Click to Return to Beginning		THE NATIONAL PARKS AND EMERGENCY CONSERVATION LOCAL ADMINISTRATION Each of the national parks is in charge of a local superintendent, who resides in the park and is responsible to the headquarters office in Washington for all activities within the area under his control. In several of the smaller parks the superintendent has only four or five assistants. In the larger ones, such as the Yellowstone and the Yosemite, a large force is necessary and includes protective, clerical, educational, and engineering assistants. Entrance to Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park The protective work is done by the ranger force, headed by a chief ranger, who reports to the superintendent. The permanent ranger force is the all-year nucleus around which is built up the larger summer temporary force to handle the increased work of the tourist season. All of the ranger positions, permanent and temporary, are filled by civil-service appointment. Ranger duties include checking travel, directing traffic, enforcing the rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior for the protection of the park, giving information to tourists, fire fighting, improvement of trails, repair of telephone lines, protection of wild animals, fish planting, supervision of camp grounds, and numerous other duties. Owing to the responsibilities and hardships involved in the work, no men under 21 or over 35 years of age are considered for appointment as ranger. The more important of the national monuments are in charge of local custodians. The group of southwestern national monuments is in charge of a superintendent, through whom the custodians report. Through new arrangements with the Civil Service Commission the ranger service in the national parks and monuments has been professionalized and requires a college education. Both permanent and temporary rangers henceforth will be appointed through civil-service examination based not only upon practical protective knowledge but also upon specialized knowledge of biology, geology, forestry, archeology, or history.
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