Remembering my Years as a City of San Diego Park Ranger
The other day, a friend — also a municipal park ranger, but younger and at the start of her career — asked me a question I had never before considered. “Why urban parks and not the NPS?” Why, indeed?
I loved that question and really began to ponder its significance, since most people assume that a city park ranger hopes to graduate to the prestige of the National Park Service, working in the most beautiful landscapes, undertaking essential enforcement, and preserving countless species for future generations. This is truly the stuff of dreams. And it seems like a natural progression, as well; cut your teeth on little parks in the city, write a few tickets, chat with meth users on playgrounds, and move on to that which is bigger, better, and just downright prettier. Interestingly, however, I had a number of colleagues who did just the opposite, for various reasons.
Danger Ranger in the City . . .
Rangers who had worked, not only for the National Park Service, but also for the State of California, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (along with Arizona and Utah state park administrations) came to the City of San Diego during my time. In fact, one of my first supervisors had Rocky Mountain National Park to his credit. And, as I recall, my last supervisor had served as a ranger/emergency medical technician for the BLM, rescuing off-road enthusiasts from burning vehicles and searching hot, desert sands for lost hikers. So, why leave all of that behind?
Although death-defying excitement — being a danger ranger — is fun for a few seasons, most people prefer to enter middle age a bit more peacefully. One colleague put things even more directly, when she reflected on her time as a peace officer and park ranger: having members of the public constantly eyeing your gun belt — as you contact them in remote regions without backup — gets a bit old. Moreover, a lack of full-time employment has led many an NPS ranger to smaller, less glamorous agencies. Again, a career of part-time/seasonal employment is ideal for some people, but not for others. If you want to remain in one place, and support a family, municipal agencies are often your best option. So, what about me?
The Beauty of Urban Greenspaces
Well, from the beginning, I just loved city parks. Those patches of green that intersect concrete are delightful to me, places where families can — hopefully — escape inner-city grayness for a day at the beach or a tour of historical attractions. In short, my passion was to solve land management problems that were complicated by difficult social issues. For me, I saw urban ranger work as being different from the NPS side of things, although no less important. However, the lack of public acknowledgement could be a bit challenging, at times, especially on hot days at the beach, dealing with illegally parked cars and cranky meth users. Ah, those were the days.
I once met a woman who said that her son was a “real” park ranger, because he carried a gun. Clearly, she had noticed that I was without a sidearm. I smiled and told her that, regardless of my unarmed status, she was still illegally parked and needed to move her car. The things people would say, once I had my ticket book in hand, ready to write, were always amazing. True, we did not have guns — but it was not because our jobs were so safe as to render them unnecessary.
At any rate, I enjoyed patrolling storm drains in “under-represented” areas of the city, as much as I loved working in scenic La Jolla, watching over California sea lions and chatting with curious tourists. Both experiences were part of urban ranger life, and I loved them equally. As for the splendor of NPS parks, I was more than happy to leave it for others. Encountering brown bears, camping in the backcountry, and roasting in the desert were not the adventures for me. I preferred a very different sort of environment.
