Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Oh, Ranger!
Fate destined me to work in a place I've known from childhood, and after nearly nine years of service as an interpretive park ranger, I wouldn't have wished for anything different.
My National Park Service career started at a summer enrichment program at Hawai'i Volcanoes that qualified me to become a Junior Park Ranger. I wonder what my instructors must have thought. I was one of those kolohe keiki (mischievous kids), hiding in the dark of the lava tube or deep in the rain forest, startling visitors on the trail.
Through my work at Hawai'i Volcanoes, I am following in the footsteps of my kūpuna (elders) as the fourth generation of my 'ohana (family) to work here. My family holds strong generational ties to the 'āina (land) that comprises much of the park. We were not only raised in the park, but also developed park programs and built park infrastructure.
My great-grandfather, William Elderts, helped establish the park's first roads and trails. My grandmother, Minnie Kaawaloa, demonstrated arts and crafts at the Waha'ula Visitor Center, a place now covered by lava. My uncle, Lionel Kaawaloa, worked at Hawai'i Volcanoes before transferring to Kalaupapa National Historic Site. Now I bring the island's natural and cultural history to life through education and interpretation.
I encourage you to turn your child's park visit into an adventure. Help them become a Junior Park Ranger. You'll have fun, and learn and grow together. Who knows, it might even inspire their career as a Park Ranger.
Hawaii Volcanoes In Depth
News from the Parks
Denali National Park Goes Greener With New Hybrid Commercial Bus From IC Bus
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
July 18, 2008 - 12:55pm
DENALI, Alaska, July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park and Preserve, one of the largest protected intact ecosystems in the world, will now have the opportunity to explore the park with the aid of an environmentally friendly vehicle -- a fuel-efficient and emissions-reducing hybrid bus. IC Bus, North America's largest school bus and commercial bus manufacturer, is delivering the Park's first hybrid bus on July 17.
Canyoneering Heaven At Zion National Park
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
July 18, 2008 - 10:17am
Lee and Brian are loaded like sherpas, each hauling an end of the 700-foot-long rope and moving in lockstep as they hike down a dry creek bed through a ponderosa pine forest atop a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level. Behind us, at the end of a wretched logging road that almost made a couple of people in our group sick, is Lee's truck, which we'll come back for the next day. Ahead of us is . . . one big drop. The creek bed ends at a sheer cliff that plunges into what looks like an enormous hole. Walking to the edge, I peer over and can't see the bottom. This is the start of Engelstead Canyon.
Shenandoah National Park Launches Multimedia Tour Inviting Visitors to Experience the Blue Ridge Mountains Like Never Before
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
July 18, 2008 - 9:30am
Austin, Texas - Greta Miller, Executive Director of the Shenandoah National Park Association announced today the launch of a new interpretive tool, the GPS Ranger™, for visitors at Shenandoah National Park. Visitors to the park can experience the Blue Ridge Mountains and learn more about the park’s unique history, land, plants, and animals with the assistance of the multimedia GPS Ranger™ tour guide system. Informative and educational ranger-narrated videos automatically play as guests hike.
Hiker tackles every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
July 18, 2008 - 9:28am
Sixty-three year old Diane Scarbrough loves to spend time in the Smoky Mountains. "Anybody that can be out there for any length of time," she says. "It's uplifting." Diane's passion for hiking turned into a mission to hike every mile of trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "We call it the 900 mile club. Actually it comes out to be 845, but I think they round that off because it takes a long time to get to a trail. We may hike 4 miles to get to the trail we are hiking on," Diane explains.
Rabid bat in Olympic National Park puts visitor, three employees in treatment
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
July 18, 2008 - 9:25am
The Olympic National Park's first possible case of rabies since 1977 has struck a woman who was in the Ozette campground late last week. The 55-year-old woman is getting rabies prevention treatment after a bat scratched her in the Ozette campground. Three Olympic National Park employees who responded to the incident are also receiving treatment. The bat approached the woman at her campsite. She knocked the bat to the ground and got scratched. The stunned bat remained on the ground until the next morning. Park employees removed the bat for rabies testing. The rabies virus was found in the bat. The only other known case of rabies in Olympic National Park was recorded 33 years ago in July 1975, when a child was bitten by a bat in the Elwha Valley.
