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[haroldparker-fandp1]

I’ve had a few people ask about this blog and whether I was going to start it up again. It seems like a lot of people were really interested, so here it is! Last summer I got to bring you the incredible adventures of Ranger Sam. Now I present to you all, the amazing adventures of Supervisor Sam! That’s right, new park, new position. I am now serving the great state of Massachusetts as a Forest and Park Supervisor at Harold Parker State Forest. This new position gives me the opportunity to work with some fantastic new people in an exciting new place. During day shifts I work with other park staff to maintain the facilities and make much needed improvements. During night shifts I supervise the camp office at the Lorraine Park Campground. My posts might not be as frequent as they were last summer, but I’ll make sure to share the link to this blog to other places when I do make a post so you know when new things are up! Enjoy!

[haroldparker-fandp1]

I’ve been trying to get into programming for a while now. I was interested in starting up some recreational programs last year when I first started at Bradley Palmer, but I never had the opportunity or the resources. This year, however, I was presented with the opportunity to co-host a fishing program with our Interpretive Services staff. We’re running this program on Sunday afternoons to provide a chance for people to come and learn to fish, see what kinds of fish live in the Ipswich River, and get outside and enjoy the day. 

Top Left: We provide gear and bait for everyone to use during our program, including fishing poles, bobbers, hooks, and weights, and bait such as worms and hot dogs. Top Right: Pictured here is Interpreter Neal Trubowitz, with whom I co-hosted this program. Neal didn’t know a lot about fishing before he came into this program, so he’s been learning along with the kids and parents as well. Here he is learning how to take care of tangled lines and broken reels. Bottom Left: A red-breasted sunfish caught by Emma who came to our program with her parents and her two sisters. Bottom Right: The catches of the day - all caught by Emma. One red-breasted sunfish and two green frogs.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Sometimes work isn’t always beautiful views, awesome encounters, and fun days. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good.

Top: The cause of this damage was never determined, but one of the supervisors came in one morning and found this window smashed. It looks as though it was broken from the inside, and the heavy equipment operators were unaware of the issue. Bottom: Things don’t go wrong often at Bradley Palmer, but when they do it’s good to know that we have good men and women on our side to help us when we need it. On this day, we had a child hit his head and become disoriented in our wading pool. Because he couldn’t tell us where he was or who he came with, we decided to call for EMS. We had Hamilton Police and Fire, as well as the Beauport Ambulance Service respond to help us take care of this child. Fortunately, he ended up being alright and was even able to stay at the pool for a few more hours and enjoy the day.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Some of the park staff found this little guy in an empty dumpster. He had gotten in and couldn’t get himself back out again. Park staff put a wooden pallet and some wood planks in so he could use them to get out, but the little guy was too scared to move. We called the Environmental Police to see if anyone was around to help, and one of their officers arrived with a net and helped scoop him out. Somewhere out there is a little raccoon rummaging happily through trashcans because a few good people cared enough to get him out safe and sound. Good luck, little fella!

[haroldparker-fandp1]

I arrived at work on Monday in the midst of a downpour. It had rained the whole way in, it was cold and windy, and it was looking like a good day to do some administrative work and reporting. But, it seemed the universe had different plans for me, because the second I walked through the door I was informed of a report that had come in from one of our satellite parks. A woman had called to tell us that a small group had been camping in Cleavland Farms State Forest for the last five days, and camping in that area is not allowed. They were now leaving the area, and had left a large amount of trash behind. I went out with some of the Fire Control staff to investigate, hiking in the pouring rain through rugged little trails. Sure enough there was the site, with trash left all over it. But it wasn’t just trash they left behind. There was food (canned tuna and Pop Tarts... bon apetit) and gear as well, including two sleeping bags and a full duffel containing clothing, a book on anatomy & physiology, and a very large hunting knife. Needless to say, this wasn’t exactly the place we wanted to be caught hanging out in if our camping buddies returned. Park staff returned a few days later and cleaned up the mess (unfortunately we had so much going on and so were so short staffed that it took a while before we were able to get back out there).

If you, or anyone you know, has been camping in the area of Cleavland Farms State Forest in Ipswich, MA and happens to be missing any of their gear, stop by Bradley Palmer sometime. We have your stuff (don’t worry, it’s safe) and the Ranger would love to chat with you about your experience!

[haroldparker-fandp1]

From an overtime overnight shift I did in Revere.

Revere Beach was hosting the International Sand Sculpting Festival, and I signed up to do overnight security. I had to watch out for the sculptures and the tents that were on the beach.

It was definitely an interesting night for myself and the other rangers on duty. First I got to have a very interesting conversation with a very intoxicated and emotional woman, then we all got to observe an interesting encounter between to heavily intoxicated people who decided they were going to take a leisurely stroll into the ocean... and then keep going, and going, and going.

I got these lovely photos of the sunrise while we were watching the intoxicated couple to make sure no one got hurt. Little do you know, about fifty feet to the right of the top picture, that couple was plopped in the ocean shouting at each other.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

This season, I have been working on a special project for the DCR. As the ranger for the Bradley Palmer Complex, one of the locations I have to patrol is the Willowdale State Forest. My project this season is to take GPS tracks of all the trails in Willowdale. We have a big problem with illegal trails being built in the forest, as well as problems with the map being inaccurate as it was copied from hand-drawn maps that were made a long time ago.

Instead of going out and just getting regular GPS tracks, I wanted to be able to take tracks and overlay them onto the DCR map so that we could see a) how accurate our maps are and b) where exactly the illegal trails are located. In order to do that, I took a PDF version of the Willowdale map and added georeferencing data to it (basically I used a special program to embed a coordinate system onto the PDF). I then uploaded that georeferenced map onto the Avenza Maps system. Avenza has a cell phone app that can be downloaded for free, and once I got the Willowdale map uploaded I made it available for free to the public. I downloaded the map into the app on my phone and I can now go out and walk the trails and take GPS tracks through the whole forest and show those tracks right on top of the existing map!

I was even able to create the same types of maps for other locations that I patrol such as Bradley Palmer, Cleveland Farms State Forest, and Georgetown-Rowley State Forest. Now all four locations are available to the public for free!

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Getting a change in scenery is always exciting, even when its just seeing a different side of the park I work in every day!

Top: A couple days ago the wading pool in Bradley Palmer ended up short staffed. They needed at least one more set of hands to help with parking, cleaning, trash pick up/removal, and general care and maintenance. Since I was one of the only other members of park staff on duty, I offered to play the part of pool staff for a day. It was a long and stressful day, but I really enjoyed getting to see a whole new side of the park operations and do something different for the day. Plus it was nice to spend some time with other staff that I don’t get to see very often. Bottom: Last night I got another opportunity to do some over time in the Boston Region. I went to the Chestnut Hills Reservoir in Brighton to do a detail for a 5K race. If you look on the left side of the picture you can see the start/finish line from the race! It was cold, windy, and raining, but a good time was had by all and everyone went home happy, healthy, and safe.

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Its nice to appreciate the little things, like patches of bright yellow flowers in the middle of a sunny field on top of a hill.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

An important trait that all DCR rangers share is willingness to help people, even if that help goes a little outside of our regular ranger duties.

These are some before and after photos of a Beaver Deceiver in Bradley Palmer. The Beaver Deceiver is designed to, first and foremost, keep beavers for building dams. However, if a beaver decides to build a dam anyway it can help to keep water flowing past the dam so that it doesn’t flood an area.

Top Left: Unfortunately, the Beaver Deceiver in Bradley Palmer was left unmaintained for quite a while. The resident beaver dammed around it, which cause a few problems with its functionality. Some of the park staff realized that the pipe (bottom) that goes from inside the Beaver Deceiver and out the bottom of the dam wasn’t getting any water through it. So myself and one of the park staff went in with waders and rakes to clear out all the mud that was blocking the pipe. Top Right: After we cleaned out the Beaver Deceiver it started working much better. We cleared mud, rocks, plants, and even some sticks and small tree branches. Once we had the pipe opened up we called it a day. The water level wasn’t quite high enough to hit the pipe yet, but we knew we would be back in business when it was. Bottom: That green pipe is the one that goes up into the Beaver Deceiver. This photo, taken a few days (and a few inches of rain) after we cleaned it out shows that our hours of hard work paid off, and that water was now running freely through the pipe and the water levels could be maintained.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Most of my days at work are spent patrolling, talking with visitors, or working on special “ranger projects.” But occasionally, I get to offer my help to the park staff to get important work done. We were really short staffed this week, so when I saw a tree that had fallen across one of our trails on Monday night (top row photos), I wanted to take action as soon as possible. So, Tuesday morning I approached on of the park staff and asked if he would be interested in cutting up a tree, and since it’s dangerous to go out alone, I said I’d go out there with him. We geared up with gas, bar and chain oil, tools, saws, helmets/ear/face protection, and Kevlar chaps (middle left). I even got to suit up and do some cutting myself! (middle right) After about an hour of cutting and cleaning, we managed to get this tangled mess of dead limbs removed and cleared up the trail! (bottom)

[haroldparker-fandp1]

I always tend to stumble on some of the coolest stuff while I’m at work. That’s why I think this is, hands down, one of the coolest jobs ever.

Top: A small patch of forget-me-nots (these are one of my favorite types of flowers, and we have them growing wild in Bradley Palmer!) Bottom: Last week I saw a funny shape in the water in a section of flooded trail. I realized it was a baby turtle flipped on its back, and he wasn’t moving. I figured (to avoid ruining the day of a small child that found a dead baby turtle) I’d move it off the trail. Well, as I went to go move it, the little guy started wiggling. Imagine the excitement! I scooped it up out of the water so it could breathe, and after he appeared to be reoriented (the point where I think it realized there was some giant non-turtle thing holding him and started trying to bite me) I put it back near the edge of the water off to the side of the trail where I found it and it swam away home. *

[haroldparker-fandp1]

My “office” varies from day to day. Sometimes it looks like a long trail waiting to be explored, sometimes like a wide open field stretched out in front of me, and occasionally it looks like this. On this particular day, I was assisting a visitor who lives near Bradley Palmer. They have a dog that got out of the house, and they think he may have come here because he’s familiar with the area. The visitor came in to look around for the dog and I offered my help so she could cover more ground.

Top: The view from the Polaris. I was performing a search from an OHV, or off-highway vehicle. (and don’t worry, I took this picture while I was stopped and calling out for the dog) Bottom: It’s important to make sure that your gear and equipment stays maintained. I drove through a lot of mud during the search, so I spent a little time cleaning my vehicle. This also gave me a chance to take a real close look at it to make sure everything is looking good and nothing is broken, or about to break. After all, one of the worst things that can happen is having equipment failure during an emergency because then I could become part of the problem and not the solution.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Here are a few more photos from general patrols, descriptions below!

Top left: Male American Redstart spotted while patrolling near the Ipswich river Top right: A (very large) snapping turtle spotted in one of the small ponds Middle left: An epic battle between a snake and his lunch Middle right: Another snake I found basking in the sun (Watch your step! It’s easy to miss these little guys and step on them by accident!) Bottom left: A fish ladder on the Ipswich River Bottom right: Part of my job is to assist park staff in maintenance of everything within our parks, in this photo I had just finished cleaning up a mess left behind from the resident beaver. There is a pond to the left of this picture and some wetlands to the right, the pond is overflowing and going across the trail. Unfortunately there isn’t anything we can do to stop the water from running across, but we also can’t let the beaver block it off because it makes the trail flood even worse so we go in every morning and rake it out.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

Here are some photos from an over time shift I did recently. I worked overnight in Cambridge on the Cambridge Parkway/Edward Land Boulevard doing security for the Cambridge Art Festival. One of the great things about my job is that I’m never stuck in the the same place all the time. I can go from the forest, to the city, to the coast. For this particular shift, I got to watch the sun rise over Boston and the Charles River. Over night shifts are tough, but the views definitely make it worth it!

[haroldparker-fandp1]

I've been a busy ranger this week. It started with a request from the park supervisor to go over to the Willowdale State Forest (part of the Bradley Palmer complex) to do a damage assessment. Two weeks ago there was a mountain biking race held there, and we got a complaint about some trail damage cause by the nearly 500 participants biking in the race. I went out and walked their 7.1 mile course to check it out, and fortunately I didn't find any damage cause by the racers. Unfortunately, however, I did find some of the things pictured above. The top two pictures show some trail flooding. It's hard to control it because pretty much the entirety of the Willowdale Forest is a pine swamp, but it's still something to note. The next four pictures show some structures that were built illegally on the property. Interesting as they are, these structures can be very dangerous and can lead to people getting seriously injured. Not to mention, they were build without the knowledge and permission of the park supervisor. I've also been looking into multiple complaints from visitors about a couple with a pair of aggressive dogs that they leave off leash in Bradley Palmer. All dogs in the park are supposed to be on a leash and under the control of their owners. This particular couple is a concern because people have been coming to me with reports that the dogs are making them very nervous and displaying signs of aggression.

[haroldparker-fandp1]

So one of my favorite things about my job, and something you'll probably see often here, is the wildlife. I work in an incredibly conserved and maintained area that is home to a wide variety of awesome critters. Pictured here are a Cedar Waxwing (top) and a male Eastern Towhee (bottom).