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Desert Rangers Encounter
Many Conflicts in Desert
By Tom Evans
Editor, NEWSBEAT
"What would you do if you came upon a felony being committed? You can't make an arrest: you aren't allowed to carry a firearm."
Steve Smith, a former deputy sheriff and BLM's first desert ranger didn't have to ponder the question.
"All a ranger can do in a case like that," he said, "is to attempt, within the bounds of common sense, to get what evidence he can -- perhaps a photo of the person committing the act, or a photo of his car, the license number, some kind of description."
"The ranger cannot get into a law enforcement situation." Steve said. "That responsibility hasn't been assigned to us, and we aren't equipped to do it. We would have to report the crime to a law enforcement agency such as the Sheriff's Office."
Steve is one of four rangers assigned to BLM's Bakersfield District. Their beat is 1.5 million acres of creosote bushes and Joshua trees, mountain ranges, hot springs and brightly colored canyons. It is an area of desert tortoises, burros, and bighorn sheep, gold and silver mines, petroglyphs and motorcycles.
Much of the area is within two or three hours driving time of the 11 million people who live in the Los Angeles Basin. More and more of these people escape to the deserts on weekends. Most are looking for relaxation and fun. Some take hostilities that might be released by destroying a sign or picnic table. Some take criminal tendencies and the results run all the way to murder.
BLM's response to the need for protecting natural and cultural resources of the desert --and to assist the desert visitor-- has been the creation of a Desert Ranger Force. It obviously is a limited response and the name "Force" is a definite misnomer.
here are some gray areas in which a ranger conceivably could issue citations for violation of Interior Department or BLM regulations, but specific authority to do so has not been delegated. For the most part the ranger is the Bureau's "goodwill ambassador." It doesn't say so in the job requirements but it helps if he likes people and is a mighty persuasive talker.
Each of the 27 desert rangers (there are 23 in the Riverside District) wears more than one hat. Typically the ranger has a resource degree, such as wildlife or range management, and has attended a five-week course at Riverside Police Academy.
Steve has a degree in physical geography. He worked as a Sacramento County deputy sheriff for two years. He attended an eight-week course at the Sacramento Police Academy and an eight-week course at the Federal Law Enforcement Academy in Washington, D.C.
For the past four years he has donated two 10-hour shifts a month to the Kern County Sheriff's Office as a deputy on regular patrol.
"Isn't this quite a change --one day you're a full fledged law enforcement officer, armed and able to make arrests for a wide range of crimes; the next day you're in an entirely different role?"
"It's quite a change, but the transition is not all that difficult." he said. "When you do ranger work, you know what your responsibilities and capabilities are. About all you can do is to inform people, ask for their cooperation and hope they respect the resources.
"We try to show them that the desert is not a sterile, desolate place that can be abused, but just the opposite. It has a greater concentration of unique features than any other place in the world. The harsh climate conditions create unique life forms that are very susceptible to damage. There are many cultural features --historic and archeologic--that, once damaged or taken, are gone forever.
"We try to make people aware of what's there so they can be in harmony with the desert and avoid being destructive. Some people think we are trying to close down the desert but that isn't the case. We want people to visit the desert and enjoy it. Most of them are friendly and interested in our efforts to protect the desert. Most are surprised by the variety of life and other values they never realized were there."