A Ranger Problem
As the first half of 2020 has shown, New York State Forest Rangers are blessed, and burdened, with a wide-ranging portfolio. In February and early March, rangers managed an influx of winter hikers on popular High Peaks trails, including one March weekend where cars on the Adirondack Loj Road were parked bumper to bumper. “I’ve never seen our trailheads so busy in winter,” says Scott van Laer, a ranger based in the High Peaks who also serves as a union representative.
During the same time period, rangers performed difficult backcountry searches, calling in a State Police helicopter to aid in a successful effort to find a missing woman near Mount Marcy, and performing an overnight operation to rescue a pair of hikers, one who died of hypothermia, in the Dix Range.
Meanwhile, numerous rangers assigned to the Adirondacks were busy aiding New York’s coronavirus response downstate, with several becoming infected themselves. “They’re dealing with
