The Return of Ranger Rhian!

 Its been a hot minute since I've been on here, and I've done a ton in that time. I decided it would be fun to hop back on and share about the day to day of life in my new job and my new home!

I'm now the Park Manager at
Beaver Lake State Park in North Dakota!!!

I was a seasonal Park Ranger here last year, so I'm super excited to dive into a new realm of 'rangering' with the added responsibilities this position will bring. In addition to ensuring the successful day to day operations of the park, I will be supervising four seasonal employees (three have already started and I will be hiring one more) as well as camp hosts who rotate in and out monthly. In the fall or winter (when the busy season has subsided) I will be attending LETA- the Law Enforcement Training Academy where I will spend 12 weeks learning and training to earn my Peace Officer certification. That's right- Ranger Rhian gets a gun!!!!! This is probably the part that I am most excited about. I've always enjoyed enforcing park rules and even do it in my off time when I'm out and about hiking on my own, but to be able to have the training and certifications to do more than just talk to rule breakers is exciting. 

I can't wait to write all these bitches tickets. 

Dog off leash?.....TICKET!

Fire left unattended?.....TICKET!

Sneaking into the park without paying?......TICKET!!

Mild power trip aside, I am also excited to get wildland fire training, pesticide application certification, and work with a local game warden on trailer and boat training. I think the part I'm most nervous about is the "behind the scenes" stuff like managing the park budget because its an area I have never worked in before. I'm confident I will pick it up quickly, but it is certainly overwhelming to think about right now- especially starting the week before the busy season starts (i.e. Memorial Day weekend). Starting a position like this right at the start of the busy season is shaping up to be quite the shit show. I fully intend to be completely honest about my experiences in this position, sharing the gross and stressful bits as well as the fun and exciting. 

Did I mention the new job comes with a three-story lakehouse?!

Today marks the close of my second day in this position and it has been non stop GOGOGOGOGO both days. I have essentially been thrown into a dumpster fire and the fire department is not on duty. I have to put out a lot of these "fires" on my own and with little to no help/training/guidance from anyone else. All the while, I have three little arsonists (my seasonal staff) setting more tiny fires for me to deal with. In their defense, they have had about four "supervisors" in the week or two that they've been here, so they haven't had much consistent direction or training in what to do. It might take a couple weeks, but I plan to have them whipped into shape soon. All three are brand new to the park scene and it has already proven to be a challenge trying to train them as they go while also having to deal with a backlog of emails and deadlines that I am being thrown into last minute. Its going to be a stressful start, but I'm hoping it will calm down soon.

Thus far, I have spent a shocking amount of time trying to convince two of the seasonals that they can, in fact, use the riding mowers on uneven ground. For whatever reason they are convinced the ground needs to be completely flat (hehe...flat earth) in order to mow it, so they have left random patches of long grass throughout the park. They also seem to think the mowers are like 10 feet wide, so they won't mow around the trees and fire rings and things. We will definitely be taking a nice in depth crash course next week on what the mowers can and cannot do because this is just silly.

In between showing the little arsonists what needs done and how to do it, I have been in and out of the office dealing with ice deliveries, making deposits, creating the work schedule, helping visitors, and trying to weed through a sea of emails and information. Little by little, I'm chipping away at this dumpster fire- it'll be out in no time.

There is so much to do to get the park ready for the Memorial Day crowd this weekend- many of them are staying Thursday through Monday. I'm sure the coming months will create for some amusing little stories and I can't wait to share my experiences as I settle into this new position.

Cheers to the next few years!

New job, new house- HOW NEAT IS THAT?!