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Women in the Outdoor Recreation Industry A Day in the Life of a Park Ranger at IDPR

At the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation (IDPR), our Park Rangers are the lifeblood of the agency. They keep the parks open and running all the while ensuring visitors get their desired experiences. Without them, there would be no state parks!

Our rangers are always on their toes, ready to tackle the day's challenges. Whether it's a broken water line, a skinned knee, or a boat on fire, they are ready and equipped to handle it. But it takes skill and dedication, which is why we are so grateful for the amazing group of people that keep our parks operating smoothly.

And as the outdoor recreation industry continues to grow, we welcome the many changes along with it. Notably, the increase in diversity, equity, and inclusion movements across the nation, which help to promote the message that the outdoors are for everyone!

One example of this comes from a study done by the Outdoor Industry Association. They found that for more than the last decade, women have only represented about half of the participants in the outdoor rec world. But those numbers are growing! And we want to celebrate the dedicated women in our agency who help to keep your Idaho state parks open and running!

Interview with a Ranger

Amanda Grant -- Ponderosa State Park

While each day presents something different, could you describe what a typical day might look for you? For winter and/or summer.

Grant: Seasonally at Ponderosa State Park, our jobs can vary drastically! I am the Interpretive Ranger, but wear many hats. In the winter, my day usually starts off plowing and moving snow with our trucks, tractor, and snowblowers. Some mornings, I'm out at 4:30 AM grooming our Nordic ski and snowshoe trails. During the summer- a lot of our effort becomes focused on maintaining our campgrounds and on compliance issues. When I'm not doing that, I'm very fortunate in that I get to work with our many conservation, education, science, and recreation partners in McCall. Without these partners, it would be difficult to accomplish all that we do! I work on our Park's interpretive signage, evening summer programs, Junior Ranger programs, and events.

Grant at the McCall Re-Mastered Nordic Ski Race

What are some of your greatest challenges?

Grant: We have to balance a lot of tasks! We aren't specialized in just one skill, but have to be well-rounded and very flexible! One minute, I could be identifying a native plant or bird species- the next minute, I'm taking a call because a dock came loose and we have to go out to fix it! Sometimes I am taking a group of fifth graders out on a hike to learn about the different tree species of our Park, sometimes I am teaching a First Aid and CPR class to our staff. One day, I could be planning an evening interpretive talk on bears or bats, the next day I might be chain-sawing down a hazard tree. Not all of our tasks are always glamorous, but there is always a variety to balance and to be skilled in. I am also the only female ranger at our Park, which isn’t uncommon in the field.

Grant holding a Miocene plant fossil found at the park

What are some of your favorite parts of your job or highlights to your day?

Grant: I really enjoy being able to work with our many partners that find our Park special and want to continue to make Ponderosa State Park and our surrounding community a great place. It is fun to work with people with similar passions and goals, whether we are working on a new evening program for the Park, working on our Visitor Center fossil display, or preparing for a fun event like our Free Ski Day. It is great being able to provide educational opportunities and events for the public, to see how enthusiastic kids (and adults!) get during lessons and talks, and to work everyday on Idaho’s public lands.

Brief background on yourself: how long have you been at the park, what did you do before, hobbies/interests, etc.

Grant: I have my undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Geology from the College of William and Mary and my Master's degree in Environmental Science & Policy from Northern Arizona University. Previously I worked at the Forest Service in botany, soils, and as a River Ranger. I also worked for two of Idaho's Soil and Water Conservation Districts. I also have a past background in river guiding and snowboard and ski instructing that took me across the Western US- with skills I still use in my job today.

Sunny days on Payette Lake

Shalene Dickard -- Castle Rocks State Park/City of Rocks National Reserve

While each day presents something different, could you describe what a typical day might look for you?

Dickard: I don't really have a "typical day." My days range from writing reports in the office to recording and protecting our parks resources. One day I could be locating and recording raptor nest and the next day be conducting a cultural resources survey.

Dickard standing on one of the many massive rock formations at the park

What are some of your greatest challenges?

Dickard: There aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done.

What are some of your favorite parts of your job or highlights to your day?

Dickard: I love my park and sharing it with others is one of my greatest joys.

A rare and unexpected visitor sighted during a beaver tracking project

What do you wish every park visitor knew?

Dickard: When our natural and cultural resources are gone, we can't get them back. There is a way to enjoy the parks without destroying what we have.

Brief background on yourself: how long have you been at the park, what did you do before, hobbies/interests, etc.

I'm currently working on my master's in Cultural Resources Management. I have my BA in anthropology and a minor in GIS. Before starting at the park I worked as an English Language Learner Paraprofessional in an elementary school. I started at City of Rocks/ Castle Rocks State Park in 2019 as a seasonal and I was hired as the Integrated Resources Ranger in October of 2019. I enjoy hiking, photography, quilting, and reading anything to do with history.

"We can all save our park resources by being good stewards of our state resources." --Dickard
Brownware and mono found during an archaeology survey

Beth Simanek - Winchester Lake State Park

While each day presents something different, could you describe what a typical day might look for you?

Simanek: Well, “typical” is a relative term in parks, but I’ll do my best to condense my answer to something short of a book. I’ll start with winter, as it’s (usually) the most predictable.

In one word: snow. We plow snow, shovel snow, measure snow and, depending on the year, come to dread snow. I know the duties vary from park to park and from year to year. I can only speak to my own experience. Some things I usually work on include hiring the volunteers and seasonal employees for the upcoming season, researching and organizing interpretive programs, contacting school groups, purchase requisitions and grant writing and assisting development in the implementation of those grant monies. Patrol in the park can be a bit unpredictable in the winter, because when the crowds leave, some interesting folks tend to visit the park. I’ll leave it at that.

Simanek with a Red Crossbill

Spring is a busy time. I open up facilities, turn on water, spruce everything up for the upcoming summer season. It’s spring when you find out if you correctly winterized your facilities last fall. If not, it can be a lot of days of digging up broken water valves or replacing cracked shower assemblies. We sell a lot of boat and OHV registrations in the spring. Checking in with volunteers and seasonal employees, and making sure they are still coming can be difficult. Some years I had done the ream of paperwork and hired all my volunteers only to start all over in March when they all cancelled for some reason or another.

Summer is when the action happens. Every day I’m training and managing seasonal employees and volunteers. Fixing equipment and facilities generally takes up a lot of my time as well. Maintaining order in the park is a large part of the job in the summer. Addressing complaints and figuring out solutions to problems, with employees as well as our visitors takes up a lot of time in the summer. Evening patrols also take a lot of my time in the summer. Making sure all camping rules are followed, figuring out solutions for walk-in campers, or trailers that won’t fit in reserved sites are a few of the things I address in the evenings.

The sun setting over Winchester Lake

What are some of your greatest challenges?

Simanek: I think my greatest challenge is trying to get it all done. I’ve learned through the years to prioritize based on safety first – hard stop. After that, making sure facilities are functional and up to snuff, and then to focus on the fun stuff, all the cherries on top! Finding a work/life balance can be challenging in the summer, many of us don’t go home at the end of the day and “turn off” work. We get late night calls from campground hosts or are responding to emergencies at the park.

"The hardest thing I ever did was take some time off during the summer, but I’ve found it is essential to re-fill my own cup, so I can give it my all when I’m at work." - Simanek

What are some of your favorite parts of your job or highlights to your day?

Simanek: I truly love to help people. This extends to our visitors and my co-workers. To have the knowledge and ability to make a family’s vacation go from ok to amazing is what I strive for. I enjoy finding solutions to problems and feel quite a bit of personal accomplishment when I can fix equipment, something I continue to work to improve on. My absolute favorite part of my job is to explore, and to foster exploration for our visitors and my coworkers. The park is a different place every day, and there is always something beautiful (flowers, wildlife, etc.) and new to see. Anyone who’s ever worked with me knows I get giddy seeing a new flower or bird.

A Northern Pygmy Owl that Simanek spotted at the park

What do you wish every park visitor knew?

Simanek: I wish they knew there’s a background reason for every rule. Any ranger that I know (that’s lasted) has a passion for the job, cares deeply about our parks and sees the value of the respite and facilities our parks provide for the public. We are employed to enforce these rules, and they are necessary so that everyone stays safe and has the opportunity for maximum enjoyment while at the park.

How long have you been at the park, what did you do before, hobbies/interests, etc.

Simanek: I was raised on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin, swimming, riding horses and wandering through a small tract of woods near my house. During a summer road trip in the back of my parent’s station wagon in the mid 80’s, I found myself in the Black Hills, gazing up at a Park Ranger in awe, as he made the history of the area come alive to a 7-year-old me. After I finished high school, I went on to study Forestry and UW Stevens Point and earned my BS in Forestry. After a couple years working in Colorado, I was hired at Heyburn State Park, where I stayed for over 14 years. I learned so many things there, and it will always be a special place to me. My husband’s job took him south, and I was lucky that a Ranger position opened up at Winchester Lake State Park last year. So here I am! I’ll pass the 15-year mark in a couple months here as a ranger for IDPR. I’m happy to say that I’ve never stopped learning, loving and believing in what I do!

Stormy skies over Winchester Lake State Park

Errin Bair - Farragut State Park

Meet Ranger Bair

Hello! My name is Errin Bair and I am a Park Ranger at Farragut State Park. I started working here as a seasonal interpreter in 2003 and became a full time permanent ranger in 2007. I have been with the department for 19 years! I started work when I was still in college with 2 small kids. I was a single mom and started college late. I ended up earning 4 applied science degrees over 5 years. I have degrees in Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Soils, and Wildlife Biology. I also have an endorsement in pottery, for what it’s worth. I am a Certified Interpretive Guide and I maintain a Water Systems Operator license. I am an avid mountain biker and I love riding in the park. I enjoy hiking and cross country skiing as well. I recently started doing watercolor painting and even though I’m not very good, I enjoy it. I also love to read which has led me to set up a book exchange in the volunteer laundry facility here at the park.

Farragut Park Ranger Errin Bair

The thing that I love most about being a park ranger is that I can come to work thinking I’m going to be doing one thing and by the end of the day I have done an array of things that weren’t in my plans! Some people may find that frustrating but I work best with multiple things to do on my to-do list.

Here at Farragut, I am the volunteer coordinator, I oversee the interpretive programming, and I help to run the museum and archives. I develop our museum displays and all of the interpretive signage in the park.

A Day in the Life

Typically I arrive at work at 7 am year round. I check my voicemails and emails and find out what everyone else has planned for the day. As mentioned above, I supervise nearly 80 volunteers that come and go throughout the year, 60 of whom live and work in the park from early May until late September. During the peak season, when we are fully staffed with volunteers and seasonal workers, I am on the go from the moment I arrive until the minute I leave! I check in with multiple volunteers every day, all of whom need something different from me. We have campground hosts that may need help with a compliance issue, museum hosts that might need clarification on a historic fact or help with a new display or exhibit, cabin cleaning hosts that wonder why we don’t have a cleaning deposit on the cabins because look how dirty they left it!!! Or any number of situations that a park this size could experience.

Errin enjoying the winter snow

As park rangers we wear many hats. We are compliance enforcement, landscapers, restroom cleaners, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, babysitters, educators, graphic design artists, and a shoulder to cry on. During days when I am scheduled for morning patrol, I gather my patrol bag and hop in the patrol truck. Our first task is to go through the campgrounds and check each site. We make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing. In a park this size, we need to keep track of what’s going on so that no one gets lost in the shuffle. We also check in with all the group camp sites and make sure no one has any questions or issues. Morning campground checks can take 3 or 4 hours so after that’s done I typically go to lunch then start patrolling the day use areas. We have several areas that people can go to spend the day. Beaver Bay beach is very popular when the weather is warm. Mostly people go there to swim but there are also trail heads that can be accessed. We also have the boat launch that is full to overflowing during hot summer days. We have a very large Disc Golf complex with 5, eighteen hole course and those parking lots are packed to the brim nearly year around. By the time the day use areas are checked and I’ve answered a multiple variety of radio calls all day from anyone who needs the patrol ranger, it’s finally time to go home.

Sunset at Farragut State Park

On days that I do not have patrol, I am running between volunteers, the Museum at the Brig, and the interpretive program. We as rangers are always on call during our work day to help the patrol ranger in case of emergencies so anything that we may be doing can be interrupted at any time as we change “hats” and head off on our next adventure.

People always ask us what we do in the winter. They can’t imagine that we’d be busy enough to stay on year round. My answer is always “we do everything that we can’t do when there are people here”. In reality though, sometimes winter is just as busy as summer. Depending on the year, snow load affects our daily routine. We groom and maintain almost 20 miles of trails including Nordic ski trails, fat tire bike trails, and snowshoe trails. We plow multiple roads and parking lots, and shovel or snow blow the entrance area to the visitor center. When we’re not doing snow stuff, there are loads of administrative duties to catch up on, planning for the coming season, signs and exhibits to design and work on, minor maintenance on vehicles and equipment, hazard tree mitigation, volunteer recruitment, and various other things that make the days fly by.

Enjoying the trails at the park

The biggest challenges that I have faced in the park always seem to be in having to enforce rules or tell people what to do. I wish that people knew that we don’t have rules just to make them mad. Everything we try to enforce in the park is either because of safety or protecting the resource. My biggest issue however, is dogs off leash. People can’t seem to understand that there are so many reasons to keep your animal leashed. Luckily, there are many visitors who unintentionally assist us by firmly telling people what they think of their dog running loose…

Rule breakers aside, the joy that I feel when I have a positive interaction with a visitor is just as strong as when I first became a ranger. I love teaching kids the Latin names for trees, or seeing people’s face when they first experience our museum. The WWII veterans that I have met, the stories they tell, the appreciation they have for what we do, it all fills my heart.

"People truly appreciate what we do here!"

12 years ago I was awarded Ranger of the Year for the state of Idaho. A couple of my local volunteers, two older gentlemen that do trail work occasionally, thought it was so great that they let the local newspaper know. A reporter came out and did an interview for a short article. I remember telling him that being a park ranger wasn’t just a job, it’s who I am. Things have definitely changed in the years since then, I’ve become a bit disillusioned to certain things and I may get frustrated a little bit easier. But, older and wiser has taught me ways to deal with situations in a more thoughtful way. I try very hard to not assume someone is doing something wrong on purpose. With that being said, I still strongly feel that it’s not just a job, it’s who I am.

Summer at Farragut State Park