Alf_and_Me

San Diego

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Joined: 06/11/2008

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Hi All,
Has anyone ever gone from work camper/volunteer to being a park ranger in a National Park? I'm looking at my 5th career (I may get older but I refuse to grow up!) and I'd like to be a full-time park ranger (non-law enforcement) in the NP system. That would combine my wildlife photography with a job that lets me carefully check out an area for a while.
I'm thinking of volunteering at a local county CG to get my foot in the door and apply for a county ranger job but if work camping can help me shortcut the process, I'd like to do that. Thanks.
Lee & my buddy Alf
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STINGRAYRVMAN

PANAMA CITY

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Joined: 08/16/2007

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the happiest person i've ever seen did that
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GreenSalsa

Monterey, California

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that will / is my "dream" semi-retired job I want in 15 years...
2006 Ford F350 CC PSD DRW
2007 Cedar Creek 362BTS
GreenSalsa is a married Army Special Forces family that is "fulltimeing" while stationed at Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA
Registered on ProfessionalSoldiers.com and Socnetcentral.com
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wepampercampers

Full-Timers Lake Almanor (near Chester, Ca.)

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we met a couple last winter who were headed for the columbia river dams to photograph things for the corps of engineers....they were supposed to come back to the oregon coast to work this summer and decided not to.............but they got their foot in the door and seemed to be pretty excited about the photography opportunities that came to them......
people in the USDA FS with titles like:
Developed Recreation Supervisor
or anything with recreation in their title would know of opportunities for photography or even be able to see the benefits .....
state parks people might have more money for PR and tourism also....
good luck
Don
Jo 'n Don
www.PamperingCampers.com
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Alf_and_Me

San Diego

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Thanks for the responses.
Don - Thanks for the tip about searching for titles containing "Recreation". I've been searching the NPS & Fed Govt sites but hadn't figured out a way to refine the search.
Lee & my buddy Alf
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bobsea

Melbourne FL

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You probably know about http://www.usajobs.gov/ which is the official job site of the US Government. It has some very sophisticated search capabilities and I have frequently seen jobs that you are interested in on the site as we plan on doing same as you when DW retries in 2 more years. We figure we would start with some short duration/seasonal jobs in out of the way places (i.e. hard to fill) to get our foot in the door. Also, www.volunteer.gov has some NPS listings that we would consider to help get our foot in the door. Hope this helps some.
bobsea and BJ
On the Road Again
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agesilaus

North Florida

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I've spoken to a number of rangers and it seems to be very very difficult to get on full time. A lot of the ones I talked to worked as summer temps for 8 or 10 years before getting hired full time. I think having an appropriate degree would help, biology or archeology ect.
BK
04 Trail Manor 2619
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ORbiker

Eugene, Oregon

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agesilaus wrote: I've spoken to a number of rangers and it seems to be very very difficult to get on full time. A lot of the ones I talked to worked as summer temps for 8 or 10 years before getting hired full time. I think having an appropriate degree would help, biology or archeology ect.
BK
That's what I have seen too.
I (2-10-05) bought a 2002 F350 CC SWD PSD and a new 2003 Citation 10'8. Rancho 9000X & Toyo M55's.I have been a tent camper all my life. I wanted more comfort while doing my Willamette Backcountry Ski Patrol & Crater Lake Ski Patrol duties.11
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Alf_and_Me

San Diego

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Thanks for the volunteer.gov site. I hadn't stumbled across that. Each site takes time to figure out how to navigate it and what keywords produce the desired results.
As for being a difficult process, it wouldn't be any fun if it were easy! Just think of all the idiots and numbskulls you'd have to work with if anybody could walk up and get a job.
Lee and my buddy Alf
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wepampercampers

Full-Timers Lake Almanor (near Chester, Ca.)

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working with idiots and numbskulls?????.......you mean just like real life?....hahahahahaha
good luck
Don
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