The cop-ification of National Park Service rangers

National Park Service ranger uniforms are iconic: green pants, gray shirts and a broad-brimmed, flat hat. In the coming months, though, visitors who look closely at the uniforms of law enforcement rangers will notice some small but significant changes the Trump administration hopes will underscore the policing element of the job.

Those changes include a switch to external ballistic vest carriers that say "police federal officer" and the introduction of rank insignia, symbolic sleeve patches like stripes or stars that denote a hierarchical ranking as seen in the military. In addition, vehicles that law enforcement rangers drive will soon say "police" on the side.

The changes were communicated to Park Service regional directors in March, according to internal documents shared with SFGATE, as part of updating a law enforcement reference manual from 2015. A memorandum from Charles Cuvelier, the associate director of visitor and resource protection, to regional directors outlines the updated vehicle markings. The memo states that vehicles should be updated by the end of 2027. A memo from Frank Lands, deputy director of operations, to regional directors lays out uniform and appearance standards.

The Department of the Interior told SFGATE in an email that these changes are "intended to improve immediate identification of commissioned law enforcement personnel and equipment by the public, partner agencies and emergency responders." "Clear identification helps reduce confusion and supports coordination during incidents involving multiple responding agencies," an unsigned email from the Office of Communications read. "The changes reflect modernization of law enforcement identification standards across the National Park Service."

But retired national park rangers worry the changes aren't representative of park rangers' multifaceted jobs, which also include educating visitors, going on search and rescue missions, fighting wildfires and more.

"I don't like it," said Bill Wade, the executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers. "I confess that I'm of the old camp where I think rangers, at least of my era and I think for quite some time after that, prided themselves on being helpers and educators and not so much cops."

Rick Mossman, a former ranger who retired from the Park Service after 36 years in 2012 and now runs seasonal park ranger academies, agreed. "I teach rangers, not cops," he said. "That's always been my mantra."

There are two basic categories of park rangers: interpretive rangers, who share information with park visitors and lead educational programs like guided walks, and visitor and resource protection rangers, who provide law enforcement, search and rescue and emergency medical services. These changes are only for visitor and resource protection rangers, who are "commissioned" with the authority to carry firearms, make arrests and investigate crimes.

Wade, who worked in national park law enforcement for 15 years, said his mindset was to educate people during traffic stops or other infractions, as opposed to merely issuing citations. "I think that's what the public came to appreciate about park rangers," Wade said. "It just seems like the whole effort is focused on being punitive now rather than being educational."

Wade worries that the "police" label on tactical vests and vehicles will intimidate visitors. "They're going to be sort of leery about approaching them because they're cops," he said.

Mossman said the push to be thought of more as law enforcement is a generational one. "My personal opinion is a lot of folks that are coming into the Park Service now are more focused on doing just law enforcement," he said. "I find that disturbing."

He also called the rank insignia "silly." In Cuvelier's memorandum, he says the introduction of mandatory rank insignia to help differentiate between sergeants, supervisors and other ranks is "designed to build public trust and readily inform the public and partner agencies of the rank of an individual Law Enforcement Ranger."

Before 1976, park rangers didn't have the legal authority to carry guns or make arrests. But a string of high-profile events at national park sites - the capture of cult leader Charles Manson in Death Valley National Park in 1969, the Fourth of July riot in Yosemite National Park in 1970, and the murder of a park ranger at Point Reyes National Seashore in 1973 - resulted in changes. Rangers were given full federal authority in 1976 with the General Authorities Act.

Mossman thinks newer rangers who want better pay and more respect may embrace the outward "police" markings. Some Reddit users discussing the uniform and vehicle changes on the subreddit r/ParkRangers echoed this assessment and said they've been wanting these changes for a long time. One user said it was "nice to actually be recognized as police officers."

Mossman, a self-described "dinosaur," prefers thinking of himself as a "generalist ranger" who did a variety of jobs, not just law enforcement. "Park rangers have a long storied tradition of being able to do everything," he said. "That's why I got into being a park ranger."

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