A Tale of Two Parks

    The moment has finally arrived: my first summer post on the ProRanger internship blog! Things are already pretty busy, but as I embark upon my third week of the summer, I’m feeling extremely grateful to be where I am right now: splitting time between First State National Historical Park (FRST) and Independence National Historical Park (INDE). I spent my first week getting acquainted with FRST over a rainy Memorial Day weekend, filled with patrols, educational contacts, and research into the park-specific needs and regulations that make up the Superintendent’s Compendium.

    Most of my time over the weekend was spent at the Brandywine Valley site, pictured above. On Sunday, Chief Ranger Meyers (my supervisor for the summer) and I ventured out to the New Castle Court House Museum for a tour. The museum was extremely informative, and I’m excited to check out the other park sites as the summer goes on! 

    After Memorial Day, I had a few days off and then reported for my first shift at INDE with Ranger (and former ProRanger!) Keiffer on Thursday. It was a little rainy, so we spent some time patrolling in a vehicle and getting familiarized with the park. I was also able to join a tour of Independence Hall -- I have a feeling I’ll be picking up on a lot of local history this summer! 

    On Friday, we were called to give access to some folks from maintenance to the steeple at Independence Hall building and we headed all the way up to the top to see the Centennial Bell. It was a pretty amazing view of the park and the city. After the Centennial Bell, I ran my PEB (the Physical Efficiency Battery, which involves a 1.5 mile run, bench press, agility run, and flexibility test) and then tagged along to the range where some of the rangers at INDE were taking their firearms requalification tests, which led to a great opportunity to talk about gun safety, cleaning, and maintenance with Ranger Keiffer. 

    The rest of the week was filled up with patrolling around the park, mostly making status checks and dog off leash contacts. Next up, I’ll be doing vegetation monitoring in the Brandywine Valley with First State’s resident biologist, Sonja Werth! I’m really looking forward to getting out onto the trails and learning a little bit more about the biological and ecological systems that govern the park. See you guys next week!