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Yellowstone Park Ranger guards forest.
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Handing out garbage bags, cleaning fire pits, and collecting fees from park visitors are all a part of the day for a Park Ranger.
Unlike the other rangers who work outdoors, Deycie Luke spends most of her time working inside helping customers at The Eastern Idaho Visitor Information Center.
She loves her job because she gets to work with the public. She likes the fact that most of her customers are people on vacation so they’re usually happy and pleasant.
The Eastern Idaho Visitor Information Center has a unique setup that is different from many other cities because it allows visitors to get all their questions answered in one stop. Branches of the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, Bureau of Land Management, and the United States Forest Service are located inside the center.
“It’s great because people come in with questions and we have answers and that makes them happy,” she said.
The center provides service to individuals traveling to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Crest Creek, the St. Anthony Sand Dunes, Kelly Canyon, Island Park, Birch Creek and other attractions in the area.
Deycie enjoys her job because she has a variety of different responsibilities. One of her jobs at Idaho Visitor Information Center is to serve as the Environmental Education Specialist.
“My biggest thrill is when I get to teach the children,” she said.
She teaches a two-day workshop for teachers using Project Learning Tree program. Project Learning Tree teaches students to understand the environment, to make sensible decisions regarding environmental issues, and encourages students to be responsible for the environment.
She also does evening presentations for the Boy Scouts of America, school classes, youth groups, and inmates at the detention center. The classes cover a variety of topics like the environment, fire prevention, bats, and Arbor Day.
“The only stresses I have come from budget cuts, or having to be up front and center all the time. I don’t have much privacy at work. But other than that it’s really not too bad,” she said.
Her schedule is similar to many other day jobs. She works Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except in the summer when she works through Saturday.
Deycie graduated from BYU Provo with a degree in range resource management. She went on to fight fires, working as a range technician in the Forest Service near Spanish Fork, Utah.
At one point, she even worked as a firefighter for the Bureau of Land Management division in Wyo., where she helped fight the 1988 Yellowstone Fires. She encouraged anyone interested in forestry or firefighting to get involved now.
“I wish I had known [when I was younger] that the government hires students every summer. You can fight fires once you’re eighteen years old.”
