Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks
Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks book cover

Ranger Confidential: Living, Working, and Dying in the National Parks

Kindle Edition

by
Price
$11.99
Publisher
Falcon Guides
Publication Date

Description

"You'll love this book." Ron Waters, National Outdoor Book Awards "A behind-the-scenes peak of our national parks that you won't see in any Ken Burns documentary." Fresno Bee "Andrea tells the real story about what she calls the best job in the world, carefully picking away at the mainstream postcard- perfect image of the park ranger." Wend MagazineA National Geographic "Top Ten Book About U.S. Parks" ..."Ranger Confidential dispenses with the wilderness romance and cuts straight to the heart of how difficult it can be to manage America's National Parks....the book delves into the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of today's park rangers.""Part Sand County Almanac, part Backpacker Magazine, Lankford's stories will have you laughing raucously one minute and planning your vactaion the next." Sacramento Book Review --This text refers to the paperback edition. Andrea Lankford , a former National Park Service ranger, has performed firefighting, law enforcement, and life-saving wilderness medicine in Cape Hatteras, Zion, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon. As a ranger, she won several awards for her work as a criminal investigator, and she implemented the "Heat Kills. Hike Smart" public education program credited with preventing heat-related deaths at the Grand Canyon-a program that continues to save lives today. Her masochistic adventures include thru-hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, kayaking from Miami to Key West, cycling from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean, and being the first to mountain bike the 800-mile Arizona Trail.xa0Andrea currently lives in Northern California. She is the author of four books, including Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks , which was featured in USA Today , chosen by People as a 2006 Travel Pick, and described by Newsday as "spell-binding." Her articles have appeared in USA Today , Arizona Highways , and Backpacker. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Features & Highlights

  • For twelve years, Andrea Lankford lived in the biggest, most impressive national parks in the world, working a job she loved. She chaperoned baby sea turtles on their journey to sea. She pursued bad guys on her galloping patrol horse. She jumped into rescue helicopters bound for the heart of the Grand Canyon. She won arguments with bears. She slept with a few too many rattlesnakes.Hell yeah, it was the best job in the world! Fortunately, Andrea survived it.In this graphic and yet surprisingly funny account of her and others’ extraordinary careers, Lankford unveils a world in which park rangers struggle to maintain their idealism in the face of death, disillusionment, and the loss of a comrade killed while holding that thin green line between protecting the park from the people, the people from the park, and the people from each other. Ranger Confidential is the story behind the scenery of the nation’s crown jewels—Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Great Smokies, Denali. In these iconic landscapes, where nature and humanity constantly collide, scenery can be as cruel as it is redemptive.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(870)
★★★★
25%
(363)
★★★
15%
(218)
★★
7%
(102)
★
-7%
(-103)

Most Helpful Reviews

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I had no idea

I never thought about the bad things that could go on, except for the stupid tourists who approach bear cubs because they're soooo cute, then scream about being attacked as if it was someone else's responsibility to stop them from being darwinistic examples, even though they ignored the signs and warnings . Anyway, I really enjoyed the stories in this book, have me a new appreciation for what our rangers have to do. And, for the rangers who happen to read these reviews, thank you for all you do. I love our national parks and have a new level of respect for your role and passion.
3 people found this helpful
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This one's for grown-ups, and GREAT!

Engaging, interesting, in-depth, and not for kids. I worked at Grand Canyon national park for six months, and this book gave me a whole new respect for park rangers. The credo: "To protect the park from the people, and the people from themselves." is PERFECT.
3 people found this helpful
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Deserves to be a bestseller!

A very well written book that tackles the fun and hardships that park rangers have to face in their low-paying, yet extremely rewarding job. I have visited so many national parks and although I have always appreciated the rangers' presence, this book took my respect to them to a whole new level.

The narrative, in my opinion, is quite compelling. The humorous stories and one-liners instantly lighten my mood, the thrilling accounts of rescue make me want to read faster just so I can soon find out what happens next but end up soaking myself a little longer, and the ones that describe tragedy effectively makes me emotional.

If only the book was concluded in a more impactful manner, I could have said that this is my new favorite book. I'm pretty sure, however, that I will re-read this multiple times in the future.
3 people found this helpful
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Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end.

Imagine being able to spend evenings around a campfire listening to real stories told by a National Park ranger. That is what it is like reading Ms. Langford's book. Another reviewer gave this book a poor review because it did not have a beginning, middle, and end. Of course it doesn't. This is a collection of stories that have a theme. These stories are well written, interesting, and definitely worth reading on many levels.

Being a frequent National Park visitor, I have always wondered what it was like to be a ranger. I wondered if their lives were as idyllic as I fantasized. Reading the book, I now know that my fantasy was just that, a fantasy. Rangers work hard and actually don't get to enjoy their parks as much as many of the park visitors. I now have much greater respect for the Women and Men who work at all levels to make National Parks enjoyable for me.

I'm recommending this book to friends.
3 people found this helpful
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Avoid this profession if you want to spend time in actual wilderness!

This book cuts the romance out of the job of being a ranger, and confirms the wisdom of my earlier choice to stow the plan to be a ranger, get a good-paying city-based job instead, and explore the wilderness on my days off work. Now I am retired and enjoying wilderness when conditions are right, on my own terms. My advice is pursue wilderness away from the madness of camping crowds and all the rest by strapping on your backpack and hitting trail. Yosemite Valley, which I first visited in the 1950s and dearly love, is so crowded now you need to win a lottery ticket to reserve a campsite. Forget that. Instead of car camping, try backpacking. I see the best parts of Yosemite by dayhiking from backcountry campsites I have trekked to, and some of them are in secret places I use to get to those rim views without climbing 3000 feet up from the valley floor. I am now retired and spend as much time as weather and inclination allow by backpacking. As much as possible I avoid those increasingly pricey official campground sites full of noise, pollution, and often thieves. Alas, I once returned from a long day hiking to the car campground where all of my equipment was gone, stolen in plain daylight. Lock that stuff out of sight in your car trunk and take the minimum to camp alone.
I do recommend this book highly although I think it is just a bit much negative. Go positive whenever possible. Get a backpack and leave the mess (and thieves) behind.
2 people found this helpful
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The life of a Park Ranger is more complex than I thought.

This was such a gripping story that it was hard to put down. Every ranger portrayed in this is an exceptional person, and this job is much more demanding and difficult than it should be. We love the National Parks, and the Rangers add to our experience at every park.
2 people found this helpful
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The inside story revealed!

I am planning a trip to Grand Canyon NP and reading books related to that and stumbled across this one. It was a very interesting read with perspective from the inside operations of the Ranger community. Had my attention the whole way through.
1 people found this helpful
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Interesting read for national park junkies

Engaging characters, but the author could have used more editorial help. Though she's undoubtedly a fine outdoors woman, she is not a particularly good writer. The characters were compelling, but unevenly developed, and the non-linear story telling was confusing at times.
1 people found this helpful
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A testament to the relationship of man and nature.

Loved reading the truths of being a National Park Ranger. Having visited many National Parks and meeting some of these people, I have a whole new respect for the job they perform.
1 people found this helpful
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Really solid read that will open your eyes.

I have a love-hate relationship with books like this. There is nothing better than having an opportunity to read about and appreciate a piece of the world you didn't understand or know existed. The book was eye opening.

But, it comes with a price. The book reads with a significant amount of sorrow. And it's hard to tell how much of that is the authors feelings or the reality of all Rangers.

Regardless, I'll never look at another ranger the same again.
1 people found this helpful

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