tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323439.post5146320933856067944..comments2024-01-11T14:25:56.929-07:00Comments on Out there with Tom: Patrol Mountain: I did it Sam's wayOut there with Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09715270239148526570noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323439.post-13491666624679848722011-11-20T19:22:42.642-07:002011-11-20T19:22:42.642-07:00Well taken, Shelly. Hope to see you next year, or...Well taken, Shelly. Hope to see you next year, or this winter at Showdown. We skied in the Flesher Pass area today. It was some of the best snow I've ever seen pre-T-Day.Out there with Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09715270239148526570noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7323439.post-54823472238505550662011-11-20T09:10:52.612-07:002011-11-20T09:10:52.612-07:00Fun blog! Most lookouts look forward to getting v...Fun blog! Most lookouts look forward to getting visitors as adventuresome as Tom. I certainly enjoyed his brief visit at Porphyry.<br /><br />Point of clarification: Fire lookouts and rangers are two different things. In the "old days" when the Forest Service was just starting out, the Ranger did it all--lookout, trail maintenance, fire fighter, law enforcement. But as more and more people started recreating and working in the woods, the workload became to great for a single person to handle, and the rangers began hiring trail crews, firefighters, lookouts, etc. to help shoulder the burden. In the modern Forest Service, the district Ranger is an administrator who supervises all of those people you meet out in the woods. <br />I think the confusion arises from people associating the Forest Service (Department of Agriculture) with the Park Service (Department of Interior), which uses the job title "ranger" in a rather different way. Remember: If you had to pay to get in, you're probably in a national park and will meet a lot of rangers wandering around. If it was free, it is probably national forest instead, and the Ranger will usually be found trapped behind a desk in the local Ranger Station.<br />So Sam and I are not, in fact, "fire lookout rangers" as the article states, but simply "lookouts." <br />(FYI: explaining the definition of "ranger" is one of my top 10 most-often delivered speeches at Porphyry, right up there with the "mountain pine beetle" speech, the "how to work the fire-finder" speech, and the "yes, I really live here and I love it" speech.)<br />Thanks, Tom!<br /><br />--Shelly MilburnShelly Milburnnoreply@blogger.com