Ranger UP gives the reader a behind the scene glimpse into the real life adventures of our multi-talented National Park Rangers from across the country. This collection of true short stories includes high adventure incidents from all of the major disciplines of Protection Rangers which include Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Emergency Medical Services, Fire and Emergency Management, while also providing the reader with advice on how to stay safe when visiting our National Parks. These stories will play on all of your emotions, they will "amaze you, entertain you, make you mad, and make you cry". Protection Rangers are known as the "Danger Rangers" of the National Park Service, the wide variety diciplines they are responsible for make the job extremely challenging, but also provide for plenty of exciting adventures. One minute you may be on a life threating law enforcement incident, the next hanging off of a cliff saving a life.

RANGER UP!

True Stories of National Park Service Protection RangersBy Richard E. (Rick) Brown

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Richard E. (Rick) Brown
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-1778-1

Contents

FOREWORD.......................................................................viiACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:..............................................................ixINTRODUCTION...................................................................1SETTING THE STAGE - MEMORABLE MEMORIAL WEEKEND.................................9THE BUFFALO STAMPEDES..........................................................23COLD STUFF.....................................................................31FROSTBITE - A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE............................................37RESCUE - FALLING ACCIDENT AT GROTTO FALLS......................................45SURF'S UP - A SWIFTWATER RESCUE................................................55BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED.........................................................63THE PIT AND THE MOUNTAIN CUR...................................................69HEMMED-IN-HOLLOW REVISITED - HISTORY ALMOST REPEATS ITSELF.....................87WHY DO RANGERS WEAR GUNS?......................................................99RELIC HUNTING - VIOLATOR HAS THE "BLUES".......................................125CAR CLOUTING - AN OUTRAGE......................................................135MANHUNT - THE PURSUIT AND CAPTURE OF ERIC ROBERT RUDOLPH.......................143THIEVERY - AN ELECTRIFYING EXPERIENCE..........................................149FIRE AND INCIDENT MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS........................................1539/11 TERRORIST RESPONSE........................................................161T-5 TORNADO....................................................................163HURRICANE RESPONSE.............................................................167BRIDGE DAY AT NEW RIVER GORGE..................................................179AFTERWORD:.....................................................................195OTHER RECOMMENDED READING:.....................................................201

Chapter One

SETTING THE STAGE - MEMORABLE MEMORIAL WEEKEND

During my career as a National Park Ranger while working with local law enforcement and emergency services agencies I was asked on numerous occasions, "Is it always this busy in the park?" The honest answer is, it depends. Winters and off season months can be downright boring at times. Then all of a sudden you get a report of a vehicle crash, or someone takes a fall and you're off and running. The calls never stop even in the off season but they do slow down. During the off season rangers generally divert their attention to resource management, safety, training or other administrative tasks that they haven't had a chance to get to during the main visitor season. In the normal visitor season the call volume generally stays pretty steady; emergency calls or law enforcement incidents come fairly frequently. There are times however, that it gets pretty slow even during the main visitor season. That's when you have to watch out because it's like the calm before the storm and all of a sudden things can get crazy. During the Memorial Weekend, 4th of July weekend, and Labor Day Weekend rangers really earn their pay.

To give you an idea of what it can be like at times look at this example of a typical Memorial Day weekend at New River Gorge National River in 1998. The weekend started off with a "bang" on Friday evening. Rangers in the Grandview area received a report of gunshots fired in the Glade Creek Campground. The initial report was that a vehicle had driven through the campground and fired several gunshots from a moving vehicle. Shooting incidents in the park were relatively frequent, and because of the danger and unpredictability involved in these violent incidents we usually brought lots of help. Several rangers, WV State Troopers, and Raleigh County Sheriff Deputies responded to the area to investigate the report. When we arrived on scene there was no longer any vehicle activity in the area, and the campground was quiet so we went to the campsite where the person reporting the shooting was located. Initially the reporting party (RP) said he wasn't sure who, or why the shots were fired. However, after repeated questioning of the RP and other campers in the campground we learned that there had been a very rowdy party in the campsite of the RP. Witnesses said that there had been loud arguing and what sounded like a violent fight in the campsite. They heard a vehicle speed away from the campsite and then heard several gunshots come from the vicinity of the vehicle as it was speeding away. No one in the campground was able, or more likely was willing, to give any information on the persons that had fired the shots or a description of the vehicle involved.

After it was apparent that the threat had left the area, the troopers and deputies left the area, leaving the investigation to the rangers. It was apparent from the witness statements that there probably had been shots fired in the area, but since it was dark and the shots had probably gone off into the woods there was no physical evidence, at least at this point. We had witnesses saying that shots were fired from a vehicle, but no names or description of the suspects or of the vehicle, and no physical evidence to confirm the report. We had spent about two and one half hours investigating the incident, and this is one that was going to take some follow-up over the next few days or weeks before the case could be resolved. The saving grace in the incident was no one was injured.

Saturday morning started out fairly slow. Since the commercial river outfitters usually book rafting trips heavy on these weekends they get started early at the put-in areas, especially on Saturday and Sunday. The Cunard Launch Area is one of the main put-ins because it's the beginning of the lower section through the "gorge" and the beginning of the class IV+ whitewater section (using the International Grading System for whitewater, Class I is the easiest with gentle rapids or ripples, and Class VI is the most difficult and dangerous). There is normally a tremendous amount of commercial river traffic trying to squeeze into a relatively tiny space along the river, so rangers spent the morning managing the put-in operation. At the time there were twenty three commercial outfitters on this section of the river, and as the locals like to say "it's a class six bus ride down the Cunard Road, to run a class five river". The saying is pretty darn accurate, even though the road had been improved some since my arrival at New River in 1985. At that time it was a very steep, narrow, winding, unpaved, and rutted mud hole. Each of the twenty three outfitters would generally have several forty to sixty passenger buses going into and out of the two mile section of the Cunard Access Road, disgorging rafts and passengers at the river access at the bottom. The buses were typically old retired school buses that had be pressed back into service and many were held together with not much more than baling wire and duct tape. It wasn't unusual to see buses broken down on the side of the road with brake problems, engine failure, and broken axles.

Going down the narrow, winding, rutted, rocky and very steep road was an accident waiting to happen; we always prayed it wouldn't happen, but at the same time we stayed prepared. Not only was the road treacherous, but it was too narrow for...