Staying Close to Home

Hello and welcome back to my blog park people!

Ever since I started writing these blog posts, I have mentioned three different parks. The first was Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which I unfortunately did not get to see due to COVID-19. However, when one door closes, another one opens. Instead of traveling to the West Coast, I have been able to discover new opportunities in parks close to where I grew up. The second park I have mentioned is Independence Hall National Historical Park. Growing up in the Philadelphia area, I have been to this park many times for school trips, and just to walk around and learn by myself. This is why I was so excited when I was given the opportunity to spend some time working there. The third park I have mentioned is First State National Historical Park. This is a park only an hour away from where I grew up and had never heard of until I was given the opportunity to work there. By not going over to the West Coast, I have been able discover this new place right here on the East Coast.

Last week at Independence Hall I worked on my conservation project. The goal of this project was to clean and organize a basement in a building that used to be the Regional Office and law enforcement office for Independence Hall. There were a lot of old tools, parts, etc. that needed to be organized. It took about 4 days to clear everything out and clean out all of the different areas of the basement. It was a fun (and very messy) job. After finding out what needed to be thrown out and kept, the group of us worked on organizing everything we decided to keep and created an inventory list so that everything could be easy to find. Overall, this job was very fulfilling and eventful.

Workbench in the basement before it was cleaned and organized

Workbench in the basement after it was cleaned and organized

After the first day of cleaning the basement

I spent my time over the weekend patrolling alongside Ranger Fernandez at First State National Historical Park. Since the park was founded a few years ago, there have been some issues, and without the presence of Law Enforcement, those issues have not been able to be fixed. Some of the biggest issues we saw were parking violations, littering, and graffiti. We decided to focus our time on the parking violations. The parking lot at First State fills up very early in the day, which causes people to park in places where they are not allowed. There are signs that say, “No Parking,” but people will park right in front of the signs and completely ignore them. This causes unsafe traffic patterns and erosion of the land. The park was eventually given the go ahead to start towing cars. What Ranger Fernandez and I decided to do was walk around the area and tell people to move their cars before they were towed. Within 10 minutes, all of the cars had cleared out, which I thought was really cool. It showed that the presence of Law Enforcement in the park could make a difference on people following the rules set by the park.

Graffiti at First State

Car parked right next to the "No Parking"sign

During my weekend at First State, I also worked on the online portion of getting my certification to drive the UTV the park has. When I go back this week, I will take the practical portion of the test so I will eventually be able to drive the UTV. In the meantime, I rode in the UTV while Ranger Fernandez drove. We used it to drive around on the trails, and to patrol the parking lot. By sitting in the passenger seat, I was able to talk to park visitors while Ranger Fernandez drove. It was very cool getting to travel around on trails after spending time in an urban park.

Overall, last week was very exciting. It was interesting being able to work in two different parks in one week. The coolest part about these parks is that they are two different environments. One is urban while the other is rural. Come back next week after I spend more time at both of these awesome parks!

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!

Busy Times Here at the Black Canyon

It’s been a busy weekend at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, with campgrounds full and visitors filling our overlooks, it has been an eventful few days. I spent a few days this week exploring Curecanti National Recreation Area. Including trails like the Curecanti Creek Trail and Dillon Pinnacles Trail. 

The Curecanti Needle served as a landmark for  Natives and pioneers trying to navigate the Black Canyon.

On Friday I worked at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,  after a brief ride of the South Rim Road (the most developed area of the park) Ranger Fritz and I went down East Portal Road, A 6 mile,  16% grade road that leads to the bottom of the canyon. Down there, the park does area checks at the Crystal Dam, which dams the Gunnison River, for the Bureau of Reclamation. After doing a few more drives down South Rim Road, we received word from another ranger that a bear had been spotted near the campground and we went into the brush to try and locate the bear, but we could not find it. Later in the evening we drove the South Rim Road and found a few people camping out of bounds, after directing them to Bureau of Land Management land outside the park, which has free dispersed camping. we were done for the night at midnight. 

           On Saturday, I went into Montrose in the morning to grab a few necessities for working in the canyon including a new backpack. After arriving at the office for work, Ranger Fritz and I stopped at the Visitor Center where we saw there were no parking spots available a few cars illegally parked on the side of the road. We got all the illegally parked cars to move and closed the parking lot for half an hour so it could clear out a little. After 2 hours in the Visitor Center Parking lot we continued up the South Rim Road where we encountered a few more people parking on the side of the road,  we again got them to move their cars to other overlooks or suggested they go down East Portal Road. Up at High Point (the highest point in the park) there were a total of 9 vehicles illegally parked, which led to a minor fender bender up at the top of High Point. After spending 3 hours at High Point, we went back to the office to take care of paperwork. A few hours and a few rim drives later, we got a call from the Visitor Center that a reporting party had seen a man dehydrated and vomiting at the bottom of the Canyon.

At 2000 feet deep, the hike down into the Canyon is a challenging, but rewarding experience.

              After gathering more information, one of our rangers hiked down the canyon to spend the night with the patient. Ranger Camp and I went to Sunset Overlook to establish a radio relay; because believe it or not, radios do not reach very far when you are at the bottom of a 2000-foot canyon. After setting up the relay, we received word that the patient was stable and at the bottom of the Warner route (the longest route into the canyon). We set a check in time for 6 am the next morning and we went to bed.

               On Sunday, at 6 am we made radio contact again with the ranger down in the canyon who didn’t sound too confident that the patient would be able to hike back up the Warner Route, so we called for a Medevac Helicopter.  

This small white dot  is the Helicopter going in to land at the bottom of the Warner Route.

           After the patient had been taken away by the  helicopter, the ranger in the canyon led the others of the party back up the route, while myself and another ranger went to collect the things that they had left at the bottom of the route. At around 11 am we made it down to the bottom of the canyon, we split up the 50 pounds of gear left at the bottom of the route and started to head back up the 3 mile trail that gains 2700 feet of elevation. It was a grueling 4 hour climb back up the canyon walls up to High point. After returning to the office we had a debrief of the Search and Rescue event that we had just completed , and a few other things that happened while I was down in the canyon (including a self-rescue with medical assistance at another route into the canyon).  

I took the next day off after hiking out of the canyon. 

Stay Tuned for more from The Black!

Shore Traffic

Facing Northbound, from the bridge, a view of the park entrance
where traffic funnels in from Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright

Welcome back Blog Fans! After reading my last blog, the term “Shore Traffic” ought to ring a bell, but I am not sure of how much significance the term carries in land locked states. Surely the core meaning is universal to anyone living near any type of attraction. Since we last spoke, I have become “Traffic North” at Sandy Hook, or as dispatch now knows me, “593”. That is right, the intern is moving up in the world. Traffic Ranger Savitt gave me a brief run down of what the role entails and commonalities in different parking lots. On weekdays, Ranger Savitt is usually helping visitors via jump starts, lockouts, and providing some emergency gasoline. He will also report any illegal activity that he runs into and will check on medical calls. On weekends when things get busy, things get tricky. Lots fill quickly and are counted almost constantly to give supervisors an idea of how close the park is to reaching capacity. Parking lots which are full are closed but still monitored so they can be reopened once a reasonable number of spaces are empty. Of course, on top of this, with more visitors, comes more visitor assists. As “Traffic North” I was able to ease the burden by patrolling lots L through M on the Northern end of the park which includes Gunnison lot. Gunnison is a very popular beach, so the Gunnison lots along with its overflow parking can fill rapidly. Fortunately, this assignment gave me plenty of opportunities to speak over the radio and it provided plenty of visitor contacts. Initially it was intimidating to determine whether or not to close the Gunnison lot, because the result is a change in traffic flow. Once the nearby overflow lot would fill, the traffic pattern would really change because I would have to shut down the road to both of those lots and send the visitors further North to less occupied beach parking lots. Closing the road prevents visitors from making a pointless trip down the road to only be met with closed parking lots. This is where I had most of my interactions with visitors. I am happy to report that they were overwhelmingly positive interactions. I was also able to assist a few visitors by providing jump starts and watched Savitt perform a lockout. Having a background in towing helped me there.

Closing the Fishing Beach parking lot early in the day.

Closure of Gunnison Road Westbound at Gunnison Rd. and Atlantic Dr.  due to overflow lot being full.

Making visitor contacts to aid in their navigation towards the closest available lot or another site.

A portion of the packet we reviewed in conjunction
with the slideshow.

My next highlight would be following along with Taser training which was provided for one of the new seasonals as she works towards earning her commission. Once again, it has been great to talk to yet another new seasonal about their experience so far with the National Park Service. Everything about the Taser training was shocking, no pun intended. The presentation itself was very in depth and I learned of so many factors to be considered in its deployment, of which I had no clue about beforehand. One being targeting. Beyond body parts to avoid, the user must consider the distance from the target to achieve a wide enough probe spread. Removal the probes is also something I was introduced to. As an E.M.T. in New Jersey I had not learned that before. Tasers are relatively rare in New Jersey. The Taser itself records a lot of user data. After drawing on still targets, Supervisory Ranger Antczak had Ranger Casanova practice some rapid reloading drills and drawing on an approaching target. I have heard of both types of drills with firearms so it was cool to see it in action.

Inspecting the emergency lights during our vehicle check.

Most recently, I have been doing ride along`s with Ranger Hayes. We would start the day by conducting a vehicle check, which I had only done once before. Checking your patrol vehicle in the morning ensures that all your equipment is functional, clean, safe, and ready for work. A full tank of gas is ideal along with proper tire inflation. Emergency lighting and sirens are tested. The backseat is checked for cleanliness, damage, and any loose items. The firearms are checked. Typically, rangers will grab a P.B.T. (Preliminary Breath Test) along with an A.E.D. (Automated External Defibrillator) at least, if not more medical supplies. In relation to the vehicles, I learned that some vehicles at Sandy Hook should have under inflated tires. 4x4 vehicles that are used on the beach will have under inflated tires because that provides more surface area to travel over the sand better. Vehicles that are pursuit rated also require pursuit rated tires. I did not know that pursuit rated tires existed! Also, there are Department of Interior vehicles and G.S.A. vehicles which basically impacts their maintenance and lifespan. Once we were on the road, we conducted a few traffic stops. The weekdays following this weekend brought us very few visitors, so our eyes had to be peeled for potential violations. Ranger Hayes does a great job of sharing what he has recently learned and has provided me the opportunity to learn from his past mistakes. We discussed driving behavior which could be an indication of impairment. Now I find myself paying close attention to every time someone hits the white or yellows lines. However, I find it impressive how much the rangers see happening inside a vehicle with just a passing glance. At one point we got out of the vehicle and patrolled the beach on foot. We made plenty of contacts, advising visitors of the tent ban on the beach, along with confiscating alcohol. As the days went on, Ranger Hayes learned that I had not been exposed to any type of resource violation yet, so we headed over to Fishing beach. Before hitting the beach, he described some of the local ocean life, the limitations, and where illegal activity usually takes place. Unfortunately, no one was catching anything! Despite this we were able to educate visitors and ourselves through contacts as we checked for their “Salt Water Registry”. Along with all of the activity recently there has been some down time as well. With an approaching court date, the law enforcement rangers and supervisors alike spent a lot of time writing and reviewing reports. Hopefully, I will get the chance to learn more about this and I.M.A.R.S. soon, but I did not want to slow them down with a deadline ahead. Instead I opened one of the new employee binders and read over some of RM-9, the Superintendents Compendium, and a Sandy Hook Field Collateral list. These readings might not be as exciting as physical experience, but they are crucial to a well developed understanding of the park and it`s law enforcement division.

Patrolling Fishing Beach in the latest 2020 beach attire with the "Fish Stick"

Reviewing RM-9

There is more to come so check back soon,

ProRanger Boyce

Hit the GROUNDS running!

Hello Park People!

Last week, I had the opportunity to assist workers in the Grounds division of Maintenance (APM) at Independence Hall National Historical Park. The Grounds division is responsible for maintaining the lawns, gardens, etc. within the park. Some of the tasks that the Grounds division does in order to maintain these parts of the park include lawn care, planting, weed pulling, plant pruning, picking up trash, and pest control. Throughout the three days I had spent with the Grounds crew, I was able to assist in almost every one of these tasks. 

The first task I participated in was pulling weeds in an area of Independence Mall. The supervisor of Grounds, as well as other members of the Grounds crew, showed me how to correctly identify which plants would need to be removed. He also talked about when it is the right time to plant certain types of plants in the garden, when those plants would bloom, and whether or not those plants would need to be replanted every year. It was very interesting getting to learn more about how to maintain a garden, especially since Independence Hall is in an urban setting. When we were not pulling weeds, I walked around the garden area and picked up any trash. I finished out the day by doing some maintenance of the Benjamin Rush garden. While in this garden, the supervisor of Grounds taught me how to correctly prune a tree. Overall, it was a very educational and eventful day.

Pulling weeds at Independence Mall

My second day with the Grounds crew was just as exciting as the first! We grabbed some weed whackers, shovels, brooms, and rakes and headed to the Bishop White House. The day prior I had the privilege of going inside of this building which was very interesting because this resource is not currently open to the public. The area behind the Bishop White House is also closed to the public but needed some work. There were a lot of weeds that had grown in the cracks in the ground. One of the Grounds crew workers used the weed whacker to get rid of these weeds. My job was to then rake/sweep and collect all of the waste to be discarded. This took up a good amount of the day. In the afternoon, I was shown how the inventory system works for all of the cleaning/maintenance supplies in the maintenance building. Buildings and areas throughout the entire park use these supplies, so it is very important that this area is kept as organized as possible. 

Sweeping plant debris behind the Bishop White House

My third and final day with the Grounds crew included a few different tasks. We started the day by mowing the grass in two different gardens in the park. The first garden we worked on was the Magnolia Garden. For this garden, I assisted by using the leaf blower after the Grounds crew members mowed the grass. This is a small garden, so it did not take too long. We then moved over to another garden area near Carpenter Hall. In this area, I used the push mower to mow the grass. The rest of the day was spent picking up trash in different locations in the park. We first started at the Graff house, then made our way over to Christ Church. In the afternoon, we picked up trash in the Rose garden, and in the lawn in front of the Second Bank building. Overall, this was a very eventful day.
 

Mowing the grass near Carpenter's Hall

Throughout my week with APM and Grounds, I learned a lot about how to maintain different areas within a park. I also was able to learn about the different systems and processes that go on behind the scenes in order for the park to be maintained in an efficient way, while also keeping a focus on maintaining the park in a way that the historical aspects are not tampered with. Since Independence Hall is a historical resource, it is important that the buildings are kept so that they are as historically accurate as possible. The goal for next week is to work on my conservation project and also get some Law Enforcement experience at First State National Historical Park!

Until next time,

ProRanger Moore

First State National Historical Park

Covid-19 Update

Unfortunately due to Covid-19 Hawaii Volcano National Park had to cancel plans. However, I've been interning at First State National Historical Park. This is the first and the only National Park in the State of Delaware. It is a fairly new park within the Park Service. Its enabling legislation was created on March 25, 2013, under the Obama Administration.

First Reaction

I personally like this park. Even though it does not have Law Enforcement, I'm able to work with the Facility Operations Specialist, Alan McLoughlin, and see what goes on in this park. I actually like that I get to see what other U.S Rangers do that are not Law Enforcement. It gives me an understanding that a Park Ranger certainly has many hats and is capable of doing extraordinary things. Working with Alan, I've seen first hand how landscaping and resource protection are essential to a park. However, unfortunately this park has a couple of issues that are caused by the general public. From what I've seen a huge issue is littering, illegal parking, and soil erosion. I am tasked with developing a method that can reduce these harmful actions towards First State National Historical Park.
                                                                   

Where is it?

Here below is the map of First State, I am interning at the Beaver Valley (Brandywine Valley) section at the top of Delaware and below Pennsylvania. 

First State National Historical Park runs from the top of the State to the bottom of the state. Brandywine Valley consists of 1,100 acres of land with 18-mile trails.

This Week 

I patrolled Smith Bridge parking lot with Ranger Fernandez. This location is considered a hot spot for constant littering and refuses from the general public that visit. In this park, it is prohibited to bring any alcoholic beverages. However, that does not stop the general public from bringing a huge case of beer and then leave the trash. I spent two hours on Monday morning picking up trash such as beer bottle caps, pampers, pads/tampons, liquor bottles, paper plates, T-shirts, underwear, swim trunks, and inflatable tubes. 

Tuesday 21/2020

This case of beer was found on one of the trails within a social trail which was created by the general public. This case of beer maybe one to you, but it's the 10th I've seen in a day. There are numerous bottle caps within trails and Smiths Bridge Parking lot. These beer bottle caps so engraved in the dirt that bare hands can not get them out. 

Monday  20/2020 & Tuesday 21/2020

This is one of many social trails that I came across in a day. This little trail leads straight into River. It is beneficial for the general public but disastrous for the environment as it causes soil erosion and devastates the vegetation. In the photo, you can see how the vegetation is destroyed and only left with dirt in the middle and grass on either side.

Tuesday 21/2020

On another patrol Ranger Fernandez and I took, we saw a shotgun casing that was used deep within one of the trails. This shows evidence that individuals shoot rounds on Government property and that these isolated trails need to be patrolled more often. We did not find any other rounds or shells near this location. However, I would be surprised if some ended in the river.

Tuesday 21/2020

On another trail, I saw a tree that was craved up with a bunch of initials of couples and drawings that simply indicate that this tree was vandalized. The vandalism on this tree can lead to the death of trees as the bark is meant to protect and secure the tree. Now that the bark has been exposed, the tree can actually get sick and cease to exist. 

Monday 20/2020

Here is another social trail that was located near Smith Bridge parking lot. The soil erosion exposes the rocks that can be seen as steps for the general public to enter the river. Individuals would set up their picnic stations near these social trails to have access to the water instead of walking down to the proper river entrance. 

Tuesday 21/2020

Another social trail near Smith Bridge parking lot that has a similar characteristic of the other social trails have. Easy access into the river and building the picnic station around this entrance. 

Monday 20/2020 & Tuesday 21/2020

Here is a photo of the illegal parking that occurs at Brandywine Valley. There is a sign right there that says "No Stopping, Standing or Parking". Yet there are five cars that have illegally parked here. Other than being illegal, the cars are parked on what used to be grass and vegetation. The cars have caused the grass to recede and cease to exist with the constantly parked cars.  With the cars that park here, I would like to add a camera that captures the license plates of the vehicles and report them to law enforcement. First, start with a warning and write some of the plates down and determine if they are repeat visitors. After the warning, the vehicles should be towed from the location.