Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: What does a Park Ranger do?
The duties of the modern park ranger are as varied and diverse as the parks where they serve and in recent years have become more highly specialized. Regardless of the regular duties of any one discipline, the goal of all rangers remains to protect the park resources for future generations and to protect park visitors. This goal is accomplished by the professionalism and sometimes overlapping of the different divisions. For example, an interpretive ranger may perform a law enforcement role by explaining special park regulations to visitors and encouraging them to be proper stewards of natural and cultural history. Law enforcement rangers and other park employees may contribute to the mission of the interpretive ranger by providing information to park visitors about park resources and facilities. The spirit of teamwork in accomplishing the mission of protecting the parks and people is underscored by the fact that in many cases, for the U.S. National Park Rangers in particular, all park rangers share a common uniform regardless of work assignment.The Adopt A Ranger Foundation has calculated that worldwide about 150,000 rangers are needed for the protected areas in developing and transitions countries. There is no data on how many rangers are employed at the moment, but probably less than half the protected areas in developing and transition countries have any rangers at all and those that have them are at least 50% short. This means that there would be a worldwide ranger deficit of 105,000 rangers in the developing and transition countries.
The largest national park in the world is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974 and currently protects
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a regional park in King County, Washington, near the towns of Bellevue and Issaquah. The park was established in June 1983 to protect the central core of Cougar Mountain, the park covers with of hiking trails and of equestrian trails. 
There are four major trailheads within the park. Maps are available at these trailheads, and there are directional signs at major trail intersections. Equestrian access is available at all but the first of these. Bicycles are not allowed on any trails.
The park is home to a number of endangered species of flora and fauna. The forest area of the park houses over 1,000 plant species, 251 species of migratory, land and water birds, 50,000 species of insects and 40 species of mammals. In addition, the park also provides shelter to 38 species of reptiles, 9 species of amphibians, 150 species of butterflies and a large variety of fish.
On 20 July 1982 the Palatinate Forest Nature Park Association ("Verein Naturpark Pfälzerwald") was founded as a support organization. The members of the association are those counties and independent towns whose territories are covered by the nature park as well as the Palatinate regional association, various rambling and sports clubs and environmental organizations. Many social organisations are involved in the work of the nature park, ensuring the independence of academic and regional individual interests. The association's goal is to develop the nature park and its eponymous biosphere reserve equally and to maintain its uniqueness and beauty as well as its national recreational value. Since 1997, the head office of the association has been in Lambrecht.
The St. Croix river valley was inhabited by Dakota and Ojibwe tribes. European trappers commercialized the fur-trade in the 17th century. Extensive logging took place in the mid-19th century; white pines were the target and most other tree species were ignored. Once the white pine was gone the lumber companies were happy to sell, and a lumber baron named William O'Brien bought up much of the land for his personal estate. In 1945, 20 years after William O'Brien's death, his daughter Alice offered along the riverfront to the state. The donation was eagerly accepted, as Minnesota did not yet have a state park near the Twin Cities, and the park was ratified by the legislature two years later. The proximity to the metro area was a mixed blessing. Land was added to the park at every opportunity, to reduce crowding and to prevent housing developments from being built right up to the boundary. In 1958‚ S. David Greenberg donated Greenberg Island in memory of his parents. Accessible only by canoe‚ the island has become a haven for wildlife and wildflowers. The park was expanded into the bluffs west of Highway 95 and a second campground added. A large tract was added in 1973, leapfrogging a rail line, and another came in 1986. William O'Brien remains one of the top five most-visited state parks in Minnesota.
River Bend Park is a county regional park located near where the river bends in Rancho Cordova. It is accessible by taking the Bradshaw Road exit off of Highway 50. It was formerly known as Goethe Park but due to controversy surrounding C.M. Goethe, the park was renamed in 2008. It is one of Sacramento County's oldest regional parks and was one of the three original areas along the parkway that the county acquired between 1961 and 1964. Located on the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail, it is just across the Harold Richey Bicycle Bridge from William B. Pond Recreation Area.
Over 100 species reside in the Richmond Nature Park. Amongst the species that live in the nature park, there are at least 13 mammals including shrews, the douglas squirrel, mice, coyotes, and black tailed deer. Migratory birds have also been seen to be living in the park, including a variety of owl species, hawks, eagles, woodpeckers, and many more. Many of the bird species are considered to be "year-round residents", while other bird species are "found seasonally or during migration only". Over the past few decades since the park has been established, the numbers and diversity of the birds have changed with time as the bog-forest has developed and expanded, but there has been especially fewer waterfowl compared to what was there during the 1970s
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) established a camp in 1935 at the present park site. The National Park Service (NPS) which managed the camp, proposed to help Oklahoma to develop a system of state parks, using CCC workers who were already trained in all aspects of park development. The state legislature created the Oklahoma Parks Commission, State Fish and Game Commission, under the auspices of the Oklahoma Fish and Game Commission, to manage the newly created system, and provided funding of $10,000. The City of Altus and private donors bought of land for the park. NPS spent about USD500,000 building roads, trails, rest rooms and other amenities. Quartz Mountain became one of the first seven state parks in Oklahoma when the NPS turned the completed project over to the state in 1937.
The park is bordered on the north by the Lakemont neighborhood in the city of Bellevue and on the northeast by the city of Issaquah. The park is bounded on the east by the 260-acre Talus Open Space. State Route 900 forms the southeastern border. Neighboring Squak Mountain looms to the southeast and the farms of May Creek valley lie to the south. To the southwest is the city of Renton. The city of Newcastle, ranging over the Newport Hills occupies the western portion of Cougar Mountain, with several smaller parcels designated the China Creek Open Space abutting the park on the west and housing surrounding the Newcastle Golf Club directly to the west. To the northwest of the Red Town Trailhead is the deep gully of Coal Creek, with its own separate park, the Coal Creek Natural Area managed by the City of Bellevue which divides Newcastle from Bellevue. A 4-1/2 mile trail through the latter continues down to I-405. The park is fully within the Mountains to Sound Greenway.The hilltops of Cougar Mountain form a rough horseshoe-shape around the Klondike Marsh headwaters of Coal Creek, which runs northwest to Lake Washington through Coal Creek Park. Long Marsh Creek, Far Country Creek, Cabbage Creek, and Wilderness Creek are tributaries of May Creek, draining the south side of Cougar Mountain to Lake Washington. Deeply etching the sandstone precipice on the north and east side, Lewis Creek, Kline Creek, AA Creek, West Tibbets Creek, and Claypit Creek carry their water to Lake Sammamish.There are five named waterfalls within or near Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park.A notice on the official Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlands Park map cautions "Due to safety hazards from historical mining activities in this park you must stay on the trails identified on this map." Copies of the map are available at the major trailheads.
There are a few trails between the "official" ones in the park and the developed properties adjacent. Some of these trails are on non-county public property or private property unlikely to be developed due to wetness or access issues.
Cherry Springs State Park and the surrounding Susquehannock State Forest have recovered from the clearcutting of the lumber era. However, the composition of the forests has changed, so that there are now more hardwoods, including sugar maple and black cherry, and fewer eastern white pine and eastern hemlock. The park also has apple trees from the CCC orchard. Over 400 species of birds have been found in Pennsylvania, including 186 that breed in the state. Birds such as ospreys, hawks, owls, nightjars, and bald eagles have returned to the park and state forest, and saw-whet owls have been studied in the park.
Thirty New York state parks are managed as part of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation's Thousand Islands Region, including many that are located on river islands or along the New York shore. Many of these river parks were established in the late 19th and early 20th century as part of the St. Lawrence Reservation, and were among New York's earliest land acquisitions for the purpose of preservation and recreational development. Among the larger parks are Wellesley Island State Park, which includes the largest camping complex in the region, and Robert Moses State Park.
Because of their unique environment, Caribou Mountains Wildland Park , was created in 2001 as part of the Special Places program. The largest provincial Wildland Park in the province, its fragile ecosystem contains sensitive wetlands, permafrost habitat and rich bird breeding habitat. "A population of up to 120 wood bison, an endangered species, lives in the Wentzel Lake area in small groups of up to 15 animals."
Cherry Springs State Park is an Pennsylvania state park in Potter County, Pennsylvania, United States. The park was created from land within the Susquehannock State Forest, and is on Pennsylvania Route 44 in West Branch Township. Cherry Springs, named for a large stand of Black Cherry trees in the park, is atop the dissected Allegheny Plateau at an elevation of . It is popular with astronomers and stargazers for having "some of the darkest night skies on the east coast" of the United States, and was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".
The park has had several names through the years, starting with its 1922 establishment as "Cherry Springs Scenic Drive" and the associated "Cherry Springs 'Class B' public campground". The 1941 Pennsylvania Department of Highways official map of Potter County shows it as "Cherry Springs State Park". On November 11, 1954, the Pennsylvania Geographic Board officially named it "Cherry Springs State Forest Picnic Area". Forrey's 1984 "History of Pennsylvania's State Parks" and the 1986 NRHP nomination form still used this name, but Forrey clarified that it was "under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of State Parks". Cupper's 1993 "Our Priceless Heritage: Pennsylvania's State Parks 1893–1993" refers to it as "Cherry Springs State Park", and this remains the official name as of 2009.
In the post-war era, the park was long known chiefly for its isolated location and primitive camping facilities. In August 1952 it played host to the first Woodsmen's Carnival, an annual celebration of the lumbering industry, which was again active in the second growth forests in the area. The festival, originally sponsored by the Penn-York Lumbermen's Club, features lumberjack competitions as a reminder of the past, as well as displays of new equipment. In 1987 the Galeton Rotary Club took over sponsorship, and renamed the event the Woodsmen's Show in 1990.
Hazel Park utilizes the Council-Manager form of government, and thus is governed by a City Council consisting of a Mayor and four council members. The city council appoints a City Manager, who manages the day-to-day operations of the city. The current mayor of Hazel Park is Michael Webb, who succeeded Jeffrey Keeton, who served as mayor "pro tempore" until the resignation of former mayor Jan Parisi, in December 2016. Jan Parisi, the city’s first female mayor, stepped down due to health-and family-related reasons. Jan Parisi had replaced Jack Lloyd on June 17, 2014. The current city manager is Edward Klobucher. City government is located on the same block as the public library, police station and post office, at 9 Mile Road and John R. Road.
Walking routes in the Palatine Forest fall into two categories. The first are longer walking routes, most of which are maintained by the Palatine Forest Club (), or "PWV", and which are linked to the national and international network of long distance paths. The second category are those local circular walks and themed walking routes, some of which are of wider regional importance, and which are maintained by municipal authorities. The Palatine Forest, as part of the Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve, is an important conservation area. As a result, the Palatine Forest, the bunter sandstone landscape of the Palatine Forest Nature Park, the castles in the Dahner Felsenland and the cross-border paths into Alsace and the Vosges make the region particularly popular with ramblers and walkers.
Ronald Ulysses Swanson is a fictional character portrayed by Nick Offerman from the situation comedy television series "Parks and Recreation" on NBC, created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. In the series, Ron is the director of the Parks and Recreation department of fictional Pawnee, Indiana, and the immediate superior of series protagonist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) until Knope's election to the Pawnee City Council at the end of Season 4. In demeanor, political philosophy and work ethic, Knope and Swanson are very nearly polar opposites: where Knope is sunny and outgoing, decidedly liberal and constantly working, Swanson is distant, and as a staunch libertarian, is a strong advocate for small government—stating his belief that government should be privatized—and therefore believes that the parks department should not even exist.
New York has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Niagara Falls State Park, established in 1885, is the oldest state park in the United States and the first to be created via eminent domain. In 1892, Adirondack Park, roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established and given state constitutional protection to remain "forever wild" in 1894. The park is larger than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon national parks combined. It is larger than the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Olympic National Parks combined.
The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885, which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of of land, the park is a habitat for deer, minks, and fishers. There are some 400 black bears living in the region. The state operates numerous campgrounds, and there are over of multi-use trails in the Park.
The staff at Cherry Springs State Park did not intend for it to become an attraction for amateur astronomers; the astronomers came to them instead. In 1997 or 1998 Chip Harrison, the park supervisor, noticed a man looking through a telescope at the park at about 1 AM. When Harrison asked why the man had come there, the astronomer said he had noticed an isolated black patch over north central Pennsylvania on nighttime satellite photos. Cherry Springs State Park is in that patch, one of the best locations east of the Mississippi River for stargazing.
Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks across the country were developed with assistance from federal job creation programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.
They are a fine, earnest, intelligent, and public-spirited body of men, these rangers. Though small in number, their influence is large. Many and long are the duties heaped upon their shoulders. If a trail is to be blazed, it is "send a ranger." If an animal is floundering in the snow, a ranger is sent to pull him out; if a bear is in the hotel, if a fire threatens a forest, if someone is to be saved, it is "send a ranger." If a Dude wants to know the why, if a Sagebrusher is puzzled about a road, it is "ask the ranger." Everything the ranger knows, he will tell you, ex-cept about himself.
Horace Albright, second director of the National Park Service, called Harry Yount, gamekeeper of Yellowstone National Park, the "father of the ranger service, as well as the first national park ranger". Yount was hired in 1880 to enforce the prohibition on hunting in the park. 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. Although he was paid a yearly salary of $1,000 (out of the park's overall $15,000 yearly budget) he resigned at the end of 1881. Before leaving, he suggested to the superintendent of Yellowstone that "...the game and natural curiosities of the park be protected by officers stationed at different points of the park with authority to enforce observance of laws of the park maintenance and trails." Yount pointed out that it was nearly impossible for one person to protect the game properly over the park's vast expanse.
DCNR Rangers act much like a national park ranger does. They routinely check on cabins and campsites, offer insightful answers to visitors questions, and help to maintain calmness throughout the parks. They have full arrest powers while in park lands and carry sidearms. However, they do not have jurisdiction over Pennsylvania State Game Lands, which are patrolled by Wildlife Conservation Officers employed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. DCNR rangers enforce game laws as well as fishing and boating laws in state parks. However, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is completely independent of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Both agencies are independent of DCNR, but work in cooperation with each other.
County Park Rangers act as the public safety branch for the Santa Clara County Parks, ensuring the safety of park visitors and protection of park resources. County Park Rangers are considered "generalists" and perform the full range of Park Ranger duties including enforcing State laws and Department rules as peace officers, providing information to visitors, checking in campground and picnic reservations, conducting interpretive and public education programs, responding to medical emergencies and accidents to provide medical aid, performing search and rescue activities, fighting wildland fires within County Parks, managing volunteer events, performing resource management work in the areas of habitat conservation & restoration, and performing maintenance work. Park Rangers patrol the parks by truck, foot, boat, bike, and motorcycle. County Park Rangers also serve as boating safety officers and investigate vessel accidents and boating under the influence (BUI) violations on County reservoirs.
National Park Service rangers are among the uniformed employees charged with protecting and preserving areas set aside in the National Park System by the United States Congress and the President of the United States. While all employees of the agency contribute to the National Park Service mission of preserving unimpaired the natural and cultural resources set aside by the American people for future generations, the term "park ranger" is traditionally used to describe all National Park Service employees who wear the uniform. Broadly speaking, all National Park Service rangers promote stewardship of the resources in their care - either voluntary stewardship via resource interpretation, or compliance with statute or regulation through law enforcement. These comprise the two main disciplines of the ranger profession in the National Park Service.