Chapter Nineteen the Park Manager

CHAPTER NINETEEN THE PARK MANAGER

It is time now to consider park managers—the agency’s representatives, the people on the front line in park management. To many observers, the work of the park manager seems romantic and ideal for a person interested in the outdoors. To others it is a chance to be of service to humanity, while to some, of course, it is ‘‘just a job.’’ Many people do not realize that dealing with people (rather than land and water resources) takes up a large part of a manager’s time. For this reason, persons wishing to be in the outdoors and away from humanity would do well to consider the full range of skills and talents needed to be happy and successful as a park manager.

A Day in the Life of a Park Manager

To help illustrate the diversity of the manager’s experiences, examples of a typical day’s activities were obtained from practicing managers. From a large, multistaffed state park came this response about a day in July.

6:OOA.M. Meet with morning shift seasonal park aide crew. Assign work for the day.

6:30 Patrol park. Check for vandalism.

7:00 Go to the park office. Prepare money for day’s camper registration and prepare money transmittal of previous night’s receipts.

8:30 Receive complaint from camper that

people in site next to them were par-
tying, cursing, and playing the radio
at 3:00 A.M.
8:40 Investigate camper complaint.
9:15 Park aide informs me the muffler on
the park truck is disconnected or has
a hole in it. Very noisy! I tell him I’ll
be right up to fix it.
9:25 Another park aide says the urinal in
the restroom is stopped up and the
floor flooded. She cannot get it un-
plugged.
9:30 Unplug urinal. Have park aide mop
floor.
10:15 Patron finds me at restroom and

wants to make arrangements for a
family reunion in our day-use reser-
vation area.
10:35 Go back to office with patron and
give her forms for a day-use reserva-
tion.
10:50 Phone rings. “I been tryin’ to get
a hold of you guys all morning!
Doesn’t anyone work around there?
What I called about is renting a
cabin.” I give him the private re-
sort’s phone number to rent a cabin.
2:50 P.M. Meet with night shift rangers coming
on duty. Discuss days happenings
and status of ongoing work in park.
3:10 Go to park interpretive center and

312 ONTHEJOB

ask interpretive assistant if he has any concerns or operational problems. All is well.

3:45 Back to office to open mail and take care of any immediate correspondence requirements.

4:30 Check beach area again and check in with lifeguards.

4:45 Decide to go home for the day. Have worked almost 10 hours. (Many things did not get done, but there never seems to be enough time.)

4:55 Administer first aid to park patron for an abrasion on his foot.

5:05 Get information from victim and complete accident report.

5:20 Leaving office when phone rings. Private resort down the road two miles informs me an adult was just in and purchased two cases of beer for four minors (informant saw him give it to the minors) in a gray Pontiac and he thinks they’re heading for the state park to camp.

5:25 Locate night duty ranger in the camp area and inform him about the phone call and to be on the lookout.

5:35 Go home for the day. . . Darn! Forgot about that muffler!

The next example comes from the manager of a small state park having only one permanent employee (himself) and several seasonal park aides. His log recounts a day in August.

2:02 A.M. Awakened by telephone. It’s a park visitor who drove back to town to call the park to find out why he’s been locked out of the park.

5:45 Awakened by telephone. Where are the fish biting?

6:00 Awakened by park aide starting truck. Stayed up.

7:50 Arrive at contact station to find a line of 11 vehicles at entrance to see about getting a campsite. We are completely full.

8:00 Put all employees on job assignments and routine duties.
8:15 First patrol of park.
8:40 Help park aide repair malfunctioning mower.
9:06 Irrigation system turned on.
9:30 Asked four campers to put dogs on leash. Told three campers to put extra vehicle in extra-vehicle parking lot.
10:15 Discovered break in irrigation line. Shut down system. Drove to town for replacement part.
11:30 Installed part and turned on system.
11:50 Break up keg party just starting.
12:15 P.M. Lunch break.
1:00 Park patrol resumed. Issued citation to vehicle blocking boat launch.
2:13 Motorcycle gang enters park and
heads for the day use area.
3:00 Check lifeguards at the beach.
3:20 Break up confrontation between visitors over campsite mixup.
4:00 Patrol day use area. Evict motorcycle gang for drinking.
4:35 Turned over money and registration books to night shift park aide. Check mail. Add to pile of correspondence and paper work waiting to be done.
5:00 Dinner break.
5:45 Camper stops at house instead of
park office to ask questions about
fishing on the lake.
7:00 Patrol park.
10:00 Close park entrance gate.
10:15 Patrol campground. Ask campers in
two campsites to turn off loud
music.
10:30 Escort campers to vacant campsite
and register them.
11:00 Finish patrolling park. Turn over du-
ties to night park aide.
11:15 Camper stops at house and asks how
he can get into the park since the
gates are closed.

THE PARK MANAGER 313

For most parks in North America summer is the busy season. What does the park manager do in the winter? Here is a typical day in December.

8:00A.M. Opened up park entrance gate, raised flags; noted deer tracks at entrance.

8:30 Phoned in weather data. Two inches of new snow overnight.

8:40 Patrolled park. No evidence of poaching. Told a family where the sledding hill is located. Removed small windfall from the road.

10:00 Opened mail; answered inquiries.

10:30 Worked on park slide-tape program. Needs some winter use slides.

12:00 P.M. Lunch break.

1:00 Worked on equipment maintenance.

3:00 Took 2 hours adjusted time off.

Are these unusual days? Not really, although most agencies encourage their managers to try to limit their duty hours to the regulation eight.

This is particularly important for those with law enforcement responsibilities. Knowing how to handle people seems paramount. Knowing how to repair various facility and equipment problems runs a close second. Let’s take a look at the skills and abilities that are demanded of park managers.

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Presumably persons interested in park management are personally interested in outdoor recreation activities as participants, perhaps as fishermen, hunters, hikers, mountain climbers, or skiers. They may have a desire to share this enthusiasm and skill with others. Some may just wish to be closer to the recreation opportunity or away from the city scene. Perhaps it is an interest in natural resources that makes such a career seem desirable. Often working as a seasonal employee in a park sparks an interest in pursuing a career in park management (Fig. 19-1).

THE PARK MANAGER 313

314 ONTHEJOB

A student considering a career in park management will need more than a desire to participate in outdoor recreation or a concern for environmental protection, however. The park manager must like people and be able to cope with visitors and the strange behavior they sometimes exhibit when in the park setting.

A career in professional park management requires considerable preparation. Some of the skills and knowledge can be learned; some of the talents required to do a good job have to be inborn. Certain work may require physical strength and stamina. At other times the energy goes into being a diplomat while performing such tasks as directing and correcting park visitors, placating adjacent landowners, deferentially escorting elected officials, or conversing intelligently with other park professionals.

Successful park managers must get their ideas accepted by decisionmakers, must be arbitrators of conflicts, must create the conditions for obtaining favorable public support, and must get the necessary funding to manage their park. Managers must have the ability to supervise their employees, to understand their needs and desires, and to handle delicate personnel problems. Management tasks also include the handling of funds, therefore honesty and responsibility are essential.

Ideally, park managers should be good communicators. They are often called on to give talks to school groups, sportsmen’s clubs, garden groups, local civic organizations, or environmental groups, so they must be familiar with the preparation of talks and slide presentations, including the use and care of audio-visual equipment. They have to write effectively, for their work requires more than just filling out accident reports. They must write news releases, letters of reprimand, letters of recommendation, letters of apology, and acknowledgments of critical or complimentary correspondence from the public.

Yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily reports will be required, and timeliness and thoroughness of their completion will be noted by superiors. The amount of paperwork and the

time it demands will probably be greater than the beginning manager envisioned. Good record keeping and systematic filing procedures will help keep the paper jungle from closing in.

Park managers are usually public servants, and as such, are sometimes challenged and criticized by the public. When such criticism is a result of misunderstanding or is unjustified, they must be able to exhibit patience and tolerance, waiting for time and facts to vindicate them rather than speaking out hastily in self-defense. If they must comment on a situation they must make their points calmly, objectively, and succinctly.

The ability to remain calm while acting effectively when natural disasters or other emergencies occur is another requirement. As stressed in preceding chapters, managers need to be trained in law enforcement, search and rescue, and fire-fighting. Ability to do small motor repair and some basic knowledge of automobile and truck repair are very useful skills and should be diligently sought at every opportunity. Skills should also include some general maintenance and construction ability, since managers may need to up-

314 ONTHEJOB

THE PARK MANAGER 315

date exhibits, repair machinery, or determine what is wrong with a faulty water supply or a stopped-up sanitation system. They will have to order the parts, and, very possibly, fix the problem themselves. As pointed out in Chapter 10, Park Facilities, keeping these utilities functioning is of primary importance.

Skills such as marksmanship, scuba training, motor maintenance, mountaineering, horse riding and packing, medical technician, seamanship, navigation, and piloting may prove useful.

Park managers need to be in good physical condition. They must be able to travel on foot across country, handle a horse, paddle a canoe, or run a snowmobile ((Fig. 19-2). Map and compass skills are expected of such persons.

Even if it means taking some of their days off to visit remote areas, managers must know the park thoroughly. This means familiarity with its plants, animals, soils, watersheds, forest cover types, history, and geology.

Park managers must realize they are part of a bigger system. They do not own the parks they manage; they are only custodians. There must be responsiveness to the public concerns. Certainly managers must not attempt to operate the park independently of region and headquarter’s directives.

A good disposition, a well-groomed appearance, a mature philosophical outlook, and a pleasant, friendly personality completes our list of assets and accomplishments that experience has proven desirable for park managers to have (Fig. 19-3).

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS

Those who specifically study for resource-oriented park management follow a four-year curriculum in forest or wildland recreation, outdoor recreation, park management, or a closely related field. Because of the way civil service specifications are written, however, people with degrees in other professions are often qualified for these same positions.’ Examples would be graduates in wildlife sciences, forest management, watershed

Fig. 19-3. A well-groomed appearance and friendly personality are assets that have proven to be useful in park work. Here a park ranger checks with a biker at Lake Meridith National Recreation Area, Texas. (National Park Service photo by Fred E. Mang, Jr.)

management, engineering, and other natural sciences. In some instances a two-year technician program may be sufficient. When competition is keen, the four-year degree usually means greater success in advancement. Some agencies prefer people with a police science background so they can readily assist in law enforcement and vandalism problems. Some management positions may be filled with people having business administration or political science backgrounds; these candidates must work up through the ranger ranks in order to gain the necessary experience for higher-level positions.’

Ideally, students in the field of park management obtain experience while still in college as seasonal park aides or recreation assistants. This practical experience complements their academic

THE PARK MANAGER 315

316 ONTHEJOB

courses. After graduation and perhaps another season or more of field experience, the park management graduate should be able to pass the civil service entrance exam for park ranger, warden, or other entry-level position.

Another route to managerial positions is through the interpretive role. Specialists such as botanists, zoologists, geologists, historians, archeologists, and anthropologists, who work in the interpretive division, may feel their career advancement is limited. After several years work in their specialty they may apply for park manager positions. Many of these people have excelled as managers.

Whatever field the ranger comes from, the steps leading to a position as manager usually include an entrance-level position in a large park, followed by some upward movement in the same park prior to transferring to a more responsible