National Park Ranger: An American Icon

Dressed in the familiar gray and green uniform and crowned with the traditional "Smokey the Bear" hat, the National Park Service Ranger is symbolic of many things in American culture: protection and preservation, education and enlightenment, solitude and self-sufficiency. In the past, rangers spent most of their working hours alone-patrolling miles of trails, often in dismal weather conditions, to force out wildlife poachers. Now, the modern ranger may be a law-enforcement official, naturalist, historian, or river guide.

In this celebration of one of America's most enduring symbols, former ranger Butch Farabee briefly reviews the evolution of this national symbol. Packed with entertaining anecdotes and illustrated with over one hundred archival photographs, this book not only provides fascinating insight into the diversity of roles a park ranger must play, but also honors the unique people dedicated to guarding and maintaining this country's irreplaceable treasures.

Charles R. "Butch" Farabee is the former assistant superintendent of Glacier National Park. Author of Death, Daring, and Disaster: Search and Rescue on the National Parks (Roberts Rinehart), he is one of four people ever to receive the Harry Yount Lifetime Achievement Award for exemplifying the best of the National Park Service Ranger tradition. He resides in Tucson, Arizona.