Shenandoah week 13

Shenandoah National Park week 13

This is the last and final week here in the park. (well kind of we are staying a day or two longer to help with an ongoing search and rescue.) This week was spent with RAD, Interpretation, and Maintenance.

The beginning of the week we took turns spending the day with our Chief Ranger Leslie Reynolds, while the other went out with the roads crew and performed landscaping duties in the North District of the park.

I (Heather) was very excited to spend the day with Leslie! We started our day by attending Squad. This is a meeting for park supervisors and the superintendent to discuss current projects, problems, and positive aspects of park operations. From there, we drove up into the park to Skyland where we met up with April Michener, a National Park Service Special Agent. It was really great to spend time with both of them because I got to ask them questions about their careers and what I can expect during mine. After lunch we continued driving around the park and played "what if". Leslie gave me law enforcement scenarios and helped me work through what I would do if I was called to such an incident. It was really good practice.

I (John) Spent Wednesday with our park's Chief Ranger. It was a good time overall, and Leslie is a wealth of National Park experience. We woke up bright and early and met for a good 3 and a half mile run. I've been PTing in the evening after work so it felt good to start the day off with a good run. We then went over to meet up with LE Ranger John Kinde for a backcountry/boundary patrol. I got to see the park from some different view points, and travel some less traveled roads. We went to the park's boundary areas and discussed some upcoming plans for upcoming hunting seasons that surround the parks borders. I knew this was an issue with illegal poaching and park entry, but I didn't realize really goes into trying to monitor it.

Thursday was spent with the NOVA kids camp. We went with Kathy, Georgette, and crew from Interpretation, where we met with the teenagers from northern Virginia inner-city areas surrounding Washington D.C.. We hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail where there were many opportunities to give encouragement and educational experiences. The highlight for many was a lunch over a scenic overlook followed by a chance to understand and remove an illegal campsite from just off the trail. This was a unique and rewarding experience for many of the teenagers and us, which felt good to get some of the kids out for their first time in wilderness areas.

We then spent days with the LE Rangers performing ride-alongs. This is always a good chance for us to get out and see the park with new eyes and get a chance to see how the different Rangers perform their duties. They always have good advice for us and enjoy to hear about our park experiences, and how the ProRanger program functions.

Yesterday during my (Heather) ride-alongs with Coby Bishop and Rob Wissinger a situation began to develop. A group of hikers reported that they had been separated from their friend and he was lost somewhere in the park. At first the report seemed fairly unremarkable. People get lost in Shenandoah all the time and then find themselves again just as often without Law Enforcement having to take any action. However, sometimes the situations end up being more elaborate than others and this particular one has developed into a very large operation using the ICS. Currently we are searching for a hiker that was last seen yesterday around 2. We have been searching the park for over 24 hours now and still have not found the man. John and I, along with pretty much all the other LE's, were divided into search groups. These groups were assigned particular areas to grid search. We were looking on the AT, other trails, and densely forested areas for clues or a body (dead or alive). Our original plan was to check out of the park and drive home tomorrow but with this incident going on we will postpone our departure until further notice.

See you all soon,

John and Heather

week 11 Shenandoah

Week 11 --

This week we spent time with various members in our partner park Shenandoah. The beginning of the week was spent with Tyler of the Fire Effects crew. He has various duties, but on Tuesday he explained the tasks and science that goes into planning a prescribed burn for the park. This is done because the forest needs fire to be healthy. Over the years mankind has gotten so good at controlling wildfires that this has lead the forest to change ecologically. Species are now dominating forest that wouldn't be if the natural cycle of wildfires would take place. We went about making a plot in an unburnt section of the park that is scheduled for a prescribed burn. This is done so that the fire effects crew can study the effects of a smaller area of the forest with some control and multiply the affects of the study to a larger area. Tyler then showed us a section of the forest that had a prescribed burn performed on it approximately 3 years ago ...It was amazing to see how many more species of plants were growing in this section along with the health of the forest itself which seemed much more diverse and healthy.

The Next day was spent with Ann of cultural resources. We traveled around the park to many locations while she cataloged the cultural sites with photographs and basically explained what this assessment was all about and what it entailed. This was good to see and from an LE perspective knowing the resource, its location and what the resource is supposed to look like can only help with our mission of resource protection.

We then had the opportunity to spend a day with Bill and Joe , both are LE Rangers in the park, and also happen to be technical rescue instructors. It was really cool because the class was small and we had a lot of one on one time and both of the instructors who were thorough and made sure we grasped the basic concepts of ascending and descending with valuable knots and some more technical equipment. ( Grigri, pulley, Cams, Carabiners, Ascenders, Rescue 8, Rappel racks... to name a few) (knots: figure 8, water , fishermans, prusick.. again to name a few) One can easily see this is a perishable skill and i would relish the opportunity to get more solid training in this technical skill set... Bill and Joe are leading a course in Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area this coming April!! hint hint ... I think ProRangers should go !

The last two days of the week were spent with the Rangers Activity Department, specifically the Fee division. The first day was spent with the Remit section. Without going into to much detail they basically oversee the parks collection of the entrance fee money , 80% of which goes directly back into the park. They have many fail safes and the women I worked with were very helpful and let Heather and myself perform the majority of their duties for the day. I then went out on the park boundary , specifically the White Oak Boundary, and helped Patti and Steve perform the collection of entrance fees and give advice to the various park visitors some of whom are novice to the area. I have done this duty before, but in another boundary location. I felt much better prepared to help out this time and was much more knowledgeable to the "usual questions", that the Fee Rangers get from visitors.

After this week we ahave just over 2 weeks left... This Summer has flown by !

John Eichelberger

Shenandoah week 10

(before anybody gets bent out of shape it was over a 100 degrees with trails on this day and we were told not to where the uniform once we got out on the trail because it was unsafe and to protect our eyes from ridiculous amounts of sweat : )

Week 10

This week began with "leave no trace" training where Heather and myself our now certified to train others in the environmental steward techniques embraced by multiple agencies including the NPS. This was a fun experience and we learned a lot of good techniques. I think the most valuable for me personally was some of the role playing and advice we got on how to handle visitors who are not practicing these techniques and look at it more as an oppertunity to educate the visitor more then to enforce the policies.

I then went out with trails on a scorching day that was the hottest of the year here in Shenandoah. We preformed trail maintenance on Nicholson Hollow trail which is usually performed by the PATC. This entailed hiking the trail with lots of water and using non-mechanical tools because the trail runs through a designated wilderness section of the park. I personally used a tool known as a weed whip which has actually been used for thousands of years by various different civilizations and when used properly does a pretty good job! We also took turns clearing the trail of fallen trees by first using a hand saw then getting a group of us to pick up or shove the tree off the trail. This was hard work and really demonstrated to me that these trails if not maintained are continuously turned back to nature through various conditions that exist out in the environment.

I spent the rest of the week with the maintenance water crew. This consisted with going out with Jason, who is in charge of taking various readings around the park and the overall knowledge of the parks vast water system from either reservoirs or springs. This was interesting because it shows just how much infrastructure there is in the park to have some of the visitor facilities. depending on how you look at it this is either a good thing or bad. Infrastructure obviously means human development must occur which invariably changes the environment. But on the other hand this infrastructure provides good visitor amenities which makes their experience better. This is a fine line to walk, preservation and visitor satisfaction, there has to be a good balance for the park to maintain its identity and proceed with its mission.

I also spent the day at Skyland's waste water treatment plant to round out the week. This experience showed just how different employment in the Park Service can be and opened my eyes to just how much waste water ,sewage, is produced in this park. This water is regulated not only federally, but the State of Virgina which also monitors and regulates it. This means stringent precautions must take place, and all in all when you realize where this water is going, in this case the Chesapeake Bay, I was happy to know the park puts a lot of time and effort and money into the proper treatment of the waste water.

John Eichelberger

Tough Mudder

All NPS employees and ProRangers specifically please let me know if you are interested in forming up a team to enter into the tough mudder event Bear Creek PA, Saturday April 21st or Sunday April 22. All proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project, which is for injured veterans, and it would be a great team event !
www.toughmudder.com

I need at least 6 participants to form a team and I will see what I can do about getting us some cool T-shirts made up, and also see if we can get the event sponsored so our entry fees are waived, but I need to have a solid team put together early so we can register because the event fills up really fast.
John Eichelberger

Week 9 Shenandoah

Week 9

This week was spent with the Interpretation and Education Division. We mostly focused on preparing for our 20 minute speeches which we had to give to the visitors of the park. Public speaking is an important part in the improvement of our careers, and this would test us on various levels. We had to know the resource, in my case it was the Civilian Conservation Corps. We had to know our audience, which in the park peoples age can range from toddler to elderly. Last but not least we had to make the theme of our resource into a meaning that would not only be accurate and provide useful info to the public, but make them connect an intangible meaning to the resource. With my CCC talk my connection with the audience would not only be just about the hard labor these young men would do throughout the country and specifically in Shenandoah National Park, but the bright beacon of hope they provided for their families and the struggling nation.

On Thursday I gave my talk to an audience of roughly 8 people, which would be a good warm up for my same talk on Saturday where my audience would turn out to be more like 20 people. This was a good experience, it got me out of my comfort zone, which had many people question my background and want to get to know me on a more personal level after my talk was over. People have a genuine concern about the CCC, which makes the talk all the more interesting, many of whom would love to see another program using much of the same backbone of the original. I got to hear many interesting stories about visitors who's fathers were members of the CCC and my talk really seemed to engage them and strike a personal chord which made me feel like my job was done well.
My last day with I&E was spent with my coach Kathy. I shadowed her evening program at Big Meadows Amphitheater, where she gave a talk about the darker side of Shenandoah (nocturnal animals of the park)... I helped her recruit an audience from the campground and got to engage in a lot of good conversations with the visitors. About 150 showed up for the campfire talk and i got to spread the word about the ProRanger program to many of interested visitors.

We do no inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children... (stole that one from Chief Will Reynolds)

John Eichelberger "Iron John" named after "Iron Mike" statue in memory of the CCC : )

week 7 Shenandoah

Week 7

This is a little belated apologies.

Week 7 had us spending time with natural and cultural resources in the beginning of the week. We were talked to by some of the various supervisors about their jobs which many of them are biologist. This sparked my interest about the various programs they do to collect data on the various species of plant and animals throughout the park.. I would have like to get some more hands on, but they were not currently doing any projects. The highlight of our NCR experience was with one of the field techs took us down to the local river and showed us how to perform stream shocking which temporarily stuns the various fauna of the stream and then they are collected for research. I could not believe just how many fish and various aquatic insects came up to the surface when the shocking began... they are good at hiding!

We then went out with John a back country ranger who is in charge of various back country duties, but we learned about campsites and what makes them legal and or illegal. This was a great experience as John is vary knowledgeable of the local trails and where people like to camp. We tore down illegal camps and then pulled brush and dead trees over top of the sites to discourage future use.

I ended my week spending another day with dispatch. They impress me with their abilities to multi-task and provide fast and accurate information to the LE rangers who are waiting for the various types of information they require.

John Eichelberger

Shenandoah National Park-- John Eichelberger

This week started out with us finishing up our stint with Administration. They put together an exercise where Heather and I had to locate "lost" Government items. This was challenging because we had to use all of our past experiences learned from the previous week to solve the exercise. We finished the exercise off with a lunch/after action review , which helped us understand how we completed the task. (Thanks for a fun week guys)

(If you have time please check out some of the interesting history of Shenandoah National Park and see just how amazing the history and amount of work that went into creating this park. )

The rest of the week was almost completely devoted to the 75th rededicating ceremony. This was a big event for the park and it was interesting and a good experience for us to sit through the various supervisor meetings throughout the week which gave us a greater understanding of just how much planning went into the event. (on an interesting side note, the event was treated like incident and the supervisors used the same Incident Command Structure that would be used for say a large wildfire. This helped keep everything in order and was a good refresher for Heather and myself to see how an ICS works in real life.)

We had various tasks throughout the week. I personally did set up moving seats and tables, traffic control( for a detour that was set up around the event), and on Saturday I was part of the parking group. Although parking cars for the whole day wasn't the most exciting and we didn't get to see the proceeding of the event we got the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting visitors, and it felt good knowing that at the end of the day we accomplished our jobs and the event went on to great success.

looking forward to our next week and I am excited to see you all and hear about how your summers are going at leadership camp.
John Eichelberger

SNP--- Week 5

This week at Shenandoah was spent with the administration department. We spent much of our time at the park headquarters building. We had the opportunity to explore park fiance, budget, and get a grasp of the amount of work that goes into making acquisition purchases. We also got to go out with the GIS and IT departments whom shared with us their jobs and how they are under the Administration department. Administration really doesn't get a lot of credit for all the hard hours they put in at the desk and there job may not be as glamorous as some other positions, but without them the park would not be able to function.

We also got a better understanding of our program learning about STEP versus SCEP employment and invariably what the outcome we can expect through our program. We also went over how to search USA Jobs and how to interpret job postings and tailor our resume to each individual posting. We really need to understand just how lucky we are to be involved with this program in today's stagnate economy which invariably has many business's laying people off and down sizing.

Today we went to a seminar with the Superintendent which was very interesting because it had to deal with concessions and the park interaction and just how much of the "experience" they contribute to the park. There were various parks represented and we got the opportunity to meet with park members from Grand Canyon NP who told us about the ProRanger program from Texas El Paso. This was interesting enough, and they had mentioned that they would like their park to be opened up to the program. They had even mentioned maybe getting some of us "East Coasters" out west! The Superintendent was very positive and has a very interesting story behind her career with the NPS which was exciting to hear about and put some things in perspective for me .

On another note I would like to take this opportunity to nip something in the rear end before there are any more problems with it. Uniforms... It may not be an exciting topic nor may it remotely interest some of you. However, If you wear any uniform it is a direct reflection of the entity in which you are under. If you are not wearing the uniform properly, and or make it look poorly you are invariably making the NPS look the same way. As I said earlier we have a unique opportunity bestowed upon us and we do not need negative attention drawn to it for something as simple as following uniform standards. Remember perception is reality.. if the public sees you looking shabby that's the impression they will associate with the NPS. More importantly do not follow poor examples that maybe found at your various parks, but set a higher standard.. Ok I'm off my high horse !

"Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work."

Vince Lombardi

John Eichelberger

SNP Week 4

(Hemlock Tree, A rare find due to an invasive Aphid insect which has descimated its former range.. see below left) (Left is the Barred Owl)

Shenandoah National Park----- John Eichelberger

It is already week 4 of our 13 week internship here at Shenandoah. This week we spent time with the Interpretive media and education division of the Park. This was a completely different experience then the others so far and the people within the division are eccentric and very passionate about their jobs. This was very impressive to me and a pleasure to see people who know doubt love their line of work.

Throughout the week we were told that by the end of the summer we will have to get our advanced interpretive certificate which involves many different steps along the process. We met our coach and she has pointed us in the right direction. I will give more details when they are available, but the end all be all is that it will culminate with a 20 minute presentation to Park visitors on a topic of our choosing that relates to a park resource.

(This is Sue doing an Interpretive Hike up Hawsbill Mountain.. It was good to watch her and this is more interesting then meets the eye because the plant in the background is the American Chestnut Tree which is nearly extict due to an invasive fungus known as Chestnut Blight)

We also got to spend times with various other interpretive employees whom showed us the injured birds of prey which are now used for an educational birds of prey ranger talk. They all gave excellent advice and examples of what it means to really do interpretation. You need to give a tangible resource IE. the forest, an intangible meaning IE. a beautiful forest.

The Byrd Visitor Center located in Big Meadows mile 51 of skyline drive was amazing and tells the interesting story of how the park was created, and how the residents lives were uprooted for the creation of the park. It was both sad for the former "mountain people", and moving that such a place was created for all of the citizens of the United States to enjoy and cherish. The Civilian Conservation Corps also was first used in this Park and did an absolutely fonominal job making the numerous trails, replanting thousands of trees, moving the entire 105 miles of the Appalachian Trail , and building the world renowned Skyline Drive. The amount of work these young men accomplished during the great depression motivates me, and gives me hope that programs like this were and could be great again at mobilizing our beleagured work force.. ( what do you think Congress?!?)

(here you can see some of the native flora of the park... oh wait and a mother bear and her two playful cubs... very cool!..... its a shame the picture didnt turn out great we were actually only about 20 meters from them!)

Last but not least, which is becomming a fairly common occurance, was a rescue we participated in.. which was found at the infamous Old Rag Trail... We have had numerous people get hurt so far this season and almost all of them were on Old Rag. One even required Eagle One from Washington as the visitor had fallen some 50 feet and was severely injured. If your reading this and would like to enjoy a trail make sure your prepared!

Remember the past, Enjoy the present, Plan for the future

John Eichelberger

John Eichelberger----Shenandoah National Park

Week 3

This week Heather and I were sent out with maintenance and specifically the Auto shop and warehouse. I also had the Unique opportunity to work with the GIS department, which included finding burried utility lines for an ongoing water problem at Big Meadows .. I also got to tag trees along skyline drive which are hazardous and need removing for visitor safety.

(Interesting side note about the warehouse is that during WW II the government actually housed some precious Smithsonian artifacts here at Shenandoah because of its remoteness and security!)

The highlights of the week for sure was an opportunity to be part of three separate carryouts( only one actually needed a litter team).. It was interesting and fun and made me really feel like part of the team doing my part to get an injured visitor out of the park and to safety. it was a test of conditioning and team work against rough terrain and a dark evening that lasted well into the night!

Shenandoah always brings surprises whether it be the interesting visitors, team members, knowledgeable volunteer workers, or the wildlife....

Let the Adventures continue ....

SHEN Week 2

If someone knows how to rotate pictures this one would make a lot more sense : ) John Eichelberger --Shenandoah National Park

Hello and greetings to everyone! The picture to the right above the text is just another breath taking vista that are up and down Skyline Drive.. Heather and i were lucky enough to see this as we were driving back to the HQ after a 12 to 8 shift.

Shenandoah National Park is such a great place to learn about what it takes to maintain such a beautiful place for future generations. The second week of work further demonstrated to me what a team effort it really takes to keep this park a fun and exciting place for the public as well as maintain all of the Resources in an sustainable manner so that future generations will be able to discover the beauty just as we have the opportunity now.

Week 2 was to me a better experience then week 1 simply because we began to see how our role in the park would progress. We started the week off with basic search and rescue training or SAR. This was exciting and we are now certified to assist in being part of the litter team in removing an injured visitor to safety. The training was unique and fun at the same time as we did litter carrying drills to kind of get an idea of what it will actually be like. I then had the opportunity to go with some of the folks in resources. I assisted Laura with getting some of the native plant species ranging from moss to grasses , that are going to be planted in a overlook parking area after maintenance fixes a damaged wall. I then went with Wendy and performed a check on a section of forest. This entailed tagging trees for future inspections and measuring growth among other environmental factors . It was a challenging and fun experience and Wendy was a blast to hike with because she is like a walking encyclopedia of the Parks plant species. We then had the awesome opportunity to spend the day with some of the veteran search and rescue rangers as they performed numerous tests showing how certain gear would hold up to a dead weight of 450 lbs being slammed against it from a 15 ft cliff. It was all very interesting and a tad over my head, but everyone involved was very

helpful in explaining things and reteaching us basic climbing knots and tie ins. They also allowed Heather and myself to repel a section of the cliff, known as Black Rock, and climb back up with is always a blast.

I finished the week up working Big Meadows campground and seeing how the people involved with Fee collection manage campground customers and do a wonderful job making sure the campers are happy and enjoy their experience. My work day of the week was working with the PSAR group, or preventative search and rescue, We basically hiked one of the most beautiful sections of the park knows as White Oak Canyon . I got paid to hike and make contact with visitors in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!!! Not a bad day on the job if you ask me!!! : )

Finding my way through the Wilderness,

John Eichelberger

---John Eichelberger Shenandoah National Park---

The Pro Ranger Program via Temple University has given Pro Rangers Heather Hyde and John Eichelberger the unique experience to spend their summers' in Shenandoah National Park experiencing the vast amount of work that goes into making a park of this size function and be readily available for use by the Public while ensuring their safety at the same time.

We arrived Monday the 17th, and were settled in at the Parks Headquarters area just off of highway 211 4 miles from the central district of the park and Skyline Drive. Right away i was immediately happy to call this my new home for the next three months ..Rolling Appalachian mountains, churning mountain rivers, and abundant Flora and Fauna are now right at our fingertips.

We will be getting a vast array of different experiences Park programs, from resource management to Fee collecting operations. These different experiences will be giving us a great deal of knowledge through practical experience , and hands on trials about how a National Park is ran..

In the wilderness we walk,

John Eichelberger