Lake Mead National Recreation Area Honors All Rangers On World Ranger Day, July 31, 2007 38-07

Date: July 31, 2007
Contact: Roxanne Dey, 702.293.8961

The National Park Service, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, joins hundreds of other parks around the world honoring its rangers (past, present, and future) who have had or will have the responsibility of protecting and caring for special public places so they can be safely experienced by visitors today, and for future generations.

Rangers at Lake Mead National Recreation Area are responsible for one of the largest park units in the country.  It has 1.5 million acres and is visited by about 8 million people annually.  The complexity of the recreation area includes fragile desert ecosystems, with diverse plant and animal species as well as cultural landscapes representing 8-10,000 years of human history in the midst of a major recreation area that includes two reservoirs.

NPS Rangers literally wear the traditionally ranger hat but they figuratively wear many other hats in the course of performing their duties, including:  search and rescue, emergency medical service, information dissemination, law enforcement, resource protection, structural fire fighting, guided hikes, talks, programs, educational outreach programs, and many more tasks that make being a National Park Service Ranger an honor and a unique form of public service.

At Lake Mead National Recreation Area in an average 12-month period:

• About 200,000 people participate in Ranger-led activities, hikes, programs, talks, and other information sharing activities
• More than 8,000 Jr. Ranger badges are earned by students
• About 30,000 students participate in curriculum-based education programs
• Rangers responded to about 12,000 total incidents, including 363 emergency medical service responses, and 93 search and rescue  missions

“Lake Mead NRA was the nation’s first national recreation area created by Congress in 1964.  The National Park Service and its Rangers have actually been managing the Recreation Area since the 1930s (initially under an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation).  Rangers at Lake Mead NRA have always had challenging and rewarding jobs. Our Rangers are the symbol of the National Park Service, who are committed to protecting natural and cultural resources and enabling visitors to have a safe and enjoyable visit. Please join me in honoring Rangers throughout the world who are preserving special and unique areas, species, and wildlife habitat for all of us,” said Superintendent Bill Dickinson.