We are omnifunctional. He compares the diverse functions of the commissioned park ranger as similar to the duties of the county sheriff, but on a federal level. We are not immune from the same problems all cops face, divorce, stress, suicide and the like. A day spent patrolling with Ranger Kurt Oliver gives one a sense of the specific problems faced by commissioned rangers and the educational orientation they bring to their job. We focus on education.
People are out of their element here.
We try to explain the sensitivity of the area to them. Some of Oliver s memories of his experiences in the park reflect the sensitivity rangers must give to the vibrant, yet fragile, resources they are charged to protect. Sometimes, the people that visit us are more wild and bizarre than the animals. He recalled incidents of people pulling out live flowers, cutting down trees and loading up their trucks with rocks from the park. One man berated him because he could not find a parking spot wherever he wanted to in the park.