[pct-l] Park rangers

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening,

While it’s true that wilderness rangers are part of the law enforcement
fraternity, some local and state officers I know refer to them as “chipmunk
cops”.

Steel-Eye

-Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09/

On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 10:43 AM, <mkwart at gci.net> wrote:

> Brick is right about there being a difference between the law
> enforcement rangers and other Yosemite Park employees who wear the park
> uniform. I worked in Yosemite as the Prescribed Fire Specialist from
> 1998-2000. To those who work in the national park system, Yosemite is
> the New York City of national parks--crowded, high profile and a boon to
> a rising career in the park service if you can manage to get a permanent
> job there. This was especially true for those working as law enforcement
> rangers. The crowded park provided a litmus test of challenges for the
> gung ho park police type of personality, and this includes wilderness
> rangers--they are still part of the law enforcement fraternity.
>
> It was well known among all park employees about the speed traps in the
> Valley and the entrapment scenarios that the law enforcement rangers
> pulled off in pursuit of dope smoking climbers and hangers on at Camp 4
> and other places in the park. Yosemite is a city. But keep your head
> down, follow the rules and there should be no problem. When I was there
> people were still harrassed by park law enforcement officers in Yosemite
> Valley for looking scruffy and giving the appearance of loitering, a
> description that may apply to many hiker trash--I don't know if this
> profiling still goes on today. I avoid the Valley whenever possible.
>
> --Fireweed
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