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The Park Ranger America There are few things more American than park rangers. National parks are an American invention and so is the modern park ranger. Depending on who you ask, America’s first national park was either Yellowstone or Yosemite. In his 2003 book //National Park Ranger: An American Icon//, Charles Farabee, Jr. takes the side of Yosemite and credits Galen Clark with being the first modern park ranger. Though his official title was “Guardian of Yosemite,” Clark’s job closely resembled the range of duties of today’s rangers, from maintaining trails to accommodating visitors to enforcing laws. Indeed, being a ranger is a point of immense pride for many. Farabee describes National park rangers as “an amalgam of Jedi Knight, favorite teacher, and Smokey Bear,” comparisons that all but park rangers will find a little ridiculous. But to the rangers themselves, comparisons to a fictional order of lightsaber-wielding peacekeepers is not so ridiculous, so strong is their sense of pride and duty. They certainly are not doing it for the money. Mother Jones has reported on the plight of the United States national parks and how Congress has consistently increased their number without increasing the funding, spreading scarce resources even thinner. Africa Nations all over the world have recognized the values, social, economic, and environmental, of designating areas as national parks. In Africa, some of the world’s most iconic animals have been protected and allowed to survive because of this. However, the fight to keep Africa’s national parks safe is a much bloodier one. Whether Park rangers require automatic weapons and military-style fatigues is little debated in the National Parks of Africa, rather, it is asked whether they are enough for the job. This is because rangers face a never-ending onslaught of poachers. These rangers often find themselves outnumbered while fighting younger, better-trained, and better equipped enemies. Dying in the line of duty is not uncommon. Parks more closely resemble war zones and the rangers are the soldiers. Kruger National Park in South Africa now employs drones to monitor the park. The poachers, unfortunately, have access to helicopters. There is little in the way of rewards for these rangers, even those that perish in the line of duty. In Zambia, the government does nothing to care for the children of the deceased. Regardless of the situation, it seems to be a universal feature of park rangers to have a strong sense of pride in their work and duty to the environment and visitors. Given the circumstances, perhaps this is not so surprising. National Parks are often severely underfunded.