Crystal Lake forest ranger is ‘having a ball’ on the job

Visitors to the Crystal Lake campground see Barbara Croonquist in the information center wearing her forest ranger’s uniform and a friendly smile, and they start asking questions.

“Where are rides?” asked one little girl for whom the outdoors meant amusement parks.

“Where are the tigers and elephants?” other children sometimes ask.

“Where is your supervisor?” demanded a man who would not take Croonquist’s word that she was in charge of the Crystal Lake recreational area. “He kept insisting on talking to the man in charge,” she said.

Then there was the stranger who asked, “Will you marry me?” as she wrote a ticket citing him for violating National Forest rules.

Croonquist blushes, recounting that one.

“I just kept writing the citation,” she said.

Besides, she is married to Stan Croonquist, who is also a forest ranger.

Croonquist, 28, is prepared for almost any questions visitors may ask. She is an interpretive specialist, filling a new position created in 1985 when the U. S. Forest Service decided that more information about nature and park services should be available to the public. She is in charge of providing information, education and programs in the Mt. Baldy Ranger District, which covers the San Gabriel Canyon and Mt. Baldy areas.

Don Stikkers, head ranger of the district, said that of the nation’s 780 ranger districts, the San Gabriel Canyon, which includes Crystal Lake at its northernmost point, is among the top five in recreational use. It gets between 3 million and 4 million visitors a year.

At the time Croonquist took the specialist position, Crystal Lake’s popularity had declined because rowdy campers had taken over on weekends, discouraging family use. The visitors’ center was in disrepair, and there were few programs and little information for campers. Law enforcement and new programs have brought the families back, she said.

Stikkers said Croonquist “has played a vital role in helping to increase awareness and interest in the forest.”

The Crystal Lake campground, on the north fork of the San Gabriel River and 5,800 feet high in a pine forest, is 26 miles from Glendora. With 176 campsites, it is larger than most Forest Service parks and is on a natural lake where people can fish and use small boats but are not allowed to swim.

Croonquist was hired by the Forest Service early in the 1980s as a temporary foreman soon after she graduated from UC Davis with a degree in range and wildland science. She was one of three people who lived at Crystal Lake year-round for two years, and one of her jobs was law enforcement.

“Some people were drinking and partying all night and driving their off-road vehicles all over,” she said. “We had armed officers, but I was only armed with a ticket book.”

Croonquist was hired full time with professional status in 1984, and within a few months she took the new position of interpretive specialist. With the help of volunteers, she has overseen major improvements in visitors’ centers, written informational brochures and created educational programs for both adults and children.

Crystal Lake campground now has Saturday night campfire programs with guest speakers in its amphitheater, weekend games, lectures and hikes. Daytime programs for campers have names such as “The Forest Community,” “Edible and Useful Plants,” “The Way It Was,” which tells the history of Crystal Lake, and children’s nature games called “Who am I?” and “Be an Indian.”

Three senior citizens staff an informational trailer at the entrance to the San Gabriel Canyon on Highway 39 near Azusa, and Croonquist has enlisted volunteers to provide labor, books and help at other park sites. She hopes to begin improvements on a small visitors’ center on Mt. Baldy that was once a one-room schoolhouse.

The Covina Woman’s Club sponsors a children’s program that encourages protecting the natural environment at Crystal Lake, and the Big Santa Anita Historical Society provides nature books for the visitors’ centers.

Glen Owens, president of the Big Santa Anita society, called Croonquist “a bright spot--exemplifying what people would like to see in government employees. She makes things happen.”

“I just love it,” Croonquist said. “I’m having a ball.”