STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 

 I.      The student should be able to: identify and describe the federal, state, and local government agencies who manage public lands. They should be able to outline the departments of the federal government and their subordinate agencies. They should be able to give examples of the types of uses on these lands, examine the types of conflicts that these uses produce, and relate solutions to these conflicts based on sound resource management and public education factors.

 II.     The student should be able to: Describe the different types of land use, the history of the National Parks, Forest Reserve Systems and Wilderness areas. The student should be able to contrast these types and assess which uses are appropriate for those lands. The student should be able to construct arguments for and against certain types of uses, whether they be agricultural, recreational, or even industrial, on these lands. Students should be able to use information from history, geology, and biology courses as technical background for multi-use conflict solutions.

 III.    The student should be able to: Describe the various responsibilities of the park ranger in detail. The student should understand the basic job functions of park rangers in the areas of law enforcement, resource interpretation, and visitor/emergency services. The student should be able to relate the job functions to the uses of the land on which they occur. The student should be able to develop job acquisition objectives based on the requirements of the field and their knowledge of what areas are a priority in most park settings.

 IV.     The student should be able to: Apply their knowledge of jobs and responsibilities into organizing and prioritizing their educational objectives and job seeking tactics. The student should be able to rank what areas of the job they need to become knowledgeable and skilled in, what other outside activities such as student organizations, volunteer work, community service or internships would increase their viability as an employee. The student should be able to demonstrate the necessary knowledge and course accomplishment to articulate to a four year institution if that is in the students career plan.

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 

 I.      Public Lands - History, Ownership, and Use. - The history of how public lands came to be, with specific emphasis on the western U.S. with its large federal land holdings. Agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, state park systems, and municipal and county open space parks will be discussed from their development up to their present day operations. Impacts of land use, specifically, recreation, and the potential solutions to conflict will be a central theme of this part of the course.

 II.     Land Use - different types of public lands have different uses. Those used for wildlife refuges have distinctly different requirements and recreational uses than do National Forests or county open space bike trails. The political impacts of user groups and community groups will also be developed and the discussion of solutions to intra-group conflict.

 III.    Park Ranger Responsibilities - the park ranger career field is a multi-faceted, interdisciplinary job that requires an ability to understand and apply information from a variety of sources. Often the park ranger must also be a teacher to provide information to the public, protect the natural and cultural resources, protect the visiting public, and enhance their experiences on public lands in a positive way.

 IV.     Career Planning - this is a very competitive field and planning is vitally important. Internships, seasonal work, allied fields, other state systems will be discussed in detail. Articulation to four year universities will be discussed due to requirements of a four year degree in some park systems.