Department of Interior Awards Smokies Ranger and Volunteer with Valor Awards

Department of Interior Awards Smokies Ranger and Volunteer with Valor Awards

Saturday, May 10, 2014

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The National Park Service announced yesterday that Valor Awards were given to 17 employees who have demonstrated unusual courage in the face of danger. In a ceremony on Thursday, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell presented the Valor Awards to the employees, as well as the Citizen’s Award for Bravery to three private citizens who risked their lives to save others while on Department of the Interior lands. This included two men associated with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Bradley Griest, a park ranger at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Christopher Scarbrough, a volunteer with the Town of Townsend Fire Department, rescued a barely conscious motorist trapped in a partially submerged vehicle in the Little River. They winched open the door against the strong current, freed the driver, secured him to a litter, and lifted him up a steep embankment to an ambulance.

“These heroes rappelled from helicopters, scaled cliffs, swam through rapids, and protected park visitors from hazards,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “They put their own lives in peril to help others. Yet, each one of them would humbly say they were simply doing their jobs. Their passion to serve others is inspiring.”

You can read the full list of all recipients by clicking here.



Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

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Park Rangers needed in the Smokies

Park Rangers needed in the Smokies

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

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Ever wanted to be a ranger in Great Smoky Mountains National Park? There are two positions being advertised on the NPS website today. Here's what the park is looking for:

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is seeking candidates for two permanent, full-time GL-0025-9 park ranger (LE) positions. Candidates must currently possess (or be able to obtain) Level I law enforcement commissions.

The first position is in the Cades Cove Area (Tennessee), with primary duties on the Foothills Parkway West. This area includes 17 miles of road, two frontcountry campgrounds, eight backcountry campsites and 46 miles of maintained hiking and horse trails. The area generates a high volume of frontcountry enforcement activity during peak seasons. Traffic volume decreases significantly in the winter months and resource protection patrols become a major emphasis of this position. Resource protection patrols are primarily designed to mark/monitor the park boundary and to deter and detect plant and wildlife poaching. While this position is based out of the Look Rock ranger station, the ranger selected will be assigned to patrol operations in the Cades Cove area as needed.

The second position is in the Deep Creek Area (North Carolina). Law enforcement activity at Deep Creek is focused primarily on traditional resource protection activities, criminal investigations, surveillance and hunting operations. Visitor contacts are performed in frontcountry and backcountry settings. The Deep Creek area includes a 92 site campground and over 150,000 acres of patrol area, including boat operations on Fontana Lake. There are opportunities for backcountry hiking patrols, boundary and hunting patrols. This is a very diverse operation, which provides opportunities for independent patrol work in vast backcountry wilderness environments as well as in heavily visited front country areas. Typical case work involves wildlife enforcement operations, emergency medical care, motor vehicle accident response, DUI, and search and rescue. Rangers will participate in multiple park wide pre-planned events throughout the year managed under ICS.

For more information, contact Steve Spanyer (steve_spanyer@nps.gov) at (865) 448-4105 for Cades Cove and KK Stuart (Kathleen_stuart@nps.gov) at (828) 506-3016 for Deep Creek.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

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