Washington Trails Magazine Backcountry
Bookshelf March 2005
reviewed along with Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the
Sierra by Jordan Fisher Smith (Houghton Mifflin,$24.00)
All in a Day’s Work
Review by Karl Forsgaard
Anybody with a passion for the outdoors should enjoy these two memoirs of veteran park rangers. As one of the authors, Jordan Smith, writes, a park ranger’s job is to “protect the land from the people, the people from the land, the people from each other, and the people from themselves.” Indeed, both books feature vivid tales of people behaving badly. They convey the daily stresses of ranger life, and the many kinds of emergencies to which they must respond. Due to the abundance of crimes and crises, both books are fast-paced. Most of the incidents involve vehicles, boats and aircraft—but hikers will appreciate these eye-opening stories as much as anyone.
While the two books have much in common, the authors’ writing styles are quite different, and Smith takes a more critical view of his governmental employer and its policies. He also delves more deeply into the rich history and natural character of the park and river he patrolled, and the lives of the people he met. Nature Noir is Jordan Fisher Smith’s first book, and though he speaks of the “delusion” of being a writer, he’s wonderfully talented. He recounts 14 years as a California State Parks ranger in the Auburn State Recreation Area, on the American River northeast of Sacramento. In the 1960s, Congress approved a dam that would flood the river canyon resource he was assigned to protect. With the dam imminent, the land was considered temporary, an attitude with far-reaching effects, including under-equipped and understaffed land managers in a career dead-end, with out-of-control visitors to contend with. There were dirt-poor gold miners camped on the riverbanks, thrill-seekers and bridge jumpers, armed and inebriated violent fighters, tree poachers and other vandals. Smith says it “resembled peculiar 1970s westerns in which the bad guys all looked like armed rock and roll musicians.” In his early days there, before cynicism took over, he tried to make a real park out of the hopeless dam site, and began seizing every gun and lethal weapon he could find. It felt like “a grand social science experiment … How do people behave in a condemned landscape?” Yet he maintained his affection for wild those nature, and he portrays the land and its inhabitants with artistry. The epilogue informs us the dam has not yet been built, so there is new hope for these 48 miles of canyon land.
Park Ranger consists of 19 short stories from Nancy Muleady-Mecham’s two decades in Sequoia-Kings Canyon,
Everglades, Death Valley, Pearl Harbor, Great Smoky Mountains and Grand Canyon National
Parks. With a Ph.D. in biology, she worked as both a ranger naturalist and as a
protection ranger. This book emphasizes her protection ranger duty, in which
she was called on to act as a paramedic, a registered nurse, a federal law
enforcement officer, a structural fire brigade officer, and search-and-rescue
specialist. We learn that when a ranger responds to a law enforcement incident,
a fire, an emergency medical incident and a search incident in one 24-hour
period, it’s known as a Grand Slam. Her own Grand Slam takes place in Death
Valley, as a series of unrelated emergencies conspire to prevent her from
making it to court in time for the arraignment of a suspect. Muleady-Mecham has
a drier style than Smith, and due to her medical training she sometimes uses
more acronyms than a NOVA meeting. (That’s Non-Highway and Off-Road Vehicle
Activities, for you non-wonks out there). Nonetheless, her stories are exciting
and carry the reader along for a fascinating ride.
BOOKNOTES High Country News October 3, 2005
Ever dream of a career as a park ranger? Nancy Muleady-Mecham
goes beyond campfires and nifty uniforms to show us the gritty reality of rangerdom. A few hair-raising anecdotes from her 20-plus
years of rangering include performing a field
amputation, saving a 17-year-old heart attack victim, and dealing with a lost
man, a shooting, a burning car and a head injury in the space of a single day.
Maybe being an accountant isn’t so bad.
Newsletter
of the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police July 2005
We
don’t get to do many book reviews in the Protection Ranger, but “Park Ranger”
by Sister Muleady-Mecham is as much a treat to review as it was to read.
The author, who is a skilled paramedic
and nurse, as well as a skilled firefighter, writes in an accessible but
sophisticated style which makes reading a pleasure. She recounts many of the
more interesting, and dangerous, incidents she has handled in her career in
such parks as Sequoia/Kings, Death Valley and the
As
you might guess, there are many Lodge members involved in the rescues and LE
incidents and it is fun to read about FOP members going about their business.
The first member, Ranger George [
There’s
a part of the book I would like to quote to you: “One of the best things
about being a Protection Ranger is the job variety. Most National Park areas are remote
and short staffed. As a result, a fully functional Protection Ranger is
responsible for just about any emergency that may occur. We are Federal Law
Enforcement Officers. We have the training and authority to enforce laws and
make arrests as well as serve warrants. Law enforcement incidents can range from
minor [shop lifting] to severe including driving under the influence and
murder. Visitors to many national parks are surprised
to see a handful of the familiar rangers wearing body armor and carrying guns,
but rangers are the only police for miles.
For that same reason, Protection Rangers are the
structural Fire Department. We receive training and continuing education.
Should a fire occur, we pull off our green and gray uniforms, lock up our
pistols, and don firefighter pants, boots and jackets.”
This, and what follows, pretty
well sums up the multi-faceted work rangers are charged with doing in many
parks. As we know, it’s demanding, dangerous, and the add-ons to our LE work
are not compensated. Still rangers are always answering the alarm bell and will
continue to do so.
* * * * *
THE
EIGHTEEN ELEVEN
Professional Journal of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers
Association
May
2005 Book Review by J.M. De Santis (DEA)
Adrenaline junkies, this is a book for you.
This compilation of short vignettes is an informative group of experiences of
the author during her service career within many of
As detailed in this book through her
recounting of notable events experienced, she skillfully illustrated that
training is very important to be a successful Park Ranger. This book details
how the author put all of her training to use at one point or another during
her tenure as a NPS Ranger. The one thing that becomes immediately apparent is
that being a Park Ranger is nothing even close to being routine. Depending on
the season, the location, staffing levels and the fate of the gods, a park
ranger must be able to do many things. Situations can occur requiring the ranger
to also be a fireman, a tour guide, a search and rescue team member, an EMT, a
naturalist and/or just a friend: sometimes more than one thing at once.
Multi-tasking is definitely the word of the day.
This book is extremely enjoyable and I found
myself compelled to keep turning the page to find out if the events would end
successfully.
* * * * *
RANGER The Journal of the
Association of National Park Rangers Spring 2005 Vol
21. No 2
By
Kevin C. Moses
Big
South Fork
In a
career field that’s in itself punctuated with intense calls to action, Nancy
Eileen Muleady-Mecham has had a wilder ride than most. Like many rangers, she’s
worked in several busy parks, served on some demanding special
assignments and answered more than her fair share of hairier-than-most calls.
But unlike most rangers, Muleady-Mecham answered these calls not only in the
capacity of a law enforcement officer, firefighter and emergency medical
technician, but also as a paramedic.
That right there separates her from most NPS rangers, and it’s a
distinction that not only must be acknowledged, but to me, demands the highest
respect. Most of us have responded to calls to help ill and injured persons,
some severely, and we understand the pressures that are inherent to such calls.
But when NPS ranger/paramedics respond, they are truly in the hot seat,
shouldering a burden of responsibility tenfold what the average ranger does.
Think
about that for a second. Paramedics who work for many ambulance services need
only be competent
—no, they need only be excellent—in one arena: pre-hospital care. And police officers,
troopers and deputies need only be excellent in one as well: law enforcement.
Both of these disciplines require split-second decisions, finesse in a wide
variety of skills and an enormous degree of judgment-making ability.
Ranger/paramedics must be excellent at both. Those few who
volunteer to carry the requirements of this dual role are bold and courageous
souls and they go to work every day with
the unshakable knowledge that when the alert tone goes off, they will be called
upon to act.
Muleady-Mecham did exactly this, and she did so with poise, compassion and a
command of subject material that her patients needed to see in her eyes. From
With all that she’s seen and done over her career, it’s only
right that she write a book about it to provide an inside look into what NPS
rangers do while the rest of
She’s
fought fully involved structure fires, arrested felons who were fortunately too
drunk to access their arsenal of firearms in the front seat, saved a dear
friend’s life, amputated a man’s foot while a surgeon looked on, swam the cold, fast rapids of the
Colorado, responded to a an “officer down” call for a friend, dangled 100 feet
below a fast-moving helicopter on a 17-minute shorthaul mission, and held the
sincere honor of raising our nation’s colors over the sunken USS Arizona.
The
lay public will be nothing short of stunned, fellow Park Service folks in
non-ranger fields will be enlightened, and even veteran rangers will read her
stories with an attitude of respect. The real honest ones might ask themselves,
“Would I have known to do that?”
Additionally,
many readers will be part way through one of her chapters only to realize,
maybe with a crooked grin, that they know and have worked with some of the
other players Muleady-Mecham speaks of
throughout the book. We all know the NPS is a small world, and recognizing a
name or two only serves to drive that point home a little further.
Park Ranger is a terrific
read and an exciting one too. Muleady-Mecham
takes
us with her, writing with a style that keeps readers on the edge of their seats
while at the same time celebrates the grand majesty of the Iandscapes
in which the events unfold.
Referring
to one incident where the pucker factor was particularly high, Muleady-Mecham states simply, ‘‘The world responded.’’ Many of us know that type of call
and no one could have described it better She repeatedly captures with flawless
accuracy the deep satisfaction most park rangers know as a result of doing
their jobs well, and really, in writing this book, she’s written a tribute to
all of us who wear an arrowhead on our left shoulder.
Beyond even that I have to add a personal
note that Muleady-Mecham was also diligent
to render in one difficult-to-read chapter a precious honor to special group
of people, many of whom are friends of mine. Unlike every other story in
her book, Muleady-Mecham was
not there when this one occurred. She did not have to include it in her book,
but she chose to anyway. She wrote it for Tony and Julius, who valiantly drew
fire away from Joe. She wrote it for Glenn, Layman, Al and Keith, who risked
their own lives, scooping Joe’s lifeless body off the parkway. She wrote it for Florie and her Iittle ones, who
miss their Joe every day.
And
she wrote it for Joe, who died on Father’s Day wearing a badge over his heart
that read ‘‘National Park Ranger.”
* * * * *
'Lightning-fast
thinker writes must-read
By SETH MULLER
Sun Staff Reporter
06/07/2004 Arizona
Daily Sun
National Park Ranger
Nancy Muleady-Mecham saved a fellow ranger and friend from death by telling a
white lie. Muleady-Mecham, who has lived and worked in the Grand Canyon, Death
Valley and Sequoia national parks, recently released a book in time for park tourism
season called "Park Ranger: True Stories from a Ranger's Career in
America's National Parks." The book is a collection of stories that's a
must-read for park visitors, some who might find themselves in life-threatening
situations and relying on the resourcefulness of a park ranger.
In
one story, Muleady-Mecham details how she helped fellow ranger Nancy Haggerman,
who now lives in
As
area national parks head into their busy summer seasons, Muleady-Mecham said
rangers such as herself are left to respond to
numerous emergencies and problems -- and they have to be ready for anything to
happen, usually at once. "Because I
have developed skills, I respond to just about anything," she said.
"I also have a nickname: It's 'Lightning Rod.' There tends to be a lot of
excitement when I'm on duty." While working as a ranger in the Everglades
in
Muleady-Mecham
said millions of people visit national parks in the West each year, but a few
hundred or so find themselves in emergency situations that are compounded by
the fact that most of the parks, such as the
Haggerman said that park visitors need rangers such as Muleady-Mecham
around because they know how to handle whatever situation arises. "She's
real calm. She's definitely a woman of action," Haggerman said. "And
she's probably one of the smartest people I've met."
And,
she's a storyteller. She said this evolved out of telling the stories of her
adventures to friends and family. "My family said put them in a
book," she said. This led to
"Park Ranger," and Muleady-Mecham said she hopes people will read it
and gain some insight on what happens at national parks. "It fits into
where
Copyright 2004 Arizona
Daily Sun
Email from
Nancy September 2004
A few weeks
ago I took care of a 7 year old boy who fell out of a 3 story hotel room by
leaning against the window screen (about 30 feet).
By some
miracle he survived and was not seriously hurt and we transported him to the
ER.
His parents
were very neat and later called to say he was OK. Today, I received a phone
call from the patient's Dad,
and he
asked if I could sign some of my books for his family. As it turns out, his Dad
is a Blackhawk helicopter pilot and "was in the area".
So, I went
to the helibase and here comes this Blackhawk. It lands, the pilot, Chris (the
patient's Dad)
runs out
and has me signs some of my books he bought who knows where, then he gives me a
hug,
thanks me again
for taking such good care of his son, gets back in and flies away. Now that is
a fan!!