VaFo Week 2 Eric Morgan

Us and AmeriCorps and completed Fence

It has been another fulfilling week here at Vafo. This week was a change up from last week as we started out with Maintenance on Monday and Tuesday. We are to work certain days with them, Interpretation, and Resource Management on top of Law Enforcement.  Tuesday we met with Tim, a Maintenance worker, and were given NPS Staff T-shirts and reflective vests for our days on Maintenance shifts. Our task was to take down an old deer enclosure fence and put up a new one. The fence is run by Resource Management and it sections of a particular area of forest. It helps Resource Management keep track of the deer population somehow which we will learn about when we work with them. The old fence was rusted so it was particularly easy to take down but it was not so easy driving the new steel poles into the ground and putting up the steel fence section by section. Luckily, AMERICORPS was there to assist Lexus, Tim, and myself. The fence project took up both our days at Maintenance and was a little over a hundred yards of fencing we put up.Thursday was another LE day for us. Before lunch we did a hiking patrol along the southern most border of the park. The objective was to make sure no private homes, which back up right to the park’s border line, encroach onto the park say by mowing into it or putting things like sheds on the park’s land. During lunch we got to be involved in the Ranger BBQ which Superintendent Kate Hammond came to. It was a good time to connect with all of VaFo’s Rangers and speak with the Superintendent. Afterwards we got to sit in on the Rangers’ meeting that they have every couple of weeks. This gave us the opportunity to see what changes are going to be made and what the Rangers are working on. Once the meeting was over Ranger Tim Oh, formerly from ProRanger Cohort 1, showed us the steps of how to properly and safely check your duty gun and your duty vehicle. It is important to always check all lights and signals on the patrol car, check the back seat for any paraphernalia that might have fallen out from a previous offender so someone does not get wrongfully charged,  and check the trunk for first aid, AED, and flares. Tim Oh gives us great insight on his experiences through the entirety of the program and what it is like to be a Ranger. He is constantly giving us tips and lessons that are important when being a permanent LE Ranger.Today, Friday, we sat in on the morning court session which took place in the Education Center here. The biggest offender was a marijuana grower within the park. After court ended we attended a yearly Wildland Firefighting refresher with John Waterman. Tomorrow we are going with Interpretation to Hopewell Furnace.  Our job tomorrow is to first be given a tour of the park, which is relatively close to VaFo, and work with Interpretation throughout the day. It should be an interesting day and a good learning experience to learn and work at another park for the day.

Court Room

ProRanger Eric Morgan