Always Burning in California

Hello everyone!

Yet again this week was another action packed one!  The week started relaxed with a law enforcement meeting.  The meeting was held to refresh everyone on what facility to take apprehended individuals to.  As I have talked about before, jurisdictionally Santa Monica can be fairly complicated and it is a spread out park.  Therefore, a ranger must know his/her jurisdictional boundaries and which holding facility to take detained individuals depending on where they are apprehended.  It was an interesting conversation to sit in on.  The end of the meeting was then the supervisors asking what resources the field rangers thought that they needed.

The cover of the packet that we used to guide our meeting.

After this, I tagged along with Brandon and Jess for running traffic.  The motto of the week was still "click it or ticket" which refers to fasten your seatbelt or get a ticket.  We contacted four vehicles during our time.  Jess wrote one ticket for the lack of wearing a seatbelt and the rest they gave out warnings for rolling a stop sign.

The next day was quite an interesting day.  The day started off normal with Brandon and I collecting the data on the camera at the waterfall.  However, not too long after we got a call that there was a fire in progress a couple of miles away from where I live.  We responded to the call and sure enough, there were flames at a nearby ranch.  Brandon and I had the job of making sure people were evacuated out of the nearby trails and making sure no one enters while the fire was going on (you would be surprised how many people try).  Luckily, there was not much wind and the surrounding fire departments were all over the fire.  The fire never got too out of control and it was put out within the same day.

A view of the fire when it was fortunately getting under control.

The last day of work this week was noteworthy.  It started with Brandon and I witnessing more than 20 motorcycles blowing through stop signs on a four-way.  Brandon then flipped on the sirens, got in front of them, pulled them all over, and had a talk with them.  Brandon said he would have written them all tickets if he had enough tickets with him and the time to write them all.  After that fiasco, me, Brandon, and another employee Armando decided to stick around solstice canyon for the first half of our shift.  We ended up writing four tickets for people jumping the fence and going into the waterfall (it was right in front of us and there are a million signs so there was no sympathy).  We also wrote two tickets for people having their dogs off of their leash.  After this, I got to truly experience the side of law enforcement that Criminal Minds and CSI: Miami doesn't show you.  Paperwork.  For every ticket that you write as a law enforcement officer, you have to write a report and upload it to a database called IMARS which I had the pleasure of experimenting with last week.

Last Full Week at CHRI

Last Full Week at CHRI

Greetings! My name is Connor Caruso from cohort 7. This summer I have the opportunity to go on an internship in the US Virgin Islands. For the next week, I will be spending time with various divisions at Christiansted National Historic Site (CHRI) in St. Croix.

Time flies when you're having fun! Its hard to believe I only have one more full week left of my summer internship in Christiansted. While this past week was mainly spent in the office working on paperwork and other administrative tasks, I had a handful of new experiences. At the end of the week, while Ranger Clarke and I were closing up the parking lot for the evening, we encountered a vehicle with a strong odor of marijuana. After talking with the driver, Ranger Clarke asked if there were any drugs in the vehicle. The driver admitted to smoking a short time prior and disclosed that there was marijuana in the vehicle. Ranger Clarke seized the substance and proceeded to issue a written warning under 36 CFR 2.35 (B) (2) for possession of a controlled substance.

After issuing the driver a written warning, Ranger Clarke and I had to log the seized evidence. This was my first encounter processing evidence, and I learned a lot about the process. First, we brought the substance to the evidence room where all seized items are stored. Once in the evidence room, we proceeded to test the substance for THC. Ranger Clarke walked me through the process of using a field narcotics kit, which officers use to determine if the substance in question is in fact a controlled substance. There are many different test kits for a wide range of controlled substances. However, since we were confident that what we seized was marijuana, we utilized the marijuana test kit. After placing a small amount of the substance into the test kit, I broke one of the small glass vials inside which contains strong acid. The chemical reaction that occurs between the acid in the test kit and the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, changes the color of the solution. After a few minutes, the reaction is complete and a purple color appears if the substance tests positive for THC. In this case, the test was positive for THC as indicated by the dark purple color of the test kit.

Positive Field Narcotics Test Kit for Marijuana

After testing the substance, Ranger Clarke and I weighed the evidence prior to filling out an evidence form. The form indicates the type, weight, and location where the substance was seized. After filling out all the necessary paperwork, we logged the evidence into an evidence storage locker. After a case is closed, stored evidence is often destroyed.

Last week, I also had the opportunity to work with members of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). The United States Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is a summer youth employment program that engages young people in meaningful work experiences on national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and fish hatcheries while developing an ethic of environmental stewardship and civic responsibility. This summer, there are 15 YCC students working at Christiansted National Historic Site. Students in the YCC program are a huge asset to the park, completing a variety of work to increase the visitor experience.

I was fortunate enough to work with the YCC students last week as they shadowed the visitor and resource protection division. While working with the students, I explained the importance of the tools at an officers disposal. This includes the many different types of patrol vehicles used in daily operations. The students helped clean and organize the patrol vehicles as well as the law enforcement patrol vessel. I really enjoyed the opportunity to work with the YCC students and am thankful for all of the help!

YCC Students Cleaning a Patrol Vehicle 

Although my time at Christiansted is rapidly coming to a close, there is still a lot of exciting things to look forward to. This week, I will be spending some time with the resource management division as they conduct the yearly turtle monitoring program. The program studies the migration and nesting locations of leather-back and green sea turtles. The study will occur in the evening at Buck Island. If i'm lucky, I'll have the chance to see some baby sea turtles and help release them into the sea!

Until next time,

ProRanger Caruso

Hello ProRangers and Park People!

A portion of my week was spent catching up on reports, doing park upkeep tasks, and getting myself ready for seasonal academy that starts in just a few weeks! Not every week can be action packed, but that doesn't mean I didn't get to do some awesome things!

One of the biggest highlights of my week was shadowing natural resources during their water quality testing. With perfect weather on our side, we conducted lake sampling on Little Beaver Lake.  I helped launched their boat onto the lake and we spent the afternoon measuring and recording the quality of the lake. The National Park Service is one of the leading organizations in natural resource management and to ensure the standardization of all lake testing each sample we collected had a standard operating procedure. 

Ranger Kainulainen driving the boat!

Getting the boat out on Little Beaver

This net is one of many devices we used to capture water for testing 

For consistency, every month water sampling is conducted to check the general health of the lake, invasive species, and any other abnormalities. I watched as both rangers meticulously poured water specimens into pre-washed bottles without spilling a drop. To help, I wrote down the list of numbers produced by a special computer that measures multiple pollutants. While we worked, I asked them questions about working in natural resources and they asked me about visitor resource protection. I truly respect the work that they do and their affinity for environmental science, math, and resource management. Additionally, It was awesome to have an open dialog about what we do everyday and to share with them what law enforcement does in the park.

Another highlight of my week was our nighttime boat operation to check boater safety, out of bounds camping, and illegal fires in the backcountry. This is a weekly operation conducted during weekends when the park has increased visitation and camping. During the shift we checked multiple permits, contacted out of bounds campers and issued tickets to several people with illegal campfires.

Ranger Gosselin and I enjoying the cliffs after a solid night of boat patrol

     Here's to hoping the days go slowly!

     Until next time,

     ProRanger Dover

      

Quotes from the South: "Bless your little buttons..."

This week began with an impromptu ride out of the boat with the curatorial and maintenance teams. In just a few hours we needed to clean the large flag cases, find a few lock boxes, collect donations, and prepare to renovate the accessible elevator. 

Because there’s really no such thing as “break time” for LE, we spent a good chunk of midday troubleshooting a faulty alarm ringing throughout the tunnels of Fort Moultrie. They’re old alarms, and they’ve become increasingly sensitive to non-emergency stimuli (for example...dust). They present a unique challenge because their system is outdated, licensing was completed by a previous employee, and renewing them will require investigating the old information in order to install a whole new system. 

Administration-wise, we completed a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Non-commissioned rangers dealing with contacts that could potentially require LE. Part of bringing law enforcement into a park is helping the other units, who have already ...their own pattern without law enforcement, figure out how they should address visitors and conflicts differently. The  SOP aims to help staff recognize situations in which they can get involved- like educating a family as to why their children shouldn’t climb on cannons; recognize situations in which they need to walk away; and recognize situations in which LE should be called immediately. 

 In anticipation of our 3rd Ranger (and in hopes for more in the future), I drafted a model of potential patrols between the mainland sites and Fort Sumter out in the bay. What’s most important having a presence out on the island while simultaneously having unhindered ability to respond to greater issues on the mainland, which will only truly be possible with more Rangers. After a long week of interviews, gaining insight into how rangers uniquely approach their jobs, I’m excited to see who will be welcomed into the family. (I did learn one extremely important thing though...phone interviews are awkward no matter what side of the phone you’re on). 

This Summer has been an intense period of assessment and problem-solving. One of our major topics to tackle is properly assessing the risks to our cultural resources, and finding ways to balance the cultural and environmental aspects of the park, especially when they are at odds with one another. A Park Guide and NEPA specialist, the acting Integrated Resources Program Manager from Congaree National Park,  and a team of representatives from curatorial, compliance, law enforcement toured the park and assessed what issues existed and which should be prioritized. It became obvious we need to prioritize certain safety plans, like the fire hazards and prevention assessment for the historic wooden home at our Charles Pinckney site. But issues of balancing animal habitat and vegetation growth with our duty to cultural and historical representation and preservation is something we tackle daily. 

The week ended with a combo of science and history. A classic Drum and Fife group performed a number of musical presentations out on the fields of Fort Moultrie. Meanwhile in the background, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) shuffled to and from the beaches, tediously sifting through sand to remove tiny, toxic, plastic particles that have washed up along the shore of Sullivan’s island. If you’ve forgone any concern about plastic pollution until now, or ignored phenomena like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch before (it’s 3x the size of France), I highly recommend reading up on your chosen beach vacation destination before building any sand castles, and encourage channeling your inner tree-hugger. 

Dispatch for a day !

          This week I was fortunate to shadow behind Matt Henninger, He is the Administrative Security Assistant for Independence National Park Service. I got to sit in on a debriefing about Freedom Week (July 4th) . Every person that was involved in the meeting was either active chief of their division and  the superintendent of Independence. In this meeting they went around talking about the Pros and Cons of what happened during the festivities and how they could improve or keep certain things the same. There were events such as Free Hoagie day presented by Wawa, Pops concert, the parade and so forth. Security had to be alert and overall they agreed that the week went as planned and to more successful years to come.
           I was extremely excited to become a dispatcher for the day. In my opinion it is a very important job; not only do you answer the phone or watch cameras but behind the scenes you're responsible for the on duty officers and staff around the park. With that you have to be alert and understand the variety of different protocols being thrown your way at different time or even at the same way. A dispatcher is someone who a officer calls into the radio, giving them their whereabouts or upcoming contacts with a pedestrian. They also log in everything that comes over the radio; this keeps track of reports for upcoming court cases or even something simple like checking if a work order for something broken in the park was placed.
          While at dispatch I was given the opportunity to speak to the officers over the radio and according to one officer he didn't even notice any mess ups and I sounded like I've been doing this for years. That's was pretty good to hear because while up there the fist half of the day I wasn't as confident to say things over the radio or reply back to their requests. I had to do a big announcement that lead to me calling out to all officers, making them be aware that a car on a certain street had the right to be parked on federal park property. With this I gave out the model, make, color, and license plate and location to confirm that this particular vehicle was allowed and no reports should be called in. Any incoming radio reports I logged it into the database with the persons location and name. That way we have recorded showing for any future problems. I had a very eventful week and was able to soak up a lot of very insightful information.

Captured Conch

Captured Conch

Sandy Point National Wildlife Rescue 

Greetings! My name is Connor Caruso from cohort 7. This summer I have the opportunity to go on an internship in the US Virgin Islands. For the next two weeks, I will be spending time with various divisions at Christiansted National Historic Site (CHRI) in St. Croix.

This week, I had the opportunity to visit Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge and meet the refuge manager, Mike Evans. During the visit, Mike explained that he received nearly 150 lbs. of seized conch from Customs and Border Patrol agents at the airport. While most evidence is destroyed via incineration, Mike explained the ecological benefits provided through disposing of the conch in the sea. Looking for an alternative way to dispose of the evidence, Mike asked Ranger Laurencin if the National Park Service would be willing to assist the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Ranger Laurencin and I agreed to assist with disposing of the evidence. After filing out a chain of custody form, Ranger laurencin and I loaded three large boxes of frozen conch into the back of the patrol vehicle.

150 lbs. of Seized Conch 

After loading the seized conch into the back of the patrol vehicle, we made our way to the marina in order to transfer the evidence onto the law enforcement vessel for disposal in the sea. To properly dispose of the evidence, we traveled over three miles away from St. Croix to ensure the conch wouldn't wash up on shore. Once we were far enough away from the island, Ranger Laurencin, Ranger Clarke, and I prepared to dispose of the evidence.

Transporting the Conch Out to Sea

Ranger Clarke Preparing to Dispose of Seized Conch 

Once the conch was removed from the plastic packaging, we dropped the frozen conch into the sea. Although disposing of slimy frozen conch isn't the most glamorous task, it was nice to be able to assist the USFWS. 

Dropping the Frozen Conch in the Sea 

After disposing all of the conch into the sea, Ranger Laurencin let me captain the vessel as we made the three mile journey back to the marina. I enjoyed the ability to practice my boating skills as I prepare for MOCC training. Although my time at Christiansted National Historic Site is rapidly concluding, I look forward to my last few weeks on the island.

Until next time,

ProRanger Caruso

Site Visit and More!

Hello everyone!

This week was a unique one! It started with Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo coming for a site visit and then ended with very interesting law enforcement contacts.

Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo visited for two days to get a feel for the Santa Monica Mountains.  The first day that I was with them I made sure to show them the key places and people that I have interacted with.  First things first, I took them to one of my favorite cafes called Conejo Coffee.  At Conejo Coffee Shahab (the owner of the cafe) poured us some coffee and cooked us up some great breakfast burritos to give us energy for the day.  After we nourished ourselves I gave them the tour of Rancho Sierra Vista (RSV) which is where I live.  They got to see my house, the plant nursery, the education building, all of my horse friends, Mary, and Ranger Mike Yost.

On a trail outside my house at RSV

After RSV, I took Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo to the main headquarters offices.  While giving them the tour of the building they got to meet the great people of the office who I had the pleasure of working with.  After this, I took them to the law enforcement HQ to give them a quick tour of the building and Western Town which is right across from the building.  At Western Town, they could see the damage that the fire inflicted.

The next day I took them through a day in the life of a law enforcement ranger at the Santa Monica Mountains.  There is no better way to do this than take them to Solstice Canyon (violation city).  We hiked up to the waterfall and I only had to kick one person out and send one woman with a dog (not allowed to have dogs at the waterfall) back down.

At Solstice Canyon.

Smiling for all of the potential violators.

Philadelphia supervisors meet the Santa Monica supervisor.

After the tour, it was back to business as usual.  The day after Ranger Fernandez and Mr. Luongo left Brandon showed me how to disassemble and clean a handgun, shotgun, and assault rifle which was an interesting process.

The last day of the week was the most unique day of all.  I knew it was going to be an interesting one because the day started right when I left my house for work.  I took two steps outside my door and I saw an adult couple trying to take wood from the Chumash sacred grounds.  Of course, I explained to them that taking natural resources from the sacred grounds was something you could not do and thankfully they responded well.

As the day went on Brandon and I started to patrol Solstice.  During the patrol, a woman and her mother were hiking and the mom was having leg pains so we ended up giving them a ride back to their car.  As this was happening we got a call that a brush fire started on Potrero and Wendy which is close to my house.  So after we helped the people we responded to the scene of the fire.  Luckily the fire department was close by and put it out fairly quickly.  So while we were there I assisted in working the scene.  We ended up finding some evidence and got multiple witnesses who could attest to the description of the people who started the fire and their vehicle.

After this, we decided to patrol some of the parking lots and ended up finding eight juveniles underage drinking and eating pot brownies. This whole process of getting them together, searching the car, and calling their parents took quite a long time.  This was a great experience because I got to see Brandon and Eric in action doing great law enforcement work.

Holy Waspamoli

For the last four weeks of my internship, I will be alongside law enforcement which is beneficial for me because of the fact that this is my aspiring career path. 

Around this time of the season, the wasp population is growing expeditiously due to the amount of larvae hatching from their nests. This becomes a problem because of nests that are located around where park visitors frequent which result in visitors getting stung or possibly hospitalized. Our solution to this? WASP SPRAY.

Paper Wasp Nest 

I was sent on a mission to locate and perform preventative maintenance on cannon carriages which potentially houses wasp nests. Preventative maintenance consists of cleaning, patching, repainting, and preventing the possibility of wasp nests hatching on our property.  

Preventative Maintenance, French Encampment

Although I did get chased a way a plethora of times, I was fortunate enough to avoid wasp stings! I am thankful for wasp spray and it’s creators. 

Site Visit

Site Visit!

Hello ProRangers and Park People!

          This week my program directors, Ranger Fernandez and Dr. McGarvey travelled to Pictured Rocks for a site visit. It was their first time at PIRO, so we spent a whole day exploring the park. The best way to see the cliffs is by water and what better way than on the Arrowhead. We spent the morning driving up under the waterfalls and along the cliffs. With the sun shining and the calm waters, I think we captured the beauty of PIRO. 

Prepping the boat for our morning tour

Ranger Tuuri and I putting the hazard buoy out in the marina

          After a solid BBQ lunch with Ranger Turri and Chief Hughes, I started them on a parks highlight tour! We explored the Miner’s Castle overlook, to Au Sable Light, to the superior overlook all the way down to Grand Marais. We weren’t able to see everything in the park, but that just means they will have to come back!

I was super excited to show them Au Sable Light and give them the VIP tour

          The next day, Ranger Fernandez and Dr. McGarvey met with the wonderful LE staff including Superintendant Horne, Chief Hughes, and Rangers Paupore and Turri. I truly admire and am very thankful for the rangers here that have gone out of their way to help me succeed. So to be able to introduce them to the ProRanger Staff was a lot of fun. 

Ranger Fernandez, Chief Hughes, Ranger Tuuri, and Ranger Paupore receiving the official 2019 Participating Parks award 

          Before we parted ways, I took them to the beach. You can’t come to the UP and not dip your toes into Lake Superior. I sent them on their way home to Philly with a refreshed love for the waters in the Virgin Islands!

Interp Week ‼️

Spent my week with Interpretation. Sadly, This was the last division that I had to visit for a week. They were amazing and very honest in the way that they proceeded to do things. I had the pleasure of shadowing two regular interp rangers, who go from post to post answering questions and guarding the buildings. Being able to be on the inside looking in has helped me gain knowledge on all they have to deal with. For the first two days I went and helped guard the Liberty Bell, Second Bank, Independence Hall, West Wing & The Benjamin Franklin Museum. They explained in detail how every building works, what they look for and exactly what to say to the visitors.

A life size Benjamin Franklin

Standing next to the “Rising Sun Chair” where they signed the Declaration of Independence  

In the Benjamin Franklin Museum it is kid friendly and instead of the usual DO NOT TOUCH it says PLEAS TOUCH, I found that pretty cool. 

As the week went on I worked with a Tour guide Interp, they told the visitors the history behind each building on the tour and it was truly amazing hearing them speak so passionately about the buildings. The tours consisted of Congress Hall, where they explained the importance of the court and how it functioned. The popular tour is the Independence Hall tour and that’s where they signed the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. I even went on the Ben Franklin walking tour; where guide walk around the park talking about the history behind his work. Lastly, I was able to to help out at the Visitor’s Center where I helped give out tickets and boy does those tickets run out fast. It’s given out on a first come first serve basis and by 10am the desk can be either sold out or on the 3:00 tickets already, with the line wrapped around the hall and people waiting for tickets. Some can make reservations and others just come with hopes they get an early ticket. They also hold these Junior Rangers books where little kids can visit each building and fill out the booklet for each building and at the end of it come back to the visitors center to earn their Junior Rangers Badge. I had a fun time explaining to people the different things they can do around the park and guiding them to the things to see. 

I enjoyed my time with Interpretation and once again I was left wanting to spend more time with them. They were very joyful and it definitely showed on the visitors who thanks them and complimented how great they made their experience. 

Practice Pays Off

Practice Pays Off 

Greetings! My name is Connor Caruso from cohort 7. This summer I have the opportunity to go on an internship in the US Virgin Islands. For the next three weeks, I will be spending time with various divisions at Christiansted National Historic Site (CHRI) in St. Croix.

This past week was full of new learning experiences and lots of practice. I started out the week assisting Ranger Laurencin and Ranger Clarke with an event hosted in the area surrounding the park. In the past, this event has led to contacts that include; public intoxication, driving under the influence, and disorderly conduct. During the event, Ranger Laurencin provided instruction on how to conduct a standardized field sobriety test. Lucky for me, he had a field sobriety test field booklet that provides instructions on how to perform each test. After reading the field booklet, ranger Laurencin demonstrated how to properly preform a one leg stand, horizontal gauze nystagumus, and walk and turn test.

In addition to learning about standardized field testing, I was able to practice a variety of law enforcement contacts this week. Ranger Laurencin set up a handful of scenarios in order to test my ability to react to different situations. During the scenarios, I practiced using the radio and communicating with dispatch in order to; report my location, call in licence plates, run drivers licenses, and call for additional resources. The scenarios ranged from common contacts made with visitors such as a dog off leash, to more serious situations involving an armed suspect. My overall favorite scenario included the opportunity to drive a patrol vehicle and make a traffic stop! The scenarios provided great practice and time to learn new techniques that will help improve my officer presence and safety.

Scenario based training in the patrol vehicle

When I'm not working, I use my free time to gain a better understanding of the code of federal regulations and the NPS law enforcement reference manual. Having an understanding of 36 CFR is crucial in order to determine the types of actions that are, and are not, permissible in the park. After spending a few weeks reviewing 36 CFR, I am able to identify different types of violations that occur within the park. From this experience, I have learned that a well rounded ranger must constantly keep learning and practicing to keep up with evolving laws and regulations. 

My stack of reading material is really starting to pile up!

With only a few weeks left, I am eager to continue learning as much as possible. In the weeks to come, I will be undertaking MOCC training and hopefully practicing more law enforcement contacts through scenario based training. Check back next week to see what I have been up to!

ProRanger Caruso 

The Opposite of ARACHNOPHOBIA!

My week started as a beautiful Monday morning. I was able to shadow the administration division for my eighth week at Colonial Historical National Park. During the start of the week, I attended a safety assessment meeting which was relevant to me because I am the public safety writer for Lincoln University’s Department of Public Safety. I was educated on development plans such as the hazard communications plan, the thermal extreme plan, and proper personal protective equipment. These plans are things that I will be bringing to awareness for Lincoln University's police department. The superintendent of Colonial Historical National Park deserves an honorable mention; She made such a presence in the meeting, it was quite admirable. Her words taught me that it is okay to be unsatisfied with statistics in a meeting, and it is okay to voice one's opinions and thought processes relevant to the issue or topic that is being discussed. 

Wearing Administration Gear Gifted by the VC, Jamestown Island

Another significant part of my week was learning about retirement plans that are offered with the National Park Service. I am now able to depict and articulate the three tier retirement program. I have never been more excited to start saving for retirement, and will do so using the TSP, and FERS. 

For the closing of my week, I met with the volunteer coordinator of COLO and began the process of helping to clean out historic horse stables. As one may know, I enjoy hands on work, so using a heavy duty vacuum and a fuel powered leaf blower acted as an amusement park for me! By cleaning out the sheds, I discovered a plethora of species of arachnids. In fact, when I used the leaf blower,  spiders blew everywhere including ON ME. I developed a new found desensitization for spiders (think the opposite of arachnophobia). 

Using a leaf blower, Wisteria Cottage 

More Fun Adventures at SAMO

Hello everyone!

This week was another week packed with new experiences!  I got to work with two new rangers, got to work a totally different job, and had new experiences on my ride along. 

The first day of work was great because I got to work with the horses which was totally new for me.  If I am being honest, before this day I sort of feared horses.  After spending the day working with them though I created a bond with each of them and now I love them.  The law enforcement ranger that works with the horses is named Mike and he helped introduce me to Bayberry, Blue, Cache, and Gunner (all of the horses).  There was also a trainer named Edgar who helped me conquer my fear of horses.  I started out by just standing next to them while Edgar explained how horses behaves and how I should behave around the horses.  Then I graduated to touching the horse.  After that I learned how to bend down, lift up the horses leg, and check the shoes for damage.  For the final step I actually walked the horse (Gunner) around the site (sort of like a big dog) and felt completely comfortable with contact.  This experience was incredibly awesome for me and I enjoyed every second of it! 

Gunner being silly and rolling around. The stables for these horses is right by my house so I see this often!

After being introduced to the horses I watched as Edgar and a volunteer named Sabine trained one of the horses (who is named Blue).  While they were training Blue, Mike would explain to me what they are doing and why they were doing it.

Edgar and Sabine training Blue.

After training there was actually a vet visit that I got to witness!  The way horses eat they end up grinding their teeth a certain way that can be really bad so the veterinarians do some dental work.

Bayberry getting ready for the vet. Excitement is at an all time high

A nice view of Bayberry's mouth

When I was done with the horses I still had a few hours left in the day which meant I had the opportunity to ride with, former ProRanger, Jess Cooper for a few hours.  All we did was patrol a place called Circle X and talked.  She actually just transferred here permanently so it was fun asking her questions about the transition.



The next day I got to work with Jess the whole day.  We started the day off at headquarters and she helped me write a practice ticket which I appreciated.  We then sat in on a training about radios because SAMO recently reprogrammed the whole operation.  I then got to sit in on a meeting between Jess and Eric (the LE ranger I worked with last week) about an ongoing case which was fascinating (if I could elaborate I would but I am not allowed).  After all of that was done I got to ride along with Jess the entire day.  It was a relatively slow day with very few contacts.  The one exception was that Jess wrote a warning for an expired plate.  The only reason she didn't write a ticket is because the woman already had a ticket and had to appear in court anyway.  After the slower day we went back to the law enforcement headquarters.  There we joined forces with Eric and ran traffic.  This was my first time running traffic and it was a cool experience.  We ended up pulling two people over for running stop signs in the hour that we did it.  I got to witness totally new experiences which was very cool.


The next day I was back with my supervisor Brandon.  On this day we patrolled an area called Zuma.  Zuma is a massive trail within the park.  We were making sure that the trail was drivable and found a couple spots where if you were to run over it your car would sink and it would not be a good time.  So whenever we see a place like that one of us would take the iPad and drop a pin where we are so people know about it.


The last day of work I rode along with Brandon again.  The first thing on our agenda was drive to Solstice Canyon and to set up a camera because people just do not stop jumping in the waterfall.  The idea is to have the camera there as a deterrent.  Right before we were able to complete this goal however, we had an interesting contact.  As we drove up to one of the gates at Solstice and we heard some commotion which sounded like someone messing with a door.  We walked over and saw a man by a NPS storage room.  Brandon went over and approached him to ask him what he was doing.    Brandon ended up getting all of his information and gave him a verbal warning for trespassing however he plans on getting more information so employees can keep an eye out for him.  After this contact we were able to make it to the waterfall and set up the camera.

Brandon climbing up to drill in a camera

Hopefully this stops people from jumping in the waterfall!

After this we were patrolling Zuma because we got a call from a PSRM employee that there was a marijuana plant by the trail head.  Sure enough we found the plant and Brandon thought this would be a good teaching moment for me when evidence is found.  We bagged it and took it back to test it as if we found something we thought was drugs in the field.  It obviously came back positive for marijuana.  Since we didn't need it for any reason he also showed me how to dispose of evidence.  He needed two witnesses (Eric and I) to sign that he cut up and flushed the marijuana.  It was all an interesting process and I am glad that Brandon took the time out to show me everything.  After this we just did our driving patrol for the rest of the night and it was fairly quiet.

As you can see a positive test for marijuana shows up as purple on top and clear on the bottom 

Quotes From the South: "It's better to light a candle than to curse their darkness"

Happy Belated Independence Day! 

I started this past week with an exciting 4th of July shift out at Fort Sumter- Ready to serve the people and defend the fort from drunk boaters. The neighboring sand bar is a normally a common place for recreational boaters to anchor, but during the 4th of July it’s decorated with tiki bars, dogs, american flags, and twice the population. While people are often respectful of the sign reading “Do Not Enter”, they’ll take special care to avoid it when inebriated. And unsupervised kids and young teens love climbing up the dunes into the fort, though their bare feet and swim suits make it quite obvious that they haven’t come in on the ferry. 

The day was full of special events like a fly-over of an air force fighter jet and a C-17 Globemaster, and ended with the folding of Major Anderson’s 33 Star Union Garrison Flag.  

It wasn’t all fanfare this week. In the last half hour of a calm day. we noticed an entire family, 7-10 people, walking along the restricted portion of Battery Jasper. This was an unusually large group to just bypass the “Do Not Cross” chains lining certain areas of the battery.  Chief Byrnes approached them as they came down, quickly noticing the group’s confusion at being contacted. The entrance they used had been completely, misleadingly open. Upon further inspection, the lock originally keeping that door closed had been cleanly, freshly cut. As Chief Byrnes and an assisting Ranger cleared the battery and I watched the area for fleeing suspects, one of Charleston’s classic storms barrelled in.  No one was inside or outside the fort, leaving only a few ideas for who the perpetrator was (Battery Jasper is a popular break-in spot for ‘urban explorers’ and teens), as they had clearly come earlier and either fled at the site of LE or had planned to come back later. We needed to look for bolt cutters the perpetrator could have left behind, but the radio was full of traffic discussing whether or not to close Fort Sumter because of the worsening storm, and asking Chief Byrnes’ opinion on the matter. Fort Moultrie was already requesting our assistance in shutting its doors since lighting had been spotted, and we were notified a private boat was beached by Fort Sumter with passengers who definitely needed to be included on the Ferry back to the mainland. Before we could dredge through the rain around the battery in search of bolt cutters and move on to closing the forts,  we got a call from a Ranger bringing down the flag at Fort Moultrie, letting us know our BOLO (back from a few blogs ago) had stopped by and offered the employee his umbrella to shield him from “God’s Wrath”. 

Our main priority became reaching our BOLO, or at least making our LE presence known while getting his vehicle information. We succeeded in the latter, pulling into the parking lot as our BOLO entered their vehicle, speeding off once they noticed us. We concluded the evening by closing up the forts (a safe call given the record flooding that followed), organizing a safe return trip for those beached passengers, and taking down an official report from the Ranger our BOLO contacted.  Later the next day we got in contact with local PD again, letting them know about our encounter and checking information on the license plate.