[Music]
hello I'm Ranger lavender what is a hat
and why do we wear them besides the
obvious benefits of weather and safety
protection hats off and serve another
less obvious purpose they speak volumes
about the person wearing them who they
are what they do and even how they feel
about that job the many different hats
of the National Park Ranger are full of
symbolism revealing insight into the
thrilling world of national parks and
even giving a hint of our hopes for the
future the National Park Service was
created in 1916 to protect parks for
this and future generations to enjoy to
help us do this very special job we need
a variety of very special hats but one
of the most common hats and by far the
most recognizable hat of the National
Park Ranger is this one what we call a
flat hat the flat hat has some
interesting features some of which have
been used as long as the National Park
Service has been in existence this is a
Stetson style hat providing some good
protection for Sun and rain but it also
has some other design features such as
the Montana peak that's that for
squished peak on the top that's good for
sheeting rain off the Hat that very
first Park Rangers were a very similar
hat in the early parks like Yosemite in
the late 1800s and early 1900s but
eventually we added some special design
features by 1930 we had a hat that
looked very much like this one with
these very special symbols on the Hat
band can you see what is imprinted into
my leather hat band that is the imprint
of a Sequoia pinecone here in Shenandoah
National Park do you see any sequoias me
neither
sequoia trees are special giant ancient
trees on the west coast of the United
States along the California coast is a
place where people usually go
see these trees these trees are very
special some of the oldest living things
on earth a giant ancient Sequoia can
grow 100 feet around can be over 200
feet tall and live for over 2,000 years
this is a pretty cool symbol to have on
my hat I also have the same pinecone
here a Sequoia cone on my belt all Park
Rangers are gonna wear the same hats
flat hats no matter what Park were in
even though we don't have sequoias but
that symbol of the Sequoia is a great
one for here in the parks after all it
reminds us that we want to reach out to
new visitors and explore new
opportunities and ways to communicate
and we want to live at least as long as
the ancient Giant Sequoias this hat has
some very special features because it is
so recognizable you can see it from way
across the parking lot do you think
that's important in a park
sometimes our visitors come to national
parks and they have some very important
questions they need answers to where's
the closest bathroom that's an important
one how far should you stand from a
grizzly bear and can anyone tell us
stories about the people who lived here
long before it was a national park you
can find answers to these questions by
seeking out a park ranger wearing this
hat pretty awesome but it's not always
the most awesome and best hat for us to
wear for all the things we Park Rangers
do it's a little bit hard it can get a
little bit hot and it's really hard to
hike or climb in it Park Rangers do a
variety of jobs and so we wear a variety
of hats to help us do those special jobs
one of the hats that we wear is a
special hat that helps us help you when
you're way out in the backcountry
imagine for a minute you're hiking deep
in the woods over rocky terrain
splashing through creeks and you slip on
a wet Rock and fall injuring your leg
there's no way that you can hike out
what do you do hopefully you can contact
a park ranger who can come
and help maybe you will use a GPS
tracker a cell phone a radio or even
holler to your next closest visitor
hiking the trail or a friend that can go
out there and get a park ranger to help
and when a park ranger comes all the way
into the backcountry to help
they're gonna wear a special hat a
helmet actually much like a climbing
helmet or a caving helmet we're gonna
wear these hats when we join you on a
search and rescue it helps keep us safe
while we help you after all
Rangers slip and fall on rocks too so
this will make sure there's only one
patient on that search and rescue
sometimes in national parks wildland
fires occur sometimes they're caused by
people and sometimes by natural causes
like lightning when Rangers need to go
out and help on these wildland fires
we're gonna wear a totally different
special hat looks a lot like a
construction helmet
it's a hardhat we're gonna wear a
wildland fire hat though with some extra
special doodads like fire resistant
cloth to help keep sparks at bay we're
also gonna have a special uniform for
this special job sometimes we're
fighting a wildland fire containing it
and other times we're just monitoring it
making sure that it's spreading in a
safe way
fires are healthy for some park
ecosystems but no matter what we want to
be safe when we're there so we're gonna
wear that special hat when we're out in
wildland fires not all fires happen way
off in the backcountry though sometimes
there's fires at visitor centers lodges
or even just a vehicle fire on the side
of the road and we can be far away from
the next closest firehouse in a city
where there's urban resources so
sometimes in far remote parks Park
Rangers also have to do the job of a
structure firefighter and they're gonna
wear a special hat for that special job
these fire helmets have extra things
like visors goggles and maybe even
flashlights to help us see in the dark
when we go in burning buildings or help
out on fires at cars and roads very
heavy hat for
very heavy job but one of the most
exciting jobs that Park Rangers do are
up in the air
when a park ranger gets into a
helicopter or a fixed-wing aircraft
we're gonna wear a flight helmet you
might be wondering what does a park
ranger doing up in the air when they
belong in the park
well sometimes we're gonna get into
these helicopters and airplanes to go
far into the backcountry to help on
search and rescues or in far remote
giant wilderness parks like those found
in Alaska
our science Rangers might need to go far
into the backcountry to do air quality
or water quality studies or to count
wildlife and they're gonna wear one of
these super exciting helmets for that
super exciting job not all of the hats
we wear are super special in fact one of
the most common hats that we wear might
look like a hat you often wear a ball
cap the Ranger ball cap looks a lot like
any old ball cap but with one really
special feature the famous arrow head
patch this arrow head patches also on
our uniform sleeves we wear it as a
symbol of what we're responsible for
protecting and a reminder of what we do
in parks it has some very special
designs on it this is in the shape of an
arrow head that arrow head helps remind
us that we're here to protect cultural
resources the stories of the people who
lived here long before we were parks as
well as the people who are visiting
parks today there's also an American
bison which reminds us even if we don't
have bison in our parks that we're here
to protect the wildlife that makes these
places special many visitors will go to
national parks specifically to see the
amazing wildlife be it pika black bears
or American bison there's also again
that ancient giant sequoia really tall
amazing tree reminding us along with
this grassy meadow to help protect the
plants that make these communities so
special in parks there's even an a
snow-capped mountain peak off in a
distance reminding us how special these
vistas are many parks were created
for people exploring those very very
special vistas and views a lot of people
come to Shenandoah just to drive to the
Overlook and look far across the
wilderness maybe as far as their own
home they can see where they came from
while standing on top of a mountain
these vistas are very very important
features in our national parks and this
patch helps remind us what we are doing
here in parks protecting those for this
and future generations so I'm not always
wearing my ranger hat what do I wear
when I'm not working well I often wear a
fun hat maybe like you when I wear a fun
hat I like it to showcase the things
that are important to me where I've been
what I've seen even maybe the team I'm
rooting for what kind of hat do you wear
where have you been
what do you love one of the things I
love is right on my hat and all around
me here in Shenandoah National Park it's
important whatever hat you wear that you
wear it with intention hats can often
speak for us without even talking like
megaphones on our heads they tell a
story about what's important to us and
how we feel about that so when I wear my
Ranger hat I want to make sure that I
wear it with pride and respect
after all the National Park story is a
very very special one and I want to make
sure anyone that sees me knows that I
know how special that story is so what
do you love about Shenandoah is it the
plants is it the animals is it the
vistas is it the memories that you can
have with those you love all of those
symbols are right here on my hat and on
my uniform and the next time you Don
your special fun hat take into
consideration what story that hat tells
where have you been and what's important
to you and that hat be it a Sun Hat a
work helmet or even your junior Ranger
hat will tell a story now every time I
put on my Ranger hat I'm gonna wear it
with pride and respect
and it's going to tell a story about
this park but also my hopes for the
future I hope that Shenandoah and all
national parks will live at least as
long as the ancient Giant Sequoias
thanks for joining me
have an awesome day