rangers. Officials say some 300 million people are expected to visit parks and monuments across the country during the agency’s 100th anniversary.
