GSMNP will get its first female chief ranger
Ive met a lot of female rangers in various parks.
Never gave it a second thought.
Its a surprising percentage really, maybe more female than male.
Females naturally have a better trailside manner, more approachable imo.
could it be because the rangers the public are most likely to meet are interp rangers and education in general is more female dominated?Originally Posted by MuddyWaters
likewise i would guess (but who really knows) the LE Rangers probably tend more to be male.
In CO once, i was with another hiker and we chatted with a 20 something female bow hunter, hiking wearing pack out after bowhunting elk a few days.
I says to other hiker" where were girls like that when I was single??"
I seen plenty of female rangers in backcountry
Last edited by MuddyWaters; 02-28-2019 at 15:53.
point taken, but "interp ranger" and "ranger in the backcountry" are hardly mutually exclusive.
I've met Mrs Hendy at GC NP and possibly BB NP, I think in front of the BB Backcountry Permit office, before she was Head Ranger at GSMNP. Sounds like a great GSMNP addition. She's a TN native. What great places to have worked. Her great smile is a show of her personality and experiences.
They are different jobs. Interpretive rangers are likely out there on their days off, as are maintenance staff. It takes a lot of different people to manage a park.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
i cant possibly be the only one who has ever seen an interpretive ranger give a talk or a program in the back country.
i was also friends for awhile with an interpretive ranger. she absolutely gave back country programs.
They were taking a bite out of a still beating elk heart from an animal they just dropped with a big game hunting broadhead after a 2 wk long stalk wearing camo face paint peeing in the bushes while you were nursing a second cherry Slurpee from 7-11 on Broad St complaining about your Band Aid not sticking to your finger wearing that button down plaid bought at a JCPenny spring sale awaiting a PT community college student cashier to relay the numerical family bathroom code so you could relieve yourself hygienically.
Strong women are thriving!
Not seeing how this is relevant.
I've worked in several parks. Sure interpretive rangers lead walks and programs in the back country. Different job than "Back Country Ranger", which is more law enforcement and safety. Great men and women doing both, as well as less glamorous jobs like keeping the water running, painting buildings, keeping paperwork current, and pumping out vault toilets.
"It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss
NPS Chief Rangers are almost all LE rangers b/c in larger parks they oversee law enforcement staff. The vast majority of LE rangers are male b/c the vast majority of applicants for LE positions are male. Thus there are not many female chief rangers.
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