Ranger Ryan

Ranger Ryan is not shown in this iconic photograph, but he was narrating when I took it. 

He is the latest in a long series of NPS rangers who have helped my students and me to learn from National Parks -- and I know from past experience that some of these students might follow a similar career path. 

I often ask rangers about exactly that -- how they came to be rangers. I was particularly interested in Ranger Ryan's story. Like me, he went to college in Ohio. His university had a partnership that allowed him to work at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, his only NPS posting before moving to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller this year. His deep appreciation and careful reading of history helped him to shed new light on this already-familiar view.

For many years, I have been aware of the environmental saga of the Cuyahoga River -- the lower reaches of which famously caught fire in the 1960s, contributing to the passage of the Clean Water Act under that environmental radical Richard Nixon. I eventually learned that the Cuyahoga was not the only river to catch fire, nor was its most famous fire its first. 

It was not until a 2023 road trip with my son that I learned about the significance of the upper reaches of the river, where the National Park site is focused.  He introduced me to the park at the same time he introduced me to the indispensable podcast National Park After Dark. Its tagline is "A podcast for the MORBID outdoor enthusiast." Episode 62 was my introduction. Entitlted "Abandon. National Park Ghost Towns" it tells the fascinating and complicated story of industrial pollution and. land siezures in this most unusual park. 

There are a few ways to pronounce, Cuyahoga, by the way, with that of Akron native Chrissie Hynde being the most important.

More photos

My 2023 Chicago to Fairhaven folder includes several images of the Cuyahoga, including some taken near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Hynde is a reluctant honoree. Our 2026 MABI folder includes a few photos taken by me, but most taken by students on my umpteenth field trip to Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller. They include some images that I discussed recently on this blog in the Yosemite by Way of Vermont and New Bedford post.

Lagniappe

I could not mention National Parks in general -- nor its rangers in particular -- without mentioning the March 2025 NPAD episode entitled A Love Worth Fighting For. Cassie and Danielle speak directly with some of the rangers and other land protectors who were fired by DOGE, Elon Musk's dastardly attack on our government and public servants.