I want to be a park ranger at a national park what do i need to study to be one

Question

i want to be a park ranger at a national park what do i need to study to be one. i would also like to know if the collage University at buffalo teachs it

Answer 1

You get federal points toward hiring for almost any education or degree.  Natural resources degrees, biology degrees and forestry or education degrees are most common, some law enforcement training is also required.

Hiring points are earned by work in the field, such as trail crew work, and Americorp park work gets even more points.  Rangers usually have CPR and first Aid Certifications.  You can find these opportunities at http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Educat...

You can easily view what people want to see in a park ranger by going to http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ and entering park ranger in the search, or even just park, because their are many other park jobs, and some other one may best fit you.

The government is not the only source of parks jobs, there are many guides and museum employees in parks.  

- Museum personel are expected to have retail training and some bookkeeping experience, like the proven ability to generate reports and balance out a cash register.

- Guides and vendor recreation employees are expected to have things like CPR and First Aid, documented experience at the sport they guide, and some expertise at that activity - like mountain biking or rafting, or backcountry camping, or in some cases naturalist guides that can identify and explain geology, ecology and species of wildlife.  There is a certfication program for outdoor guides, it is called NOLS National Outdoor Leadership School, they offer classes directly (very expensive) and they also certify programs at many colleges and even parks.

University of Buffalo offers some NOLS classes, it has offered water safety and wilderness medicine in the past.  Obviously most of the other educational options are also offered...

Unless you truly love constant personal contact and enforcement duties, and have a genuine love and deep knowledge of the outdoors as well, parks is not a great plan for your future.  Most parks positions are seasonal, even for degreed employees and rangers, for the first 5 to 10 years.  Rehire the next season can be uncertain, no matter how fabulous you were at your job, because park managers change and budgets are determined by congress.  You will be subject to all the problems of being a federal employee in terms of inflexibility of management and rigidity of stupid policies, but without the security federal employment usually provides, and the wages are low for the training investment you will have made, especially while you are in the seasonal phase of your career.

If you are committed to doing this, volunteer, work trail crews (try NYC if you are youngish), seek jobs in park concessions, and internships in park related research projects.  Talk to the ranger at your park, join organizations that have contact with your park, like FFA if you are still in high school.  Do not get charged for any drug or alcohol related crimes, and keep your drivers record clean... a commercial license is often required, so that you can drive vans of people for the park.

You will notice that standards for hire at some of the very remote parks are pretty low, and that they even sometimes go unfulled.  Gates of the Arctic is one of these parks, look on jobs and see what those minimal qualifications are.  Work there in their short seasons, or other short season parks.

Answer 2

You'll need to be a combination of naturalist and law enforcement officer.   I believe U.S. National Park rangers carry guns.  

Answer 3

go to your local library, they shoud have some books(study guides)  that list all of the qualifications needed to obtain a government job.  

Answer 4

why not e-mail the National Park Service and get this data straight from the horse's mouth ?