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Old 05-26-2017, 03:33 PM   #1
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No more Park Rangers

I was talking to the gentleman who owns the local bait and tackle store . His son is a Wisconsin Park Ranger and was told recently that this will be his last summer as a Park Ranger .
Wisconsin will no longer have Park Rangers and the only person at the parks will be a clerk who collects camping fees and they will only work the day shift . The state is asking local law enforcement to patrol the parks but some Counties are balking because of the additional expense that is being shoved upon them.
So now if you have a problem in a Wisconsin State Park you will have to call the county sheriff.
Doesn't sound like a well thought out plan to me but maybe my taxes will go down. I also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
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Old 05-26-2017, 03:40 PM   #2
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We have a group of 40 or more volunteers here in Washington that annually do a cleanup day at one of our state parks. This year it was cancelled because there were not enough rangers to coordinate the project. Our parks are expected to operate on fees but they do not come close to meeting the needs.
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Old 05-26-2017, 05:24 PM   #3
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Taxes... go down?? Not as likely as lightning striking each of us twice, eh?

Really sorry to hear that WI is doing away with park rangers. We could hope that it will only last a year, during which state officials will see what havoc they have wrought and bring the rangers back. WI campers deserve better!
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Old 05-26-2017, 08:02 PM   #4
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I had read that the Wisconsin park rangers were only having their law enforcement duties taken away. That would mean there would still be Rangers, but they would no longer carry firearms, and would have to call in local law enforcement for any problems.
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Old 05-26-2017, 08:09 PM   #5
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I've stayed at several state parks this trip where either the camp host did all the work or in one case in Wyoming they had a self pay box. I never saw a park employee.

I always thought having park rangers do law enforcement duties was unfair to the rangers. So if that is what they are doing I'm all for it. Let the professional trained LEOs do those duties.
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Old 05-26-2017, 08:15 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Radar1 View Post
I had read that the Wisconsin park rangers were only having their law enforcement duties taken away. That would mean there would still be Rangers, but they would no longer carry firearms, and would have to call in local law enforcement for any problems.
You may be correct ? . Roger's son has been a Park Ranger for over ten years and he is looking for a new job possibly in law enforcement . Also he and his family live on the park grounds and they are looking for a new home .
I doubt he would give up a job that he really loves or be house hunting for no reason. You have to understand that Wisconsin's Governor is no friend of the State Parks or the DNR , both of which have suffered huge budget and staffing cuts under his leadership.
I hope you are correct but if past history is any indicator , I expect the worst to be true.
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Old 05-27-2017, 04:26 AM   #7
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In New Hampshire, I worked as a camp host 8 years ago and we did the pre-season clean up and daily clean up of pit toilets and sites. Also clerical work such as collect money and handled any problems.
Local sherif was called in only if situation warrented it and company who has control of the contract with the National Forest had to pay for this call.
Sherif did patrole through 3 times on weekends.
Taxes go down...NO...in fact National Forest now makes you buy a parking permit to park $5 for any day use area and trail hiking trail head in the National Forest.
I pay Federal taxes.....Pay more...Get less....
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Old 05-27-2017, 07:07 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by thrifty bill View Post
...I always thought having park rangers do law enforcement duties was unfair to the rangers. So if that is what they are doing I'm all for it. Let the professional trained LEOs do those duties.
I assumed park rangers were trained LEOs... no? I know our local tribal wardens have to attend police academy.

The problem is certified LEOs don't come cheap these days.
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Old 05-27-2017, 07:19 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Jon in AZ View Post
I assumed park rangers were trained LEOs... no? I know our local tribal wardens have to attend police academy.

The problem is certified LEOs don't come cheap these days.
Not all park rangers are LEOs. I asked a couple rangers at a COE park if they were LEOs, and they were not. I have read a couple books by park rangers and they note the differences between a regular ranger and one that is LEO
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:41 AM   #10
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Park Rangers

I remember growing up in L.A. CA and checking out balls at the parks, playing tennis in lighted courts all for free. Parks were free to get in and camp. Today with free needle exchanges-free lunches-free cell phones-and phony jobs created to be paid by taxes we don't have the same benefits we use to have like park rangers.
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Old 05-27-2017, 11:02 AM   #11
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I've seen some real Fiasco's with power tripping park rangers. It seems to Foster an us-against-them jaded mentality. Obviously, it isn't always true, but I've seen serious disrespect and abuse of power. My LEO friends tell me that it's hard to do their job and not think everyone is a criminal. It's a majority of their experience. For that reason, it may be a great idea to separate the two.
Also, park volunteers are the nicest most helpful people, and really put their heart and soul into the job. There are always more people who want to live in a park as a volunteer than available opportunities, so why not develop that for free.
Ultimately, the issue is a small vs big government matter, and people with political and philosophical differences will disagree. Having a position for the sake of hiring someone is not productive, regardless. I'm sad to see someone lose a position, but always glad that they'll get something meaningful if their job really wasn't absolutely necessary. I'd feel awful working a job that I really wasn't needed for.
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Old 05-27-2017, 04:51 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
I was talking to the gentleman who owns the local bait and tackle store . His son is a Wisconsin Park Ranger and was told recently that this will be his last summer as a Park Ranger .
Wisconsin will no longer have Park Rangers and the only person at the parks will be a clerk who collects camping fees and they will only work the day shift . The state is asking local law enforcement to patrol the parks but some Counties are balking because of the additional expense that is being shoved upon them.
So now if you have a problem in a Wisconsin State Park you will have to call the county sheriff.
Doesn't sound like a well thought out plan to me but maybe my taxes will go down. I also believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Their park entry fees are expensive also. If you are not a WI resident then it will cost you a lot more than a resident. Sounds like the parks are about to go under. That means someone is putting a lot of money into their pockets.
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Old 05-27-2017, 05:22 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Jann Todd View Post
Their park entry fees are expensive also. If you are not a WI resident then it will cost you a lot more than a resident. Sounds like the parks are about to go under. That means someone is putting a lot of money into their pockets.
Wisconsin parks are now self supporting and recieve no state tax dollars. The camping fees , reservation fee , electrical hookups and park admission stickers have all seen price increases.
In the past the parks hired local high school and college student to work in the parks during the summer and that's just about disappeared. We made reservations at several Wisconsin State Parks where we were told water , flush toilets and showers were open and available to find out when we arrived that all the facilities were shut down due to budget cuts. We paid the full camping fee and when I asked about a refund I was told to call the governor.
They have also deferred park maintenance and the funds available shrink every year. Last year we camped at Michigan SP , the cost were less and the services were better.
Even the park programs for children have been cut dramatically.
You can draw your own conclusions but as the governor stated
" It's not the responsibility of the government to provide recreational opportunities for its citizens.
It is rumored that they are planning to charge a fee to hike or hunt on any state land . IE , You will need a pass to enter onto any state property and the cost will be at the same rate as the State Park Pass. Remember it's NOT a tax but only a user's fee so they can brag about not raising taxes in the next election.
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Old 05-27-2017, 08:04 PM   #14
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fake news

Wisconsin is not eliminating all park rangers.

Now if you want to see state parks in disrepair, the worst I have seen are in Wisconsin's southern neighbor, Illinois.
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:06 PM   #15
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park rangers

If the state parks close down then the private rv parks will probably cost less because they won't have to pay taxes to fund their competition(state parks)
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:08 PM   #16
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It's an interesting philosophical situation. On the one hand, one could see it as the state running a business (a park with camping & boating facilities, etc.), and it's easy to make the argument that the state should not be operating businesses because businesses belong in the private sector. One logical extension of this line of thought would be to have the government divest itself of state lands, perhaps with a title restriction specifying that such lands can only be purchased and owned by citizens or entities residing within that state. Campgrounds and other popular recreational facilities would then be truly run in a businesslike manner and perhaps more efficiently; the only people paying for their use would be the users. If the new owners did a poor job of managing the place, users would vote with their dollars and go elsewhere.

On the other hand, one could view it from the perspective that the citizens chose to have the state (the citizens as a group) maintain ownership of certain land parcels, and therefore the state has an obligation to provide stewardship of those parcels for the benefit of all joint owners by utilizing tax revenues from all joint owners. The results include more assurance of access, a feeling (theoretically) of shared ownership and shared responsibility among all citizens, bureaucratic inefficiencies in operating the facilities, and reduced accountability. Users have less recourse (primary recourse is the ballot box) if they disagree with how the properties are being run. There is also more potential for feelings of anger and resentment over the parcels' management in this situation.

Perhaps others can think of additional advantages or disadvantages to either perspective. It would be interesting to see what we all can come up with.
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Old 05-27-2017, 10:59 PM   #17
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Kinda makes me proud to live in IllAnnoy... Well almost!
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Old 06-03-2017, 11:00 PM   #18
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I am reminded of the $5 boat launch fee at Corps of Engineers lakes in my area. 30 years ago, before the fees, it was "free" to launch a boat. When the fees were imposed they had to staff an attendant at each boat ramp to collect the fee. I always suspected that amount collected does not cover the cost of hiring the attendant.
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Old 06-03-2017, 11:43 PM   #19
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If you want to explore the concept of privatized parks, look into Montana river properties that have been bought up by Ted Turner and his buddies, to prevent the ordinary fly fisher access to 'their' waters.
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