Shenandoah week 7&8

Week 6 ended on a tragic note.

We received the sad news that Ranger Nick Hall had passed away during a Search and Rescue at Mount Rainier. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and all of the National Park Service staff. We all received an email from Director Jarvis ordering the flags at National Park Service facilities to be flown at half staff and authorizing mourning bands to be worn on NPS badges.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down ones life for another” John 15:13

Week 7 & 8 I worked with Maintenance 

The maintenance division here at Shenandoah National Park is extremely diverse.

I worked with (Charles) Jason Freeze who is a water operator. He is responsible for and has to make sure all of the portable and drinkable water systems remain in compliance with federal and state standards. Basically he has to make sure that every place in the park that has running water is running properly. He takes thirty to sixty samples of water each month for simple bacteriological to radiological testing.

 There are two reservoirs at HQ that each hold 50,000 gallons of water.

Adding chlorine to the water kills the bacteria and making it safe to drink.  

I worked with a waste water operator Tina Touchstone. We worked at Skyland waste water plant, which is a conventional sludge plant. The average flow at Skyland is approximately 35,000-40,000 gallons per day. She is very intelligent and says that she has to keep her “bugs happy” meaning, the microorganisms. The daily operations at this plant, which I took part in, consist of microscopic exams on Mix Liquid Settable Solids (MLSS). We also read back an E Coli test and prepared the drying beds for loading. This taught me a lot about waste water and how it works. It actually did not smell and to my surprise the water that eventually ended up going outside was as clear as your everyday drinking water. If she does not keep her “bugs happy” then the water will not come out clear and can cause many problems. Their biggest problem is when the concessions do not properly dispose their grease and it comes down into the waste water and kills all the good microorganisms. In Shenandoah National Park, there are four waste water plants and they are located at Loft Mountain, Big Meadows, Matthews Arm, and Skyland. Big Meadows and Skyland are high-flowing plants and Loft Mountain and Matthews Arm are low-flowing plants.  

The drying bed

This is showing how the wastewater plant works at Big Meadows

I worked with Christine Freeland who is the Facility Management Systems Specialist and deals with inventory and assess everything for maintenance. She writes assessments to maintain the maintenance in the park. I took a basic course, which was an overview of Facility Management Software System (FMSS), and I received a certificate.

Chris and I collected data with a Global Positioning System machine on some of the overlooks so they can be put into the Geographic Information System database.

I went with Steve Funkhouser who is the project manager. He takes projects that have to go through a contracting process. He facilitates and manages projects through those elements for delivery. Projects can be anywhere from roadwork, service, buildings, entrance stations and the list can go on.

I had to enter employees’ time data into FMSS so it could be recorded and they would be paid accordingly. Every work order has a specific number and when it is typed into the system that specific task is recognized. For example, if they had to mow the lawn at Big Meadows Campground and the work number was 113765, then next to that needed to be how many hours that they worked. I was able to input that information into their pay period so they could be paid correctly.

I worked directly in the parks asset management software system imputing labor and materials to track program activities.

Shenandoah week 5&6

Week 5 I spent with Law Enforcement. Tuesday I got to witness an LE get her firearms qualification by district ranger Dixon Freeland. While we were at the gun range Dixon also taught me how to shoot a 40 caliber semi-automatic handgun. This was really exciting to me because I have never shot a gun before and I must say that I did really well for my first time. Dixon taught me a lot about carrying and using a gun and the safety that comes with it. 

Before

After
Pretty good for my 1st time!

Earlier that day four people were backcountry camping. When they woke up they heated water for their coffee and one of the men saw a raccoon. The raccoon was about ten feet away from him when he noticed that it started approaching him. As the raccoon got about four feet from him it launched at his body and bit his leg. The man then tried to fight off the raccoon but was unsuccessful, he football kicked it and the raccoon came back again. The other members in the party as well as the man began to hit the raccoon with sticks until the raccoon finally left them alone. They hiked to safety and were able to call for help. The man went to the hospital and received his first dose of rabies shots. It is believed that the raccoon was rabid because of its behavior. 

The following day, Wednesday, I worked with Bill Cardwell an LE ranger in the North District and Justin Mills who works with the nuisance wildlife. We went searching for the raccoon so we could check it for rabies. We were unsuccessful in finding the raccoon, but this was an awesome experience for me and taught me a lot about what happens in these types of situations. 

I also got to watch a Search and Rescue (SAR) off of Old Rag Mountain from an overlook. Throughout the day I got to hear on the radio everything that happened with the SAR. The reason that I was not able to help out with the SAR was because we were out looking for the rabid raccoon. The SAR was in the Central District therefore the North and South District Rangers had to cover the grounds for the Central District Rangers. They are all like one big close-knit family and I appreciate that. I cannot wait to work in that kind of environment with such wonderful people.

On Thursday, I worked with Bill Cardwell again and we began the day by going to the gun range and I got to shoot a shotgun and a M16. These are very unique guns; Bill taught me a lot about them before he let me shoot them. Like Dixon he also taught me a lot about the safety of the guns and the safety of those around me when I am handling the guns.

M16

Shotgun

When we were finished at the range Bill and I drove to the ranger station so we could service a gun. Bill is an armorer; there are 3 different courses you can take to become an armorer. First, you have to become a firearms instructor and then you can go to classes to become one. The three different courses consist of a handgun, rifle, or shotgun course; depending on what course you take depends on which firearm you can service. Whoever carries a gun in the Park Service needs to get their guns disassembled and serviced every five years. This consists of taking the gun apart and replacing anything that is worn and/or damaged. Taking apart the gun was really interesting and I learned some things about guns that I would have never even thought about before.

Disassembling the gun

My week with Law Enforcement was an overall success and made me realize that I cannot wait to start my career as a LE Ranger.    

“An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure” –Benjamin Franklin 

Week 6 I worked with Natural and Cultural Resources (NCR). Monday I got to listen to Jim Schaberal, Wendy Cass, and Rolf Gulber. They deal with natural science and management, cultural science and management, and backcountry and wilderness. Jim Schaberal gave me an overview of the Natural Resources; he talked about air and water pollution and the impacts that it has on the park. Their biggest issue is probably coal fire power plants and cars because they affect the visibility of the park. 80% of visibility is lost due to pollution. Wendy Cass gave me an overview of the Cultural Resources; she talked about the plant species within the park, long-term forest monitoring and rare plant monitoring. She also talked about how the Botany staff helps the LEs by recognizing prime plant poaching locations and when they complete off trail SARs the LEs lead them.

Rolf Gubler gave me an overview of nuisance wildlife and adverse conditioning. There are 500-600 bears in the park. Adverse conditioning is when they install fear in a habituated animal by using slingshots; paint ball guns, pepper spray, rubber buckshot, rubber slugs, cracker shells, and the most used are beanbag rounds. Adverse conditioning works best when the animals are young or in their early stages of habituation. In the backcountry it is harder to track animals so they put up a lot of signs.  

beanbag rounds

 During the next part of the day I worked with Abby and Merrit, we went to Big Meadows swamp area and looked for a rare species called garlic mustard. A professor from Eastern Michigan University did a study on the area and had some questions about it; so I assisted them in some of the fieldwork. Using a tremble GPS to locate and flag stakes we had to estimate a percentage of garlic mustard in the specific area. 

Lastly I worked with Chris and Justin who work with the nuisance wildlife. While we were eating lunch a volunteer told us about three different campsites that had unoccupied coolers. We drove in the campground at Big Meadows and went to the three different locations, which were all next to each other. We looked inside each cooler and two of the three coolers had only drinks in them so they received a warning. The third cooler had food inside of it so we took it away and placed it in a bear safe container located behind the registration office. We also left a impound notice at their campsite. Since this is bear country, and skunks, raccoons, and deer are here all year-round, the food storage policy is as follows; food, garbage, equipment used to prepare or store food, and all scented items must be kept in a vehicle when not being actively used. It is illegal to feed, frighten, or disturb wildlife. All resources such as wildflowers, plants, animals, and artifacts are protected by law in national parks. Please leave them for others to enjoy. This information can be found on the website and also on the back of the campground maps.

This was the warning that the first two coolers received. 

This was the third cooler that we took away.

This is the impound notice that we left at their campsite.

Tuesday I worked with the fish crew and we went to two different streams to shock the fish. After the fish were shocked they were then picked up in nets and transferred to someone who was carrying a bucket half full with water. When they finished that process the fish were then divided and separated so they can be weighed and counted. They were then placed into two different nets that were sitting in the water and the process happened two more times. Then we proceeded to go to another stream and did the same exact thing. The monitoring program is designed to provide site-specific information needed to understand and identify change in park ecosystems that are characterized by complexity, variability, and surprises, and to help determine whether observed changes are within natural levels of variability, or if they may be the result of unwanted human influences. The broad-based, scientifically sound results obtained through this systems-based, long-term ecological monitoring program has multiple applications for management decision making, research, education, and promoting public understanding of park resources.

This is what they shocked the fish with.

Weighing the eels.

Counting all the fish and separating them.

Wednesday and Thursday I attended Leave No Trace (LNT) training. This was a training course taught by Liz Garcia and Steve Bear that consisted of a classroom course as well as going with nine other people and spending the night sleeping in the backcountry.  We learned the history of LNT and the importance that it has on parks. We also learned about the seven principles and used them as we hiked to and from our campsite. They are 1) Plan Ahead and Prepare 2) Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces 3) Dispose of Waste Properly 4) Leave What You Find 5) Minimize Campfire Impacts 6) Respect Wildlife 7) Be Considerate of Other Visitors. This was very educational and helped me learn a lot about camping.  As we were learning the sixth principle we noticed a bear near our campsite. He did not bother us but it went really well with the principle. On Thursday, we hiked back and acted out different scenarios. I was involved in two scenarios the first one I got to act out was; I was a ranger and two men were feeding a fawn potato chips. I had to approach them and inform them of the dangers that come along with feeding wildlife. The second scenario I was the visitor and Danielle was the ranger I had to act like I took artifacts from a specific site and bring them to her. She had to inform me that you should leave what you find and to let other visitors experience it like I did. This was helpful and gave each and every one of us the opportunity to act out what we learned. I would definitely recommend this training for everyone that does/is going to work for the park service especially the individuals that have a lot of visitor contact.

The bear-our surprise visitor!

Our bear hang

Backcountry sign

Doing our scenarios.

Friday I worked with Liz Garcia and Kandace Muller. Liz taught me a lot about air quality and the importance that is has on the park. There is a camera located at Pinnacles overlook which shows you how far you can see on Skyline Drive. They are required to issue an ozone advisory when the levels reach 76 ppd. The mountains can change the ozone forecasting. Visibility is the biggest problem they have in the park because one of the reasons the park was created was for the beautiful views. Kandace taught me about the archeological sites and showed me some of the 600,000 museum items that they have here at Shenandoah. This was really interesting to me and made me appreciate the history of Shenandoah National Park much more than I already did. Looking at all the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) items that they have and all of the souvenirs from back then were really cool and gave me an understanding of what it was like before.  

Air quality site

Overall weeks 5 & 6 were very different and interesting. I love that I get to work with all the different divisions inside the park. This gives me a better understanding of what everyone does and it also makes me appreciate and understand the importance of each division.    

Week 4 at Shenandoah National Park!

On Saturday and Sunday I worked with SNP’s fee operation on the boundary of the park; Saturday I worked at Old Rag and Sunday I worked at White Oak. Both days I worked with Chelsea Aldrich and Jason Strickler; they are two amazingly wonderful people. 

Chelsea, Jason, and I at Old Rag Boundary.

Beautiful day for a hike!

Working the boundary taught me a lot about the visitors and the park. They taught me numerous things including communications, teamwork, and interpersonal relations. We effectively communicated on a frequent basis with a wide range of people in various settings using multiple communication methods and tools. I also learned about how the fee collection and visitor services operate. This gave me a better understanding of fee collection, visitor services, and park resources. Another aspect of the boundary is safety and making sure the work environment is safe for its employees and its visitors.

White Oak Falls

On Saturday when Chelsea and I were done working we hiked Old Rag Mountain; of course we planned ahead for the hike. Old Rag is Shenandoah's most popular and most dangerous hike, it is 8.8 miles long. There are a lot of Search and Rescues each year at Old Rag; if not planned correctly it can be extremely dangerous. The views during the hike are magnificent and breathtaking! There is a rock scramble before the summit that is a lot of fun but can be extremely challenging. The hike took us about five hours; I highly recommend this hike to anyone that is in shape and up for a challenge. 

We did it!

The summit at Old Rag Mountain

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked in Central Remit. They are responsible for fee collections from all the entrance stations, campgrounds, and boundaries. All funds taken in by fee officers are submitted through bank deposits and treasury department verification. They also assist in cash and register technical support for all the stations. They provide and account for all of the stock at the entrance stations, campgrounds, and boundaries.

Central Remit

My week with fees was a lot of fun and very informative. I started off working at the campground and boundary collecting people’s money to enter the park and I finished with learning how all the money is collected, counted, and distributed. 

Thursday I worked with Dan Hurlbert, we continued with the Global Positioning System on interpretive signs and input them into a Geographic Information System. With the information the results will be used to make maps showing the conditions of the signs that are maintained by the Interpretation and Education divisions and to also have the inventory for future reference. We worked on bulletin boards, double sided bulletin boards, trail heads, and waysides.

Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am!   

Week 3 at Shenandoah National Park!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Memorial Day and I also hope that all of you got to thank someone who has fought or is fighting for our freedom.

Week 3 I worked with administration from Tuesday-Friday.  Tuesday I attended a SQUAD meeting in the headquarters training room which consisted of a biweekly meeting with all the division chiefs about situations within the park and their divisions in particular. The deputy superintendent Jennifer Flynn and I went to lunch together and discussed everything that has been going on with me in the park. She is very interested to know everything about the ProRanger program and wants to hear about everything I do since she has known about the program before it began. Jennifer was making me feel very welcomed down here and offered her support on anything I needed help with. It felt very relaxing knowing that I was going to have her looking out for me and guiding me through my time in this program.

I worked with numerous people in administration; I learned various things including how to apply for a job, make a resume, and give people information at the information desk. Dawn Webster talked to me about jobs and putting together a resume.  Judy Kilby’s job description consists of new employee orientation, uniforms, keys, checkout sheets, recording announcements for job vacancies, and she is also the workman’s compensation coordinator.  Sandy Bridges is the voucher and property manager who pays all the utility bills and takes care of all the employees’ personal property such as laptops and vehicles.

Wednesday I worked with Dan Hurlbert who is a Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist. We used Global Positioning System (GPS) Technology to locate interpretive signs for input to a GIS. With the information the results will be used to make maps showing the conditions of the signs that are maintained by the Interpretation and Education divisions and to also have the inventory for future reference. We worked on bulletin boards, double sided bulletin boards, trailheads, and waysides. 

I enjoyed working with Dan and I am happy to say that he and I will be working together again on Thursday and hopefully a little more throughout the summer. I know that my help was beneficial to him because it helps to have four hands rather than two. I feel good that I am able to at least continue to finish some of what Dan and I started. We are not anywhere near done, but I have faith that we will be by the time I am finished here.

Thursday I worked with Solim Garcia and Dave Neuman in the IT department.  They are in charge of over 250 computers/laptops within the park.  Their job is difficult and stressful because of their business overload. They have been a big help to me in the computer department and thanks to them I can attend my online class with Dr. Irons without any problems; everyone says that they could not live without them.

Thursday afternoon I worked with Patressa Kearns. We worked on back country camping permits. Shenandoah National Park has 196,000 acres of backcountry. The park also has 500 miles of trails to explore. Backcountry camping allows you to witness firsthand the beauty of Shenandoah's wildlife. They have all different information on backcountry camping on the website. This was interesting to me because I wondered where the backcountry permits came from that people had with them prior to coming to the park. You can also issue your own back country camping permits when you get to the park. In my opinion I would rather know where I am going to stay beforehand so I could plan my trip accordingly and not spur of the moment but everyone is different and some people prefer to be spontaneous. 

Friday I worked with Sarah Willoughby and Annmarie Campbell; they taught me about budgeting within the park. They both monitor the money that is given to Shenandoah National Park by the government. In the beginning of the year they estimate how much money each division is going to spend and at the end of every month they match up the actual spending with the estimated spending.  They also take care of charge cards and review travel vouchers. I also met with Cary Price, who is a Contract Specialist and works in the Major Acquisition Buying Office (MABO). She informed me that anything ordered over $3,000 within the park has to go through her division. These purchase requests need someone that works in MABO to sign off on them and in order to do that every two years the MABO employees are required to take contracting classes.

Friday afternoon administration had pizza for me and Patressa baked me a cake in the shape of a heart because I am from the city of brotherly love. We all talked and got along and had a great week together. At the end of the day I spoke with Solim about everything that I did during the week and about my career in general; he answered any questions that I had and helped me a lot. I know if I ever need anything I can go to administration and they will be more than happy to help me. I loved working with them; they are really a great group of individuals.