Lonely Rangers in Paradise
A blizzard of woes is making life miserable for parks workers
Low pay, poor housing, changing conditions and overwork have taken their toll. In the 1970s, the annual job turnover among rangers was a scant 3 percent. Today, it averages 8 percent and up to 20 percent in urban areas. Park rangers are defecting to other federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Army Corps of Engineers. The jobs have less glamour, but they offer higher pay, quicker promotions and better retirement benefits.
With her experience in law enforcement and firefighting, advanced life support and cardiac emergency care and river, cave and mountain rescue, Yellowstone's Mona Divine could leave the park service tomorrow and find a more lucrative job. She might be tempted, but she won't quit. When you have saved lives, survived a wilderness airplane crash while on duty and been rousted from bed at 4 a.m.--after an hour's sleep--by a visitor eager to photograph a yellow-bellied marmot, giving up the ranger's role isn't easy. "I love the life," she says. "I'm hoping things will improve."
advertisement
