We're heading to Rapid City! Mark your calendars now and plan to attend Ranger Rendezvous 47 in Rapid City, S.D., Nov. 2-9, 2024. The core program will be Nov. 6-9, with trainings Nov. 2-5, and the one-day ANPR Board meeting Nov. 5. The Rendezvous will include a compelling mix of training, informational presentations, field trips, networking and social events and opportunities, photo contest, and more.
Enhance your park ranger resume with educational and informative trainings that are currently being scheduled for Ranger Rendezvous 47. We are particularly excited to offer "Interpretation 150," a 32-hour class that will teach the art and science of interpretation and public communication. There is a sliding fee for the class - and a discount for ANPR members. See the photo below for details. 
We have invited both NPS Director Chuck Sams and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland as keynote speakers.
Alan Spears of NPCA is a much-anticipated keynnote speaker.
Jeff Ohlfs and Rick Mossman will presennt a programm on National Park System (NPS) history that you will not get at “Ranger Skills." Get an overview about what is not in the NPS, who has similar areas, what has left the NPS, and what didn’t make it into the NPS. Who knows? Maybe you might learn about an answer for trivia night!
Photographer Paul Horsted worked for five years on a personal project to locate and re-photograph historic photo sites at 24 of the oldest and grandest National Parks. The results were published in "Treasures of the National Parks Yesterday & Today," published in 2017. Paul will also discuss similar work he has done across the Black Hills including rare images from the 1874 Black Hills "Custer" Expedition.
Casey Osback presents "Touching the Pen, the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty," focusing on the site's relevance as a diplomatic center through a thematic, "first-person" character who observed the treaty ceremonies first-hand in April of that year (Joseph Casey, 2nd Lt., 2nd U.S. Cavalry, will be played by Casey Osback. Osback will be dressed in 19th period clothing with a cavalry saddle, replica Sharps Carbine and Colt Revolver along with other props). Osback's character, an 1866 graduate of West Point Military Academy and former resident of Litchfield, Conn., will bring a 19th century Euro-American context and viewpoint to the audience. Highlighting the observations of this young lieutenant will be photographs of the 1868 Treaty taken by 19th century photographer Alexander Gardner.
Dan Wenk will share perspectives of his time in the NPS wherein he served as superintendent of Yellowstone during some tumultuous years and also served as deputy director of the NPS. Dan will also be a member of a panel on “NPS Partners.”
David Vela will share perspectives of his time as deputy director and acting director of the NPS, the toll this assignment took on him and what he sees looking ahead about the future of the NPS.
Walter Dabney will present his popular progamm titled, "Travels With Freeman Tilden," when in 1970 he spent a year assigned as aide to NPS senior author and editor Freeman Tilden. He was 23 and Tilden was 86. "During that year we 'boarded' in the same house, worked, and travelled together based out of the Harpers Ferry Interpretative Design Center," Dsbney said. "We interacted with employees and students on our travels, all over the country. I kept a journal of the year and referred to that journal 47 years later to put together a program, not on what is Interpretation, but who was Freeman Tilden and his legacy on interpretation in the NPS and other agencies.”
Two field trips are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 8:
The Rendezvous headquarters hotel is the Holiday Inn Rapid City Downtown, which is within easy walking distance of the heart of the city, including restaurants, Main Street Square, museums, public art, and more. Rapid City Regional Airport is currently served by five major airlines, and the hotel offers a shuttle for those who call ahead of time. The $99 (plus tax) rate is available to registered participants, Reserve your room at the Holiday Inn:
12675 N. Sunrise Shadow DriveMarana, AZ 85658
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