WEBVTT 00:22.540 --> 00:24.651 Good morning . We're having a women's 00:24.651 --> 00:27.110 history celebration and I have a panel 00:27.120 --> 00:29.287 of female rangers with me this morning 00:29.620 --> 00:31.509 and we're just gonna have a panel 00:31.509 --> 00:33.731 discussion . My name is Gloria Piazza . 00:33.731 --> 00:35.898 I'm the chief of the Natural Resources 00:35.898 --> 00:37.898 and Recreation section for the Fort 00:37.898 --> 00:40.064 Worth District . Would you ladies mind 00:40.064 --> 00:42.287 introducing yourselves and your title ? 00:42.287 --> 00:42.240 And what lake you're from ? Sure . My 00:42.250 --> 00:44.250 name is Joel Hill . I work with the 00:44.250 --> 00:46.472 engineers at the lake office . I am the 00:46.472 --> 00:49.750 lead ranger . My name is Madison Trom . 00:49.759 --> 00:51.703 I'm a park ranger at Belton Lake . 00:53.790 --> 00:56.200 My name is Cassie Hill . I am a park 00:56.209 --> 00:59.659 ranger at Belton Lake as well and my 00:59.669 --> 01:01.725 name is Stephanie Jones . I'm a park 01:01.725 --> 01:03.990 ranger at Proctor Lake . Well , thanks 01:04.000 --> 01:06.111 for participating this morning . What 01:06.111 --> 01:08.444 made you decide to become a park ranger ? 01:09.190 --> 01:12.620 I can answer that question . Um When I 01:12.629 --> 01:15.300 started college , I didn't know what I 01:15.309 --> 01:17.198 wanted to do . So I just went for 01:17.198 --> 01:19.519 business thinking , oh , you could get 01:19.529 --> 01:22.760 something out of that . Um And one day 01:22.769 --> 01:25.699 me and my husband , we went camping and 01:25.709 --> 01:28.940 I saw a park ranger . So all that 01:28.949 --> 01:31.169 after seeing that and I was just like 01:31.180 --> 01:33.236 that , it just kind of clicked in my 01:33.236 --> 01:35.458 head like that is , that's what I wanna 01:35.458 --> 01:37.513 do . So , I went home right away . I 01:37.513 --> 01:39.458 switched my , my degree plan to an 01:39.458 --> 01:41.291 environmental science degree . I 01:41.291 --> 01:43.624 graduated and just started applying and , 01:43.624 --> 01:45.709 um , after a while I ended up at 01:45.720 --> 01:47.776 Proctor Lake and the rest is kind of 01:47.776 --> 01:50.519 history from there . Yeah . I didn't 01:50.529 --> 01:52.807 really know what I wanted to do either . 01:52.807 --> 01:54.807 When I was in high school I was 100 01:54.807 --> 01:57.029 100% sure that I was going to be an , a 01:57.029 --> 01:59.849 teacher . And then , um , I got a 01:59.860 --> 02:01.830 summer job working for the federal 02:01.839 --> 02:04.180 government in natural resources . And I 02:04.190 --> 02:06.819 felt absolutely love with public lands 02:06.830 --> 02:09.210 and I think it's so important sharing 02:09.220 --> 02:11.300 those public lands with the next 02:11.309 --> 02:14.210 generations . Um , a lot of kids don't 02:14.220 --> 02:17.059 have like prairies or forests in their 02:17.070 --> 02:19.292 area . And so I think it's so important 02:19.292 --> 02:21.348 to preserve those and I just fell in 02:21.348 --> 02:23.403 love with that aspect . Absolutely . 02:23.403 --> 02:25.514 Thank you so much . What is a typical 02:25.514 --> 02:27.848 day for managing Belton or Procter Lake ? 02:30.520 --> 02:32.576 So , from my experience , it doesn't 02:32.576 --> 02:34.687 really matter which lake you are at . 02:34.687 --> 02:36.909 There is no such thing as a typical day 02:36.909 --> 02:39.020 in the ranger life . But for the most 02:39.020 --> 02:41.131 part , during the summer time , we'll 02:41.131 --> 02:43.298 spend about 90% of our time patrolling 02:43.298 --> 02:45.409 the parks and working with the public 02:45.409 --> 02:45.009 and making sure everything is going 02:45.020 --> 02:46.964 smoothly and everyone's being safe 02:46.964 --> 02:49.076 during the winter time when the parks 02:49.076 --> 02:51.187 are closed . We kind of have a chance 02:51.187 --> 02:53.298 to reset . Uh We get to go out in our 02:53.298 --> 02:55.520 wildlife areas and help manage those or 02:55.520 --> 02:57.409 inspect our boundary lines , work 02:57.409 --> 02:59.353 encroachments and also prepare our 02:59.353 --> 03:01.589 facilities all winter long for the peak 03:01.600 --> 03:04.750 recreation season . Absolutely . Never , 03:04.759 --> 03:06.926 never shorten us of work for you . All 03:06.926 --> 03:08.648 right . What has been the most 03:08.648 --> 03:10.259 rewarding part of your job ? 03:13.369 --> 03:15.536 I think from my perspective , the most 03:15.536 --> 03:17.647 rewarding is the interactions that we 03:17.647 --> 03:19.536 have with the people . Um and the 03:19.536 --> 03:22.610 visitors . Uh there's a lot of positive 03:22.619 --> 03:24.730 interactions that we get to have when 03:24.730 --> 03:27.089 we're doing water safety and talking to 03:27.100 --> 03:29.860 little kids and them getting to see us . 03:29.869 --> 03:33.100 So I really enjoy like teaching people 03:33.110 --> 03:35.277 about the public lands and about water 03:35.277 --> 03:37.443 safety and seeing their faces light up 03:37.443 --> 03:39.277 and just having those day to day 03:39.277 --> 03:42.550 conversations . And I also think 03:42.559 --> 03:44.503 probably the most rewarding and my 03:44.503 --> 03:46.670 favorite part of the job is getting to 03:46.670 --> 03:48.837 go to the schools , talk to the kids , 03:48.837 --> 03:51.059 teach them about water safety . I think 03:51.059 --> 03:53.003 it gives them a positive impact of 03:53.003 --> 03:55.610 their day and just they look up to us 03:55.619 --> 03:58.259 so that , that's probably my favorite 03:58.270 --> 04:00.630 and probably the most rewarding part of 04:00.639 --> 04:04.639 it . Absolutely . And you all do 04:04.649 --> 04:06.649 an outstanding job with getting the 04:06.649 --> 04:08.593 message out about water safety and 04:08.593 --> 04:10.649 that's very clear and evident in our 04:10.649 --> 04:13.199 statistics and how we have had a lack 04:13.210 --> 04:16.320 of or a lower rate of fatalities in the 04:16.329 --> 04:18.385 young Children . It's because you're 04:18.385 --> 04:20.551 getting the word out there about water 04:20.551 --> 04:22.718 safety and I appreciate all that males 04:22.718 --> 04:24.440 make up 66% of the park ranger 04:24.440 --> 04:26.162 workforce . Why is , why is it 04:26.162 --> 04:28.329 important for you to be here ? I think 04:28.329 --> 04:28.269 it's important for us to be here 04:28.279 --> 04:31.100 because just being a presence in the 04:31.109 --> 04:33.910 parks and a presence wherever we go , 04:33.920 --> 04:36.510 even on the road at the gas station , 04:36.859 --> 04:38.970 um , women can see us and they can be 04:38.980 --> 04:41.091 inspired and they can see that we can 04:41.100 --> 04:43.829 do the same job that a man can do and 04:43.839 --> 04:45.950 that there's more of us . Now there's 04:45.950 --> 04:47.950 three at Belton Lake and I think we 04:47.950 --> 04:51.100 inspire . Absolutely . How does being a 04:51.109 --> 04:53.276 woman impact your day to day duties or 04:53.276 --> 04:56.950 does it ? I personally 04:56.959 --> 04:59.390 don't think that it affects us that 04:59.399 --> 05:01.343 much , but I definitely think that 05:01.343 --> 05:03.177 there is a difference and it's a 05:03.177 --> 05:05.177 positive difference . Um as women , 05:05.177 --> 05:07.288 we're more approachable . Um a lot of 05:07.288 --> 05:09.709 times we're going to talk to people and 05:09.720 --> 05:11.942 people are just generally nicer to us . 05:11.942 --> 05:14.200 They're not as threatened by us because 05:14.209 --> 05:16.644 we are females . Um So that makes our 05:16.654 --> 05:19.075 interactions a lot more positive . Also , 05:19.084 --> 05:21.195 when we're trying to talk to kids and 05:21.195 --> 05:23.362 do our water safety message , kids are 05:23.362 --> 05:26.054 a lot more prone to be fine women 05:26.065 --> 05:28.225 approachable . We remind them of mom 05:28.295 --> 05:31.325 and so it makes giving that message a 05:31.334 --> 05:35.299 lot easier . Sounds good . What advice 05:35.309 --> 05:37.531 would you give to young girls and women 05:37.531 --> 05:39.587 that may be interested in becoming a 05:39.587 --> 05:42.279 park ranger . My advice would be if 05:42.290 --> 05:44.346 it's something you want to do , then 05:44.346 --> 05:46.779 just do it . It , if you go to college , 05:46.790 --> 05:49.190 get that degree , just do what you 05:49.200 --> 05:51.367 wanna do . If it's something you dream 05:51.367 --> 05:55.329 of , just go for it . I'd 05:55.339 --> 05:57.561 have to agree with her on that and just 05:57.561 --> 05:59.728 go for it , do it . I will have to say 05:59.728 --> 06:01.950 that with not just being a woman but in 06:01.950 --> 06:04.290 the park range job in general . Uh It's 06:04.299 --> 06:06.466 not for the faint of heart . There are 06:06.466 --> 06:08.688 some challenging situations that we are 06:08.688 --> 06:10.910 put in and you have to know how to deal 06:10.910 --> 06:12.743 with those situations of working 06:12.743 --> 06:14.743 outdoors and , and the elements and 06:14.743 --> 06:16.799 stuff like that . It's , it can be a 06:16.799 --> 06:18.966 hard job , but it's very rewarding and 06:18.966 --> 06:21.077 it's very worth it . So for the , any 06:21.077 --> 06:23.188 women that are interested out there , 06:23.188 --> 06:25.243 absolutely go for it . Don't let the 06:25.243 --> 06:27.243 statistic of the men dominating the 06:27.243 --> 06:29.466 field be a problem . You can do it , we 06:29.466 --> 06:31.632 can do just anything that man can do . 06:31.632 --> 06:35.260 Amen . What would you say to those 06:35.269 --> 06:37.436 interested in working or recreating at 06:37.440 --> 06:41.390 Belton or Proctor Lake ? You 06:41.399 --> 06:44.329 won't , if you're going to come out and 06:44.339 --> 06:46.579 recreate , we always encourage um doing 06:46.589 --> 06:48.700 it safely , but we love having people 06:48.700 --> 06:50.645 come out to our lakes . That's why 06:50.645 --> 06:52.533 we're here is to help spread that 06:52.533 --> 06:54.867 message and provide these opportunities . 06:54.867 --> 06:56.700 Both Belton and Proctor Lake are 06:56.700 --> 06:58.811 absolutely beautiful places to go for 06:58.811 --> 07:02.125 camping and um boating and recreation 07:02.135 --> 07:03.924 recreating . We have hiking 07:03.934 --> 07:06.325 opportunities . Um , of course , if 07:06.334 --> 07:08.445 you're gonna be out on the water , we 07:08.445 --> 07:10.667 always encourage a life jacket but come 07:10.667 --> 07:13.005 out have fun . Do it responsibly ? And 07:13.015 --> 07:15.015 if you see a park ranger , say hi . 07:15.570 --> 07:18.640 Absolutely . Now I'll open it up to any 07:18.649 --> 07:20.760 questions that you might have of me . 07:23.209 --> 07:25.209 What advice would you give to women 07:25.209 --> 07:27.200 interested in the natural resource 07:27.209 --> 07:30.109 career field , like you said , 100% go 07:30.119 --> 07:32.769 for it . Uh I , you know , I started uh 07:32.779 --> 07:35.890 with a degree in environmental 07:35.899 --> 07:39.790 resources and uh at the time , I didn't 07:39.799 --> 07:42.190 have any park ranger influences where I 07:42.200 --> 07:45.570 grew up . So um started out doing , you 07:45.579 --> 07:47.690 know , more bureau of Land Management 07:47.690 --> 07:49.579 work and working for the military 07:49.579 --> 07:51.579 actually on military lands . So I'm 07:51.579 --> 07:53.489 excited to see that you all are 07:53.500 --> 07:56.170 influenced by other women wearing park 07:56.179 --> 07:58.346 ranger uniforms and , and I think that 07:58.346 --> 08:01.230 you are an absolute a role model for 08:01.239 --> 08:03.295 all the young women out there . So I 08:03.295 --> 08:05.350 appreciate all that you're doing . I 08:05.350 --> 08:07.128 would also say that the natural 08:07.128 --> 08:09.072 resource field is , is wide open , 08:09.072 --> 08:11.239 especially even within the core . Uh I 08:11.239 --> 08:13.461 didn't start out as a park ranger , but 08:13.461 --> 08:15.795 I started out as an outdoor rec planner . 08:15.795 --> 08:17.850 And so there's lots of opportunities 08:17.850 --> 08:20.072 within our field to work in other areas 08:20.072 --> 08:21.961 as well . Uh But even at the park 08:21.961 --> 08:23.906 ranger level , at the lake level , 08:23.906 --> 08:26.239 there's still lead ranger opportunities , 08:26.239 --> 08:28.461 there's lake manager opportunities . Uh 08:28.461 --> 08:30.628 Deputy O P MS and O P MS and hey , Sky 08:30.628 --> 08:32.739 is the limit chief of operations or , 08:32.739 --> 08:35.017 or working in other of offices as well . 08:35.017 --> 08:37.128 I've worked in project management and 08:37.128 --> 08:41.044 um at division and other lab facilities 08:41.054 --> 08:43.110 as well . So we're in a , we're in a 08:43.110 --> 08:45.276 great job series and natural resources 08:45.276 --> 08:47.498 has a lot of opportunities everywhere . 08:48.530 --> 08:50.697 You see us sitting here . Do you think 08:50.697 --> 08:52.919 we're setting a trend or that there's a 08:52.919 --> 08:55.429 shift in times ? I absolutely think 08:55.440 --> 08:57.580 there's a shift in times . Um I had 08:57.590 --> 09:00.429 mentioned before that I had a previous 09:00.440 --> 09:03.059 employee employee just retire . She had 09:03.070 --> 09:05.080 42 years with the core , that means 09:05.090 --> 09:07.700 that she started as a core ranger in 09:07.710 --> 09:10.119 the 80's . And so I can only imagine 09:10.130 --> 09:12.489 some of the obstacles that she had uh 09:12.500 --> 09:14.500 back in the 80s because things have 09:14.500 --> 09:16.667 definitely changed since then . Uh And 09:16.667 --> 09:18.833 I'm sure that she was , the statistics 09:18.833 --> 09:20.944 were much , much smaller for women in 09:20.944 --> 09:22.944 her field at the time . So I really 09:22.944 --> 09:24.889 think of her as a trail blazer and 09:24.889 --> 09:26.944 allowing us to be in these positions 09:26.944 --> 09:28.889 because she started and , and went 09:28.889 --> 09:30.944 through all the hard times with us . 09:30.944 --> 09:32.722 But um being here in the ranger 09:32.722 --> 09:34.944 orientation and training that we've had 09:34.944 --> 09:37.056 this week , it's clear that there's a 09:37.056 --> 09:39.278 lot more women coming on board and that 09:39.278 --> 09:41.056 we can , we're capable of doing 09:41.056 --> 09:43.000 everything that the guys are doing 09:43.000 --> 09:46.799 English . So what is your view 09:46.809 --> 09:48.642 seeing all of us women and , and 09:48.642 --> 09:51.130 working at the lakes and especially in 09:51.140 --> 09:53.362 a male dominant field . How do you feel 09:53.362 --> 09:55.479 about that ? You all are role models 09:55.489 --> 09:57.600 because I know how difficult it is to 09:57.600 --> 09:59.767 be out at these lakes and all the work 09:59.767 --> 10:01.933 that is involved . Um The water safety 10:01.933 --> 10:04.045 and stuff is the fun part , but there 10:04.045 --> 10:06.100 is a lot of , a lot of work at these 10:06.100 --> 10:08.267 projects that involves maintenance and 10:08.267 --> 10:10.322 a huge core , core mission and a big 10:10.322 --> 10:12.322 presence with the public that's not 10:12.322 --> 10:14.322 always positive . And you all do an 10:14.322 --> 10:16.545 outstanding job of I think I told you a 10:16.545 --> 10:18.545 story earlier about one of the Park 10:18.545 --> 10:20.864 rangers that I met earlier and she's a 10:20.875 --> 10:22.764 temporary ranger , but she was so 10:22.764 --> 10:24.764 excited about her position and just 10:24.764 --> 10:26.764 said , I love my job and that's the 10:26.764 --> 10:28.819 kind of influence that we need . And 10:28.819 --> 10:31.042 those are the kind of people we need at 10:31.042 --> 10:33.097 our lakes that continue to influence 10:33.097 --> 10:33.034 other young women that love the 10:33.044 --> 10:35.155 position and natural resources . So I 10:35.155 --> 10:36.933 thank you all , appreciate your 10:36.933 --> 10:39.100 interviews today . Thank you for being 10:39.100 --> 10:39.575 with us as well .