- Laura Karr

Have You Ever Wanted to be a Park Ranger?

       Did you ever think that you would be a Park Ranger in Alaska? CJ Rea didn’t think she would be, either. Ranger CJ has been a Park Ranger at Kenai Fjords National Park for 13 years - ten were seasonal, only working for about three to four months a year in the summer, and three have been year-round.
       “My seasonal jobs didn’t have any benefits, but I stuck with it for 10 years because I loved it,” CJ said. “It’s not like I don’t like my permanent position, it’s just a lot more stressful.”
CJ received her Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science and Botany and has her Master’s Degree in Biology. After she was done with college she left Washington, where she lived for a few years, to come to Alaska for a season. CJ came up to Alaska to do research about the re-growth of algae after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.
       “The first time I came to Alaska, I went home with my neck hurting from staring at the mountains so much,” CJ said. “ I did anything I could to get back to Alaska because I fell in love with it. Nature is in control here and I don’t think that it is anywhere else in the lower forty-eight.”
Before CJ was a Park Ranger, she worked on commercial fishing boats as a National Marine Fishery Observer. She figured out how many fish fisherman could catch, and if they were catching fish that they shouldn’t be. If fisherman reached the limit of fish they could catch, they were shut down.
       “It was good, but it was a little scary,” CJ said. “A couple of times we were in really bad storms because I was usually doing my job in January, February, and March. It’s cold, big storms, and people are sinking so I got nervous…I stuck with it for four seasons then I stopped observing and found this job as a park ranger.”
       Nowadays, Ranger CJ gets nervous when she has to come up with a new lesson and presentation for a group. “ I still get nervous if I have to give a new presentation because I can’t let them know that I have never given that lesson before. But I have learned that the more nervous I am the better by presentation is.” She also meets a lot of interesting people while she is working. About two years ago she had the opportunity to give a tour to Hillary Clinton and John McCain. She also led a tour of thirty-five senators from around the country. “ Now on that day I was nervous,” CJ said.
       Being a Park Ranger is a great opportunity to see the scenery and to meet people from all around the world. CJ said, “Everyday I learn something new, see something new and I love doing it.”