Shared by Rachel Blevins, as Guest Blogger.

Early on September 15, 2017, the first team of Virginia State Park Rangers gathered for the start of an adventurous work week in Florida.

In the previous week, Hurricane Irma left much of the state in devastation and in need of relief. Team One consisted of 13 individuals who work at 11 different state parks throughout the state of Virginia, however, they came with one definitive thing in common – we wanted to help our fellow rangers at Florida State Parks.

Virginia State Park's Team 1 traveling to Florida to help in cleanup after Hurricane Irma
 

Before I elaborate on our week in Florida, I’d like to let you all in on some park ranger slang. We like to use the saying “a park ranger wears many hats.” And we say that because one minute when you’re a park ranger you could be checking emails, leading a guided canoe paddle, inspecting cabins, assisting with a prescribed burn, fixing a sink at eleven at night…whew! –that’s all in a day’s work. And so with that being said, the 13 individuals put on another one of those infamous ranger hats and headed south to Florida.

After a 20 hour drive, the crew made it to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. That first day, we got straight to work but that day was also full of discovery. We discovered that Florida humidity was the real deal, the mosquitoes were relentless, there were above-average sized spiders, and an invasive species…Iguanas. We were out of our realm and being the nature nerds we are, our curiosity to know every tree, insect, and exotic wildlife was apparent.

At the conclusion of our first adventurous day, we were told we’d be working at a state park further south, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.

Bill Baggs Cape State Park was hit hard by Hurricane Irma
 

This park located on Key Biscayne, had significant damage. Upon entering the park, we met the Assistant Manager Lu, who used to be a camp host at Grayson Highlands State Park…small world.

The next five days were focused on getting the park operational again. As a result of the high winds, lots of trees were down. Our crew spent hours each day sawing lots of trees and as a result, lots of wood chipping. These tasks were monotonous and in the Florida heat, quite a challenge. But what motivated us each day was the sweet reminder of the state park family there. Their gratitude was expressed daily. They shared the unique history of the park and even treated us to some Cuban cuisine, but more importantly, Cuban coffee. They “interpreted” the unique wildlife for us because a crew from Virginia was absolutely fascinated by the Iguana population in the park.

Working at this state park all week reminded us of our own parks back in Virginia. We love our parks and for us to have the chance to help one another is truly in the best interest of the park at the end of the day. We worked with different Florida State Park crews and learned from one another.

By the end of our week in Florida, the idea that a State Park family goes beyond state lines was solidified.

After a week of work, we departed with a large dent on the cleanup process at Bill Baggs. As I reflected on this past week, I reminisced on the laughs, teamwork, sweat, and adventures.

Each and every one of us volunteered for this. But what I also realized was this deployment allowed us to meet fellow rangers we’d never work with on an everyday basis. We had an Assistant Manager, Resource Specialist, two resource assistants, an interpreter, an intern, four park rangers, a maintenance ranger, and two chief rangers. All from 11 Virginia State Parks, each with a different duty within our parks, I can proudly say that the many hats we wear brought us closer as a state park family. 

One September 22, 2017 Team Two consisting of 12 Park Rangers (including one from Division of Natural Heritage) headed down to Florida to assist with Hurricane Irma cleanup.

Please enjoy the short video below showing the efforts by both teams of Virginia State Park Rangers.

See a listing of all Virginia participants here in a WHSV3 News Article.

Virginia State Park's Team 2 traveling to Florida to help in cleanup after Hurricane Irma