Since my last blog I have began working at a different National Park, the C&O Canal. We transferred over to this particular park because George Washington Memorial Parkway does not have Law Enforcement Rangers. Tia and I have been working at the C&O Canal for a couple weeks now and it has been nothing but wonderful. We have done a lot in our short time at the Canal; we have mainly been patrolling by foot, bike, and vehicle along the vast tow path. Josh Cunningham has enabled us to participate in all of these different Law Enforcement activities. We have been able to meet Samson, the huge bomb sniffing black Lab. Tomorrow Tia and I will be learning defensive training, which I am really looking forward to. To be able to patrol by bike we had to go through a thorough bike training and this enabled us to efficiently and safely patrol the Canal.
One day we were patrolling the Billy Goat A trail with two L.E. Rangers and encountered a group of teenagers jumping off cliffs into the Potomac River, which is dangerous as well as prohibited. Tia and I watched from a safe distance as the L.E. Rangers wrote up the individuals and searched their belongings. One L.E. Ranger found a small bag of marijuana and paraphernalia in one man's backpack and then proceeded to write him a ticket. For our first bike patrol we rode alongside of Brad Clawson as we encountered many dogs off leash. Clawson issued warnings to all of the owners.
We were also given the opportunity to work at the 150th Anniversary at the Manassas Battlefield this past Thursday through Saturday, which was very exciting. I felt privileged to be able to work at such an important event. It was also nice to be able to work with my fellow ProRangers at such a great event. We worked together as a team to guide civilians through our makeshift parking lot to the different events around the National Park. Working this event enabled me to link up once again with Dave Ballum and Will Reynolds, which was nothing short of fun. Even though this working this event was a good time, it was very hot and we needed to be sure to hydrate and practice safety.
I have been missing GWMP and all the Park Rangers stationed there, but am loving my new home at the C&O Canal.
ProRanger Philadelphia was established in 2009 as an academic and technical skills training and internship program that was cooperatively administered by the National Park Service and Temple University. In July 2022, NPS began hiring permanent law enforcement rangers through the Law Enforcement Hiring Initiative (known informally as “direct to FLETC”). No additional students will be accepted into the program.
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