FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Park Rangers’ Duties Extend Beyond Law

They wear a uniform and a badge. And though they don’t carry weapons or make arrests, one of their duties as a ranger is to make sure people follow the rules at Orange County’s parks.

“We don’t consider ourselves police officers,” said Parker Hancock, supervising park ranger at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley.

“We are helping hands to law enforcement; we have many other duties besides law enforcement,” said Hancock, who wears dark green slacks with a khaki shirt and may look like a police officer to the public.

Bruce Buchman, supervising park ranger at the 174-acre Laguna Niguel Regional Park, said a ranger’s role in law enforcement is to “get compliance to park rules and regulations.”

“That’s what our main job is as far as law enforcement,” he said.

Hancock said rangers warn violators of infractions of the law: dogs off leashes, motorists speeding on the park’s roads or visitors drinking alcohol.

They also deal with medical emergencies and reports of lost children, Hancock said.

Rangers have training in basic law enforcement, and, if there are problems in getting people to obey rules of the park or there is an emergency, they call Orange County sheriffs to assist and also may ask local police to back them up, Hancock said.

Hancock, who’s in charge of 21 employees, including two other rangers at the 379-acre day-use public park, said rangers have a myriad of jobs rolled into one.

But first and foremost, a ranger is the host of the park facility, he said.

“We prefer the image of park host--the Smokey the Bear image,” said Hancock, who added that Mile Square Regional Park, with its estimated 400,000 visitors in 1992, was one of the busiest county parks.

Buchman described rangers as caretakers of the parks.

“All these parks belong to the people and we provide the natural resource protection,” said Buchman, who also oversees operations at Aliso and Wood Canyons Regional Park, Badlands Park and Seaview Park.

Rangers also perform public relations duties by talking to and informing the public about parks and their rules, and they oversee daily operations and maintenance.

For instance, on a given day, they will greet visitors coming into the park, make sure restrooms are cleaned and stocked, take reservations for picnics and playing fields and check that the grass is watered.

At Mile Square Regional Park, the rangers also make sure the two lakes are stocked with channel catfish, check the water quality of the lakes and patrol the shores to ensure that people fishing are following the rules, Hancock said.

Hancock said he also coordinates special events at the park, such as concerts and political rallies.

When President George Bush visited the park in 1991, Hancock said he helped the White House staff and Secret Service in staging the event.

Buchman said selling annual park passes and providing interpretive programs to the public are also duties done in a day’s work.

Rangers said they have a job they wouldn’t trade.

“I love it; it’s an outdoor job and you get to work in the natural environment,” said Buchman, 43, who has been a ranger for 20 years. “It’s a neat job.”

Hancock, 46, a park ranger for 18 years, also said he’s always wanted to work outside and with the public.

“Of any county job I’ve seen, this is the best, because you deal with people who are enjoying their life,” he said.