What would a national park be without a national park ranger? Who would we ask for directions to the restroom, or question whether the bear we see is a black or a brown?
When you're wondering how many miles down the trail you'll find your campsite, who would you ask if there were no park rangers? If you've wandered off the trail and became lost in the woods, who would rescue you if not a park ranger? Who would lead us on a hike if there were no park rangers?
While much of the attention focused on park rangers too often focuses on the leadership of the National Park Service in Washington, there is an elite corps out across the National Park System that, budget cuts notwithstanding, is ready to answer your questions, treat your wounds, bring you back to civilization, and, of course, spin a good yarn around the campfire at night.
With that understanding, here are two wonderful videos that pay tribute to the rangers of our National Park System. (Be sure to have your volume turned on!)
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Comments
Frank.....my point is more directed to the limitations in skill set that candidates bring to the table. You can only hire from the available pool of candidates, substandard as they may be, and the lack of intellectual development and presentation skills has nothing to do with the NPS, since to the best of my knowledge, they aren't in the business of either basic or remedial education. While it's true that the content of the presentations to be given is indeed the responsibility of someone "higher up" at the NPS, those who are most interactive with the crowds have the duty to competently express the material and subsequently field whatever questions or concerns arise within each unique group after the speech. You can train a chimp to do most anything, but over and above the specific skills with which you endow him or her it is still, after all, just a chimp. Reading or memorization of prepared materials is quite easily accomplished. Thinking and responding over and above what you've just recited is quite another issue.
That said, I'm quite sad that you're guide was a moron. The person in the uniform is a direct reflection on the organization that they represent however, and that thought leaves me personally feeling less than enthusiastic about the present state of the NPS overall.