Most Effective & Efficient Park Administrative Operations — For the past three years I’ve been a member of the Pacific West Region’s (PWR) Administrative Advisory Committee. The committee’s mission is to enhance communication among the regional office, the regional leadership council and park areas in order to improve understanding, efficiency and productivity.

The committee’s primary purposes are:

1. To advise the regional director on regionwide administrative operations.
2. To serve as subject matter experts in providing advice and assistance to the regional leadership council.
3. To enhance the delivery and execution of administrative functions throughout the PWR. The committee serves as a source of information regarding administrative procedures and their overall impact and effectiveness; provides input on policy, direction, standards and programs for the PWR; enhances the professionalism and competency of personnel engaged in administrative duties; and assists new administrators in the transition to the PWR and new methods of accomplishing administrative functions.

Many other regions in the NPS have similar committees. These committees have been a strong advocate and voice for administrative employees in the field, both inside and outside of the employee’s park. One of the items our committee has frequently discussed is the future of administrative operations and employees in the parks. We’ve all heard about consolidating and centralizing administrative functions, and with actions taken in some parks, there may be some managers who would be supportive of getting these administrative operations out of parks.

For example, in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, the administrative officer position was abolished. This also occurred at Channel Islands and Canyonlands. Other NPS areas may follow this trend if the value of the administrative officer is not realized. It may be that self-directed work teams/groups like those at the above named parks are a better way to conduct administrative duties, eliminating a leader of the administrative division at parks.

Another example of changing administrative operations happened where I work (Yosemite)—the Human Resources Office was removed from the administrative division and now reports directly to the park’s deputy superintendent. We still have an administrative officer, but the functions traditionally provided by that division have changed, with the HRO no longer a part of the division.

I’m not sure what the two examples mean for the future of administrative operations in parks, but with the funding shortfalls many parks are experiencing, administrative functions are certainly one of the first and hardest hit of park operations. The administrative professionals need to take a hard look at what we do and ensure we communicate and demonstrate our importance so we can continue to be valued members of park staffs. We also need to be involved in the variety of changes occurring in our professions.

If you have other examples to share with Ranger readers about evolving administrative operations, please send them to me at heather_whitman@yahoo.com and I can write a follow-up article in a future issue.

Interpretation

Knowing your audience: It’s easier than you think — According to the interpretive equation, three elements must be combined in order to create an interpretive opportunity: the interpreter’s knowledge of the audience, knowledge of the resource and the application of interpretive techniques. Interpreters have ample practice in the application of interpretive techniques and are judicious at researching their topics, spending hours in the library or speaking with resource specialists to construct a cohesively developed program. Knowledge of the audience is, unfortunately, a bit more elusive.

Knowing one’s audience is more than just taking a cursory glance at the people on your program and assuming their socioeconomic backgrounds from the types of clothing or hiking boots they are wearing. It is more than just asking folks where they are from or why they have chosen to visit your park as you warm up your group before marching up the trail. While it is true that every visitor is unique, many visitors come to parks and attend programs for similar reasons (just as many visitors choose not to visit parks or attend programs for similar reasons of their own). What are these reasons? Well, there is really only one way to find out—a visitor survey.

The words “visitor survey” seem to strike fear and hopelessness into the hearts of the uninformed. I still recall the first time I wanted to conduct such a survey and was notified by someone organizationally above me that any such survey had to be approved by the Office of Management and Budget. The general vibe I got was “Good luck. But don’t be too crestfallen when your survey is rejected,” as if a divine hand from on high would reach from the clouds and send a lightning bolt to incinerate my meticulously crafted questionnaire. But in actuality, this attitude could not be further from reality.

The NPS social science program exists to provide parks with technical guidance and expertise throughout the visitor survey process. The program serves as the liaison between parks and the OMB. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, OMB is not some ogre whose sole purpose is to kill worthy surveys. In fact, with the expedited approval process, the time between submitting your survey instrument to OMB and the time it is approved is generally one month or less. The expertise provided by the social science program has produced surveys of a consistently high quality and with a consistently high approval rate.

Not sure what kinds of questions you want to ask of your visitors? The social science program can help. There are seven broad categories of questions you may ask of visitors ranging from demographic information and questions relating to their trip to directed questions about management decisions and policies and the perceived value of fee-for-service park experiences. The social science program staff will suggest helpful wording to remove the ambiguity from your questions and will steer you away from questions that raise OMB’s hackles.

These surveys can help your interpretive operation in myriad ways. You can discover where your visitors generally spend their evenings (such as in a campground or a gateway community), which will help target your program advertising. You can find out where most of your visitors are coming from and perhaps market your park or park programs more effectively to underserved groups. You can learn about repeat visitation trends and ask visitors why they have chosen to visit your park or your interpretive program. And with a reasonable sample size, these questions can yield meaningful data that can pay immediate dividends to interpreters and park managers with a high level of confidence against sampling bias. The possibilities for information collection are limited only by the attention span of your survey audience and the number of public burden hours you wish to incur.

So, if you feel that your knowledge of your audience is lacking or you need to hear the voice of the masses to inform your interpretive management decisions, perhaps a visitor survey will cure your proclivity for a “shoot from the hip” interpretive management philosophy. For more information, visit the NPS social science program website at www.nature. nps.gov/socialscience and know that the staff of the social science program is there to help you collect the most meaningful data through the best survey instrument and research designs possible.

Protection

Backcountry Patrol: Be Prepared — Rangers are more than cops. We are, among other things, stewards of wild places.

Any time we head into the backcountry, we should carry equipment that will address the following basic needs, and we need to be skilled enough to use it.

1. Shelter. An army poncho, poncho liner and small hammock can provide relative comfort next to a fire in the event of an unscheduled bivy. They are small, lightweight and carry easily in a daypack.

Clothing is shelter, too. Remember: cotton kills! So wear synthetics and layer them. Keep a cap in your pack, too. You lose a lot of heat through your cranial vault.

2. First Aid. Everything changes once you’re injured, and pain affects everything you do in a survival situation. So carry a well-put-together med kit. Include strong pain meds, splinting materials, field dressings to stop arterial bleeding, antiseptic cleansers and epi.

3. Fire Building. Fire is essential in the backcountry. It means life. Plain and simple.

Carry at least three means to make it. Dry matches, Bic lighters, flint and steel, a high-quality magnifying glass, and 0000 steel wool with a 9-volt battery all work well. Hint: don’t carry the steel wool and the 9-volt in the same bag.

Carry dry tinder with you, too, such as needlecast, woodshop shavings, shish-ka-bob skewers, dryer lint, cotton balls and candles.

4. Water Procurement. All living things need water. Plan on a minimum of a gallon per day, and double that if you’re laboring heavily.

Filters, iodine tablets, Clorox bleach and boiling are all effective methods for making water safe to drink. Boiling only works if you have a metal pot, so carry one.

5. Signaling (Auditory and Visual). There will be times when you cannot rescue yourself, in which case, you’ll have to signal for help.

For visual signals you can’t beat a mirror whose flash can be seen from more than a mile away. Carry a high-quality one, such as the type issued to Air Force pilots as part of their ejection/survival vests.

Three fires built in a row (three of anything is the universal SOS signal), flare guns and strong flashlights, especially strobes, also send excellent visual signals.

A high-quality whistle is your best bet for an auditory signal. A powerful whistle blast will carry farther than you might think. Some whistle manufacturers even claim their products work under water, and this quality is vital in a survival whistle.

For you gun-toting rangers, if your situation is dire enough, remember you have a cannon on your hip. It makes a pretty effective auditory signal. Remember, three shots in a row.

6. Land Navigation. If you’re able to move, and rescue seems unlikely, then move you should, and it will be nice if you have at least a clue where you are and where you’re headed.

GPS units are great, but they sometimes fail. Always carry topo maps and a high-quality compass with you in the backcountry. Always! And know how to use them. This is probably one of the least mastered traditional ranger skills among rangers as a whole.

Carry flagging too. Its uses are manifold.

7. Cutting Instruments. Like fire, a knife is indispensable in the backcountry. The best knife in any survival situation is the one you have with you.

Swiss Army knives are great, as are multi-tools (just ask Aron Ralston) and sturdy sheath knives. The uses for knives are limitless, and in many cases, they’ve made the difference between survival and death. They’re that important. So carry a good one.

8. Light Source. If I had a buck for every family I had to “rescue” from the backcountry because they forgot a light source, I’d be a millionaire. Astonishingly, these same folks always had a cell phone and a camera, whose flash they tried employing as their light source.

Headlamps, Surefire, LEDs, mini-mags—whatever works. Just carry one. No, carry three light sources and backup batteries. Just don’t use your camera flash.

9. Parachute Cord. This stuff is indestructible, can hold 550 pounds, and like a knife, its uses are virtually boundless in the backcountry.

Beware the wanna-be stuff—it’s not nearly as useful as the authentic parachute cord. You can “gut” true p-cord and use the inner strands for sewing, equipment repairs and fishing.

10. Food and Food Procurement. Carry slow-release carbs if possible, like granola bars and energy bars, and for overnight patrols, pasta and rice can’t be beat.

If the food you carry runs out, you’ll have to procure more from your surroundings. Remember that cannon and knife? Another obvious use for both.

Snare wire is great, but it only works if you know how to build a good trap, so learn. Carry a few fishing lures and hooks, too. Plus, you can fashion a gill net with the p-cord.

Experiment with vegetation. More of it is edible than you think, but remember, too, that much of it is not. Crush it between your fingers, smell it, taste it and ingest small samples at first. Wait 24 hours. If no adverse signs present, ingest a little more. Remember, some vegetation has to be cooked before it is digestible.

Much of this is common sense. But sadly, it’s been my observation that common sense regarding woodsmanship skills is often not common among rangers. If you already know most of this, terrific; you’re probably an outstanding ranger in the backcountry. Pass on what you know to your fellow rangers.

If much of this is new to you, that’s OK, too, but begin carrying what you need on your very next backcounry patrol. Buy a book on wilderness survival or better yet, take a class. You’ll learn a tremendous amount of cool stuff, and you’ll become a better ranger in the process.

As rangers we head off into the backcountry on a regular basis. Carrying the right loot will usually keep us out of a tight spot, but when the unavoidable finally happens and we find ourselves in a fix, that same loot will exponentially increase our odds of making it out alive.

So whenever you do leave the security of your patrol vehicle and beat feet into the outback—and I hope that’s a frequent thing—be sure to shoulder your pack and, like the Boy Scouts, “Be prepared.”

~ Kevin Moses, Big South Fork

Resource Management

Have you heard of the initiative to analyze “Core Operations”? Parks in the Intermountain Region have begun the process, and as I understand it, more in that region and others will begin in the new year. Core operations analysis involves looking at primary work activities done by staff in parks (or central offices), how much time/FTE is devoted to them, and the type and amount of funding. Units complete a “budget cost projection” model for out-years that includes defined assumptions about how fixed costs, such as permanent employees’ salaries and utility bills, will rise with inflation, step increases and other factors. Activities are analyzed as to whether or not they are core to the park’s mission, in critical support of the mission, or less associated with mission goals and objectives as defined by and for that unit by legislation, a general management plan, and/or this analysis process. Units are then armed with information to help them make decisions on what to emphasize or de-emphasize if expected costs exceed available funds.

The jaded might look with suspicion on this latest way to address tightening budgets. I, however, remain optimistic that it’s a long-overdue way to engage NPS staff in reconsidering how and where we spend our time and money. I have been long in one ecosystem, in old-line parks with well-established patterns of visitor use and associated park management response. Much good has been and is, I hope, still being done by all divisions of park staff. Still, the scientist in me has long thought we were not as good as we could be in re-examining how and why we did some of the things we did. The “we’ve always done it that way” really holds true. It’s neither inherently good or bad—but neither are parks always on the cutting edge of using new techniques or of responding to changing expectations and use patterns of visitors and other clientele.

Admittedly, my bias is that most resource management, protection and interpretive work will be viewed as “core” to each park’s mission. This is not to imply that much maintenance or business management work is not. But following on the theme of Richard Sellars’ 1997 book, Preserving Nature in the National Parks, we should be aware of how we allocate our dollars and time toward construction and visitor services compared with what we devote to natural and cultural resource-based work.

In my park we’ve just begun working on core operations analysis, and it’s likely to take many months to advance through the process. Park managers are being inclusive, letting all employees know that the effort has begun, what it’s intended to do and why. There are opportunities for employees at all levels to offer input, and I expect this to result in some lively debates. As a scientist, I relish rather than fear this, even if it results in some change in how the park—and the NPS—focuses its time and effort.

~ Sue Consolo Murphy, Grand Teton