How do I become a Park Ranger?

Life as a park ranger can offer you the opportunity to live an exciting life while helping protect nature from humanity's excesses. Park rangers work at federal and state levels and are charged with protecting the country's woodland areas such as forests and conservatories. Here's what you need to know about becoming a park ranger.

Educational Requirements for Park Rangers

The minimum educational background that is required to become a park ranger is a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, forestry, biology, environmental sciences or another related field. It’s important to know about woodland management and conservation studies in order to be a successful ranger.

A criminal justice degree is of particular use for park rangers who work within law enforcement agencies. A sound knowledge of state and federal laws is required for the maintenance and upkeep of parks and forest laws, and also for detaining and apprehending criminals who violate those laws, as well as for dealing with emergency situations.

Skill Set and Work Experience for Park Rangers

A park ranger's job is physically demanding and requires great discipline and focus. Most jobs demand at least some prior experience working in a park or for the candidate to have completed a field session. Strong communication skills are essential for the job, since a great deal of the time is spent coordinating between different teams spread out over a large location.

Since a park ranger's work depends on moving through multiple parks and locations at the end of each assignment, you also need to learn to adapt quickly to new environments, and be able to pack up and move to a new place at a moment's notice.

Conflict resolution is an important part of a park ranger's duties. Your job will force you to come into contact with a variety of characters, both desirable and undesirable. Poachers, hunters, and trappers are some of the people who will attempt to disrupt your work with their activities. In such cases, it will be up to you to respond calmly but firmly, and lay down the law in a manner that discourages further such activities.

Basic training also needs to be undergone for several weeks as a prerequisite for becoming a park ranger. Several specific duties which candidates will have to deal with are reviewed and supplemented with practical examples and real-world training scenarios. Criminal justice knowledge aids to woodland conservation will also form an essential part of your training course.

Types of Park Rangers

There are a number of positions that you can fill in your capacity as a park ranger. These include national park ranger (permanent position or temporary/seasonal), state park ranger, country park ranger, or park ranger working in US territories.

Duties and Job Description for Park Rangers

A park ranger's duties cover a wide spectrum of responsibilities that need to be attended to on a regular basis. Some of the duties you will need to deal with are:

Patrol

A large part of your time as a park ranger will be spent in patrolling the boundaries of the park to ensure no rules are being broken on or near the park property. You will either be supplied with a patrol vehicle or make the journey on foot, more than once a day.

Educating Citizens

You will also be responsible for sharing principles of wildlife conservation with visitors to the park or woodlands. This will involve explaining the ill effects of littering and leaving forest fires untended. You will also be in charge of organizing awareness campaigns and fundraising events for increasing citizen involvement.

Law Enforcement

Park rangers often have to deal with criminal elements looking to make an illegal profit from natural resources. In such cases, you need to be fully aware of the legal intricacies involved in the matter, from hunting and trapping licenses to seasonal permits and co-owned pieces of land. You will also have to be prepared for the situation turning unpleasant and proving a possible threat to you or to the park.

Park Maintenance

As park ranger, it will be your job to ensure that the park or woodland area under your care remains in its best possible condition. This will require constant vigilance on your part and you will have to personally oversee any repairs or upgrades that might take place on the property.

If you’re interested in protecting wildlife and preserving our natural resources, you might have what it takes to become a park ranger. Begin your journey by inquiring further into ECPI University’s Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. Helpful ECPI University admissions representatives are ready to assist you in making the first steps on your path down the forest trail. Call or inquire online today!

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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