National Park Service ranger

[1] Use of the term "ranger" dates to the 17th century in the United States, and was drawn from the word "range" (to travel over a large area).

The name was taken from Rogers' Rangers, a small force famous for their woodcraft that fought in the area during the French and Indian War beginning in 1755.

In addition to these duties, he would act as a guide and escort for visiting officials, such as he did in 1880 for the Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz.

The park technician series was designed to handle routine technical skills, i.e., giving walks, talks, patrolling roads, fee collection.

By 1995, Exploring Careers in the National Parks by Bob Gartner, reflected the specialization of duties and the expansion of titles covering the same work as was being done in 1956.

The federal Office of Personnel Management sums up the diversity of the official park ranger series of professional white-collar occupational groups as follows: This series covers positions the duties of which are to supervise, manage, and/or perform work in the conservation and use of Federal park resources.

This involves functions such as park conservation; natural, historical, and cultural resource management; and the development and operation of interpretive and recreational programs for the benefit of the visiting public.

Duties characteristically include assignments such as: forest and structural fire control; protection of property from natural or visitor related depredation; dissemination to visitors of general, historical, or scientific information; folk-art and craft demonstration; control of traffic and visitor use of facilities; enforcement of laws and regulations; investigation of violations, complaints, trespass/encroachment, and accidents; search and rescue missions; and management activities related to resources such as wildlife, lakeshores, seashores, forests, historic buildings, battlefields, archeological properties, and recreation areas.

In larger park units search and rescue, emergency medicine, and other functions may be a branch of the "visitor services" or "protection" division and may not require a commission.

Course work in fields other than those specified may be accepted if it clearly provides applicants with the background of knowledge and skills necessary for successful job performance in the position to be filled.

In addition to traditional undergraduate and graduate coursework, the following specialized study pertain to the park ranger profession: In the last decades of the 20th century the field of resource interpretation began to consciously professionalize itself.