Hello!

I am a Veteran using my education benefits to go to college and at the end I am hoping to become a park ranger, hopefully an interpretive one.

I am hoping this community can answer two questions for me:

What kind of degree should someone study to become a park ranger?

What is some of the nomenclature behind the jobs or lifestyle and I should know going into it? Like.. if I wanted to be an interpretive ranger what would that actually look like and be called in the real world?

Thank you!

Just a question, at my park not sure if all parks men are not allowed to wear earrings. I have watched DOI NPS training videos released showing male NPS rangers wearing earrings. Also in the Ken Burns documentary there is an African American Ranger who is in a lot of the interviews that wears earrings while in uniform. Can anyone shed light onto this subject?

You would think in an organization where it is common to see pronouns listed in your email signature line they would not discriminate in this a area, but who am I 😂

So I have an interview coming up and would like to know what kind of questions to expect. Also it says interviews will be done at the park ranger trailer? I just signed up for my interview slot but doesn’t give an address? Is there an address to that? Or will they send me an email with that address? Just because I don’t wanna email them to ask if it’s gonna come up in a Day or two via email

What do Oregon State Park Rangers do and am I (conservation corps) qualified to do it?

The state government’s website says Oregon State Park Rangers learn “verbal judo” and occasionally manage prison labor, but that they are not armed nor police.

Do they just maintain the parks and build trails?

The website says they also do natural resource management? What does that mean and entail?

If so, would I be a strong candidate for the position? I have experience through the California Conservation Corps building trails, doing fuel reduction projects, flood fighting, helping wildlands firefighters with logistics, and even energy/electrical work.

Or does Oregon prefer Oregon residents.

Also during wildfires and floods, would park rangers get involved like other agencies or like the CCC?

Also, do Oregon rangers get housing or lodges?

Thank you

I looked up average yearly salary for a park ranger are 40k to 80k per year.

However the average starting pay is $18-20 per hour. I live in Massachusetts and we have very long winters here from November to May.

If I wanted to stay in New England, does that mean rangers are making a yearly salary in 6 months? Do park rangers in other parts of the country make a lot more with longer springs and summers?

I'm in a full time career/job right now, and not sure if I should drop it.

Was it scary and how did you get away with it

I’m wondering if anyone knows how difficult it is to get a permanent or career seasonal interpretive ranger job that pays at a GS-5 or higher level? I see so many seasonal interpretive jobs fly but rarely perms or career seasonals. I’m interested in leaving the fed wildlife biology world with the feds to go into interp but am wondering how long I’ll have to live as a seasonal worker before I’m career seasonal again. I like the security of knowing I’ll have my job back after the winter ends.

I am planning on leaving the Army once my contract is up. I am interested in working as a law enforcement park ranger with the USFS.

I am currently working on my criminal justice associates if that matters.

What steps do I need to take to become a law enforcement ranger once I leave the Army?

All help and advice is appreciated.

Hello, I am 18 years old and a freshman in college. I don’t qualify for any ranger internships because I need to have enough credit hours to be a junior in college. Because of this, I was wondering if doing a summer job for Americorps NCCC would be good for future hiring opportunities. I am looking for experience and this seems like the best bet for me right now given my circumstances. My only concern is if it would be seen as viable experience by NPS or USFS. The kind of work I would be doing would be the summer of service projects listed on the website. Thank you.

I'm looking to become a park ranger, interp or otherwise, post graduation in December. I cant help but feel like I lack extracurricular experience and I'm wondering what sort of things stand out when it comes to govjobs applications and such. My major is in environmental studies at VCU but I don't think my academics alone are going to be enough to carry me. I would love some advice, and thank you in advance!

Currently serving as a Perm NPS Park Guide 090 GS5 on intermittent schedule. The seasonal Park Guide positions at my park (in recent job dump) have now been changed to Park Ranger 0025 with GS5-7 options. Any word on whether current Park Guides will be changed to Park Ranger classifications? At my park, the job requirements/duties are the same as the Park Rangers, btw. If so, this would enable me to move up (to GS7) and also have better chance of a Interpretative Ranger position in future.

Hello, everyone

I'm a college student who is looking to make my way into interp once I finish my education and I have a couple of good opportunities ahead of me and need some help deciding what I should do and what would be best for advancing my goals.

I have a guaranteed internship with the US Forest Service out of Fairplay, CO with the South Park Ranger District in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest running from May-August. Half of my duties will be office work and assisting tourists at the visitor center and the other half will be doing fieldwork with different departments such as trail maintenance, wildlife surveying, creating educational material, etc. This is an unpaid position with included housing.

I just got off the phone for an interview with the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, NV to be a Recreational Fee Clerk working in the entrance booth admitting people into the park. It's a paid full time position and I would have to find an apartment and move across the country (OH resident), plus they said there's a chance I'd be furloughed. There's no guarantee I'll be hired but I want to have a decision made if they call me saying they want to hire me. They know I have this Forest Service internship and I told them it would be unfair to them for me not to tell them in case they wanted to hire me and I changed my mind.

The USFS internship has a more diverse range of duties, but the NPS position is within NPS itself and gets my foot in the door.

I have a couple of questions:

1. has anyone here done any of these positions or something similar? (even if not in these locations) What was your experience like? Did you enjoy them? Pros/cons?
2. What position do you think would help me advance my career? I can't do both because LMNRA wants someone now and not in August when my CO internship would be done.

Both of these would be my first federal position and I could really use some help, thanks!

TLDR: Whats better, a full time job as a fee clerk in NPS, or a temporary Forest Service internship with more diverse duties

Anyone here a former Perm LE ranger at Yosemite? Potentially going to wind up there and wanted to know what the housing was like for Perm folks.

Anyone know a good way to find graphic design jobs (or illustration, or honestly anything creative) that is connected to the national parks or forests? Or really any nature-related area, could be informational systems or regional things as well. Any feedback welcome, where are these jobs posted and how can I best set myself up for those opportunities?

Hello everyone! Former USFS Wilderness Ranger (Michigan, Alaska) and seasonal NPS Park Ranger (Utah) here looking to re-enter the field after a few years in the private sector. I'm looking into positions with FL state parks since the majority of my family lives there - and am looking for a new place to call "home" due to unexpected recent life events.

I've been specifically looking as "Resident Assistant Park Manager" positions and "Park Services Specialist" positions at several state parks in Central/Northern Panhandle Florida area. I know the pay is on the lower end, costs of living are high, and parks near metro areas are likely very busy ... I'm more curious as to the work culture, work/life balance, and general enviroment of the organization. Have any of you held these specific positions at any FL state park? What was your experience like? Are there opportunities for upward mobility within the parks system? I understand that this could vary wildly between parks (as it did with the Feds) but am curious if any of you lovely folks had any info nonetheless.

I welcome any positive/negative feedback or DMs. Thank you!

TLDR - How is working for FL State Parks in Central/Northern FL? Please share personal experience, positive or negative!

Hi all, current grad student here, looking into NPS work in the summer between the two years of my master's program.

Will any of the 1039 positions beginning in May likely be done by late August? Am I better off waiting until December for the Scientists in Parks internship applications? Does NPS give flexibility to students with goals to work in the agency later on down the line?

Thanks!

I am currently a college student who is working on a bachelors in environmental science. I have hopes of becoming a park ranger for the NPS or USFS after school and after traveling for a bit after school. I want to be an interp ranger or a wilderness ranger. I know these positions are really competitive. I’m not the most impressive student but i hope to get a seasonal job in a park to gain some sort of connections. I’ve applied for internships, but like i said not the most impressive student. How hard was it for you guys to get your first position? Does anyone have any advice? Any type of advice would help thanks!!

Hey y'all. I just finished applying for all the seasonal interp position that dropped. I was wondering what is the difference between the Park Guide position and the interp Ranger position? I see that some park guide positions are permanent while others are seasonal. I asked the GS9 ranger I worked with this summer and he told me to avoid the Park Guide position as it can sometimes trap people at the GS5 pay-grade. Is it worth spending the time to apply to the Park Guide positions?

Feel free to join the Park Ranger Discord!

Chat it up and meet other Rangers!

https://discord.gg/qhkXgRv2ZE

I currently work for the NPS as law enforcement but I am curious about working in different departments and agencies. I would like to know what your experience currently or previously working for the FS as Law Enforcement.

So I am currently getting a degree in Parks and recreation but I'm thinking about dropping out because I've had many people tell me that a degree in the field won't really help me, and that the Parks and rec industry cares more about experience and certifications. I'm currently a raft guide and I love to Whitewater kayak, one of my friends was telling me about this guy who's a park ranger out in Idaho and his job is to run laps on the Salmon River and check on campsites and he still has full-time pay as a park ranger. Is this a common job in Parks like that or?

Any information on the subject is good information. Please let me know. Y'all's experiences

hey yall! I currently work for the NPS as a GS04 on the east coast. I am currently on a NTE 1 year- can be extended up to 2 years depending on park needs and park budget term. The end of my term is coming up at the end of November, making that my thirteenth month at this particular park.

Will my supervisor be able to extend me on a month to month basis until I start a general park ranger or a maintenance job at the same park? Or would it have to be strictly a year extension? There is only one other person in the department I am in. We have no visitor contact for the winter but we stay busy with database entry and mailing permits.

Any information would be extremely helpful, thank you!