Approximately 20 law enforcement positions will be available soon at the following parks:

Coronado National Memorial
Amistad National Recreation Area
Big Bend National Park
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
Padre Island National Seashore

All federal job opportunities are posted on the Office of Personnel Management website: http://www.usajobs.opm.gov

Additional information on setting up search criteria and email notification of openings is available.

What is National Park Service?

One of the most popular ideas the United States ever produced, the concept of national parks, stemmed from the desire to protect special places for visitors' present and future enjoyment. Since the first park was designated in the 19th century, the concept has expanded significantly. From its original focus on natural wonders, the idea of a national park has evolved to include sites that chronicle human history and elevate the quality of life. The National Park Service (NPS) is a bureau within the Department of Interior. Currently, there are over 390 park units covering over 84 million acres. The agency employs over 20,000 permanent, temporary and seasonal professionals.

NPS Photo

Park ranger and visitor

What is a Ranger?

Ranger is a generic term used to describe two occupations in the National Park Service (NPS). One type of ranger is an interpretive ranger and the other is a law enforcement or protection ranger.

Primary Duties:

Law Enforcement-Park rangers, commissioned as Federal law enforcement officers, function as the police in a park. Rangers performed community based policing long before the term was popular. These duties are wide in range and depth; covering crimes against people, resource crimes such as poaching and even long term major investigations. Normal ranger duties include protecting park staff, visitors and park resources. These specific positions will also include duties such as detection, apprehension, and prosecution of cross border criminal activity.

Potential Collateral Duties:

      FIRE- Rangers perform fire fighting duties in parks and on assignments to all parts of the nation when their help is requested. Some rangers do both wildland fire and structural fire duties. This means they fight brush fires as well as house fires.

      EMS- Rangers provide a wide range of emergency medical services to the public from first aid to advanced medical treatment, serving as first responders, emergency medical technicians and park medics. Park rangers are usually the first on the scene in emergency situations.

      SAR- Rangers work in search and rescue capacity to help find lost persons or rescue people who are injured or otherwise need help. This can range from hiking a trail looking for a lost person to highly technical rescues from high angle cliffs or swift water, to flying suspended below a helicopter to pluck a stranded climber off a mountain.  

      MISC. DUTIES- In the tradition of the NPS, rangers have often had the opportunity to work with other divisions in the park. This team environment involves such tasks as resource management (bat surveys or sea turtle monitoring), maintenance work (repairing a vehicle or helping cut brush), and working with the public to help educate visitors about the park and its resources.