Battling the Basement

Hello from Philadelphia! This week at Independence National Historical Park I began work on a large conservation project. A basement that was previously the headquarters of Region One of the National Park Service had been neglected for years, and it was my job to clear it out.

The basement had collected a lot of stuff throughout the years – manuals, handbooks, parts, tools, hundreds of light bulbs – and had dust and dirt over everything. Due for a complete

overhaul, the basement needed someone to go in and clear out what was no longer needed and make an inventory of what was down there. So ProRanger Hannah Moore and I, accompanied by another intern Nick Baltera, spent the week clearing out and cleaning the basement while listing everything we kept.

Progress was slow at first, but as the trash bags piled up we steadily made progress. By the end of the first day we had the messiest room completely cleared out. Initially we had only grabbed six trash bags from maintenance, completely underestimating the size of the job. By the end of the day, we had used 14. Day two saw us cleaning the bathrooms. It looked as if the bathrooms hadn’t been touched in the last 30 years, so we scrubbed everything from the walls to the sinks to the floor.

 

By day three we were working on inventorying the basement. Although this wasn’t asked for by our supervisor, ProRanger Moore and I thought it would be helpful to anyone coming after us to have a good idea of what is in the basement. Day four was spent moving all the trash and debris out from the basement and into the lobby for the Motor Vehicle Operations crew to collect and doing our final sweeps of the basement. We also found a very large stash of fluorescent light bulbs that we used to replace all the bulbs in the building that were going bad.

Overall, it was very hard work but was very rewarding. To be able to help restore a building that is not only a part of Independence Park but also was very important to the function of the entire region was exciting. I am still having a great time in the park and I am looking forward to the academy!

ProRanger at Independence

Independence Hall greets me as I get to work every day

Hello again from Philadelphia! With all the craziness going on recently, I am excited to have some stability in my internship at Independence National Historical Park! My original plan was to go to Harpers Ferry National Park this summer, but when that fell through I was moved to Everglades National Park. Unfortunately the coronavirus upset those plans as well so I was sent to Independence. But I love going to work every day!

When I began work at Independence, I spent a lot of my time in meetings with supervisors learning about what they did and what makes the park work. It was very insightful! It took a few tries to get everyone’s name remembered, but I’m getting the hang of it.

    I started the internship with the maintenance division. Here I got down in the dirt pulling weeds and doing a lot of lawn work. It was hard work but it looked great when I was done! I also got paired up with a maintenance worker who cannot hear, so I’ve started learning sign language so we can talk.

Working to maintain buildings and grounds with maintenance

I’ve been very impressed with how much history is within this relatively small park. It is one thing to read about the Founding Fathers in history books, but to go to where they lived and worked is a completely different experience. I am happy to help maintain the park so that park visitors can experience the history of Philadelphia in the best ways possible.

It has been great being able to work at such a historic site. I love learning about the history of the United States and working here gives me an opportunity to see historic sites that most people aren’t able to see. On my first day, we walked around to a lot of buildings that were undergoing renovations and saw a lot of cool architecture and artwork that hasn’t been seen by the public for years. We also saw the storerooms for pieces of the original buildings from the 1700’s. I was very interested in seeing the antique woodwork.

The Liberty Bell

I am excited to be working in Independence for my internship and grateful that I can complete my internship despite current events. Working in a city park is a great way to develop my skills as a future ranger, and I’m having a great time working here!

From County to National

Hi! My name is Trevor Gardner. I was born in to a military family in a very rural area of Maine. I spent much of my time outdoors as a young child, which helped create my love for nature now. When I was young, my family and I had to move a lot, going from military base to military base until finally we ended up in Annapolis, Maryland. Here, I got involved with Boy Scouts and worked my way up to the rank of Eagle Scout.

  

Eagle Scout Ceremony

Before working on my Eagle Scout project, I didn’t know what I wanted to do after I graduated college. I was planning on getting a degree in business as a “safe” degree while I figured out what I wanted to do. However, when I began work on the Eagle Scout project, I had to talk to county park rangers to get permits for my build. After talking to them, I knew I wanted to be a park ranger. After a few years and a few interviews, I landed a job as an Anne Arundel County Park Ranger.

    First job as a park ranger

I really enjoyed working as a county park ranger. I was in constant contact with not only the people of my community, but also with nature. I had a firsthand account of what it took to take care of a park and provide the best experience for the people within. While I was happy working at the park, I knew I wanted to go farther.

Pepper spray training

I began to research college programs that trained people to be national law enforcement rangers, without much hope of success. Then, the Temple ProRanger program popped up. I attended a few meetings with the administration, got into Temple and then joined the 7^th cohort of the ProRanger program.




              Arrest and search training


The program has introduced me to many different parks, whether through visiting the site or doing a lot of research on them. I have come to really enjoy parks with water access, be it a river or the ocean, and parks that are rural that could bring me back to what I was used to when I was growing up. During my summer internship I hope to learn about the side of law enforcement that people don’t usually think about when they consider law enforcement – paperwork and administrative services. I also want to learn what it takes to maintain a park, both the nature and the people. 

The ProRangers

I am excited to start my internship and looking forward to a great summer!

Welcome New ProRangers

The ProRanger Program welcomes Cohort 7 to the program.

Francis Bednarczyk

Brunilda Bilalaj

Daniel Boyce

Connor Caruso

Sarah Dover

Trevor Gardner

Destiny A Greene

Anna Howard

Tom Kidd

Quinn Kirlew

Hannah Moore

Tim O'Hanlon

Carlos E. Orellana

Laura M. Patton

Dylan T. Stephens

Tirzah E. Terry

Johan J Urena

Check back soon to learn about our 2019 Partner Parks.