The Mountains are Calling

Shamali Dennery

Hello everyone, my name is Shamali Dennery your new Pro Ranger interning at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area (SAMO) for the next several weeks.I recently graduated from the University of the Virgin Islands, Albert A. Sheen Campus on the island of St. Croix with my B.A in Criminal Justice with a minor in Political Science. Currently, I am taking online classes with Temple University to help expand my knowledge on the ProRanger Program and the History of the National Park Service. This is my first time in southern California. I am super excited to be here at SAMO and I am looking forward to learning about what SAMO has to offer. This place is a spectacular environment for both wildlife and visitors world-wide. This park has beautiful and diverse landscape that stretches 40 miles east to west starting from Point Mugu in Ventura County to Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles respectively. The park has a vast set of activities for visitors to partake in such as hiking, jogging, mountain biking, horseback riding camping, sight-seeing and even film making. 

My first day started off with a Park tour with Ranger Ibanez. The plan for that day was to get me familiarized with SAMO and its various sites. Within the Santa Monica Mountain Range, there are many agencies which in fact makes this park unique. Some parts of the Mountain are owned and operated by Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), California State Parks, and the remaining portions belong to the National Park Service (NPS). I visited the SAMO Headquarters where I was introduced to head employees from park divisions such as Interpretation and Education, Visitor and Resource Protection, Resource Management, Special Permits/Film-making and Facilities. The division that I am assigned to at SAMO is the Visitor and Resource Protection. The division is made up of different operations which may include fire management, Special park Uses, Law Enforcement, search and rescue (SAR), and emergency medical services also known as EMS. 

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Headquarters

I learned about the roles each divisions play in making SAMO a place for recreational activities, educational learning, protection and preservation of both cultural and natural resources for generations to come. While at headquarters, I signed up for a basic hands-on first-aid and CPR training with one of their outreach groups called the SAMO Youth. The basic training was an introduction on how to safely approach unsafe situations and individuals that maybe hurt and in need of medical attention. The training I received will help build my skill set so that in the event of an emergency I can save someone’s life when needed to.

Basic hands-on first-aid and CPR training with SAMO youth group

Shortly after my training, something unbelievable occurred. We received a radio call from dispatch that a visitor was injured from a fall on horseback at the Cheeseboro Canyons unit of SAMO. We immediately responded to the situation and assisted the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department with SAR of the horseback rider. The feeling was like no other, being able to assist the individual made me feel really good about being a Pro Ranger and made me look forward to my future career within the NPS. In this experience, I learned the importance of incident response time in regards to learning about your park and being able to navigate from one location to the next.

SAR with LA Sheriff's County at Cheeseboro Canyons

National Park Service Volunteer at Cheeseboro Canyons

On this incident, I learned the value of having volunteers within the National Park Service. At SAMO, there are two main volunteer groups, the mountain bike unit and the mountain volunteer patrol. Two recreational activities of the park working together as volunteers groups to provide public assistance and resource protection to the NPS, California State Parks and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. Last year it was reported that park volunteers provided 4000 hours of service.

Within the first few days of my internship I was issued a vehicle to commute to and from work. This makes the experience very interesting, because independently, I am able to learn how to reach the various locations within the park. I am confident enough to say that I know how to navigate to most locations within the park without the use of GPS. I also have to keep up with my vehicle's maintenance by cleaning both interior and exterior in addition to scheduling routine maintenance with General Services Administration (GSA) approved businesses.

I conducted visitor site use surveys in partnership with the Department of Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. The purpose of the surveys was to learn what types of people visit the park, why they visit the area, the activities they partake in and the types of amenities they use. The results of the study will help the NPS learn how to better serve visitors for future generations. This was a great opportunity for me to speak with the public and get to learn about what areas of the park need improvement as well as areas that are used and utilized from visitors.

My supervisor and I conducted visitor use surveys at two locations within the park. The first was conducted on the Backbone Trail which stretches 76 miles across the park and the Wendy Trail which is a very popular hike at Rancho Sierra Vista. We surveyed and counted visitors as they left the trail into categories which included hikers, joggers, mountain bikers, and dog walkers to name a few. This activity showed me how vast the park truly is. 

NPS employees and volunteers building an AP for Chumash Traditions

Bullroar

At the end of the week I attended an all employee meeting where I was introduced to SAMO employees, volunteers, and various youth groups. At this meeting everyone participated in educational events that taught us about the history of the Chumash Indian Tribe that lived in the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding areas. We crafted tools utilized by the Indians such as a bullroar, a communication tool used by the Chumash. I learned about ethnobotany and how it applies to medicinal plants that the Chumash used for many ailments, in addition to the many archaeological tools they used in their daily routines. As a tribute to the Chumash Tribe, the group built an AP which was the names of their homes in an attempt to help preserve and continue the Chumash tradition. 

A view of the mountains nearby my residence.

After an exciting first week I look forward to all that SAMO and the law enforcement division has to offer me.

See you all next week!