Very nicely written memoir of the author's career as a National Park ranger. I enjoyed following along with him, from his start to the end of his duty over 32 years. No earth shattering, made for Hollywood escapades, just an interesting, fulfilling life of public service. Bravo to the author for his service, and for his good writing!

It was an interesting book, but found there were instances where the author could have relayed more detail. For instance, he mentions Christopher McCandless and “Into the Wild” in passing (it seems as though Habecker was working there when the episode took place), but doesn’t provide any further insight into it.

There are plenty of ranger stories of derring-do, but there are many books that already accomplish this. I didn’t really see how this one was any different from what’s already out there.

I really enjoyed how the author included his original journal entries, and then spent some time reflecting on that particular entry.

What an incredible memoir. Tom has lived an incredible life and the stories he shares here are enthralling. If you love a ranger, this book may be a great relatable gift to pass on.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC to review, all opinions are my own!

Great book full of anecdotes. It was interesting to see how much has changed in the park service over the course of a career. It was a nice balance of on the job memories (both good and bad) as well as some family milestones sprinkled in. Overall a must read if you love national parks.

7 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/03/12/send-a-ranger-by-tom-habecker-review/

Ranger Tom Habecker has been everywhere.

Starting late in college, he joined the national park service at Gettysburg for credit and immediately fell in love. So much so that he briefly considered dropping out and joining up full-time. But he decided not to drop out, to finish school. As soon as he finished college, join up he did.

From there, he went from Gettysburg to DC, Yosemite to Glacier, then up north to Denali to finish up. A permanent presence in some of the nation’s largest and most popular national parks, Habecker saw some of the greatest wonders the country had on offer. He also saw some of the worst humanity could offer. But mostly, the author lived and worked another job, watched tourists out of their depth do the kinds of things they’d never have done if they weren’t on holiday.

From maulings by grizzlies to lost mountaineers, from missing hikers to backcountry excursions, from fee collections to illegal fireworks, from forest fires to misplaced glasses—Tom Habecker has seen it all. And now he’s ready to tell it.

—

<i>To me, being a Ranger is one of the best jobs in the world.</i>

—

If there was one thing I learned from this, it’s that I don’t want to be a ranger. Now, you may be wondering what prompted this reaction, particularly after reading all the author’s tales of adventure, mayhem, and mirth. The thing is, while you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s most of what one would be doing as a ranger, most of what your garden variety park ranger does can be described with one of two terms: citation, and law enforcement.

Back in the author’s day, he claims this made up about 50% of his job. Nowadays, he allows that that number would be much, much higher—from 75-100%. If I joined the park service to have adventures and got stuck doing law enforcement, I would be upset, and incredibly disappointed. But that’s certainly a personal choice—and I’m just not a fan. Others I’m sure would be thrilled; protect and serve, in the great outdoors, no less? Yes, please. Just not for me.

More to the point, while law enforcement and citation may have only accounted for half his duties, it’s certainly over half of the book. Deaths, arrests, wrecks, manhunts, maulings, injuries, stupid people doing stupid stuff—that’s what you’ll hear about. And while that can certainly be entertaining, it’s not the reason I picked this up. I enjoyed the personal stuff, where he describes his life choices and family and moving between and around the national park system. I enjoyed the few tales of wilderness or adventure that made it in, though it was mostly times he got lost or screwed up. As for the amazing and life-changing experiences in the great outdoors—well, I guess they’re just not that exciting.

Still, I’d recommend this if you’re interested in becoming a park ranger. Or if you like reading any americana, or biographies of regular folks with interesting careers. But for someone like me, scoping out a new career as something other than a cop or security guard… maybe skip it.

My family loves to visit many of the National parks located near North Carolina and this book has been a pleasure to read. Meeting several park rangers in the past has been wonderful. But not understanding what they do is always an interest to me. Tom Habecker has written this book very well to where it makes me respect how hard park rangers really do work. They do so much more than I ever imagined to help keep each park looking amazing and helping those out who need it. If you're looking for an inspiring book to read, I highly recommend this one!

A fantastic read! It was pure pleasure to read about Habecker’s adventures as a park ranger. He experiences the sublime to the tumultuous and all posts in between.
I’ve been to all the parks he served in so I could picture the terrain as he described his experiences.
One thing he confirmed is that people have always acted stupidly in the parks.
My favorite parts were Ferdinand, Snoopy the bear, and the wolf pups in Alaska.
I consider his 36 years as a ranger from the 1970s-2005 as the golden era. Now the parks are overran with people and several have instituted the reservation system for entry which completely kills the spontaneity of visiting.
Your service was well dome, Ranger!

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for fair review.

I have a slight obsession with national parks (specifically reading about them, I’ve only been lucky enough to visit a few). Tom Habecker was a ranger with the National Park Service for 30 years. We follow along from his interning before being a ranger at Gettysburg, through to Yosemite, Glacier, and Denali National Parks.

This memoir is full of anecdotes of life in the national parks and also gives a good overview on all the moving pieces behind the scenes of national parks. After reading this, I desperately want to visit all the parks he mentions. This book goes in chronological order and is very easy to follow. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys memoirs and anyone who is interested in the outdoors or national parks.

Visiting the national parks has been a highlight of my traveling, so I was looking forward to reading this book. The anticipation faded quite quickly. I just did not enjoy the author's simplistic style of writing. Entries from the diary he kept were expanded on without depth or feeling. For me, it was like a shopping list of things that happened. I do thank Mr. Habecker for all his years of service to the most beautiful places in this country. I thank NetGalley for a peek into this profession and Rowman and Littlefield for the advance read,

If you have been to a National Park, you have probably seen and or talked to a park ranger. Rangers are the guardians of the national parks and as you read this you will see that they definitely are a jack of all trades where they enforce laws, fight fires, provide medical care and rescue people. The job as come a long way from the first days where they had little to no training, now they have extensive training more so depending on where they are stationed. Over 32 years the author had assignments at Gettysburg, Yosemite, Glacier National Park and finally Alaska. Sprinkled throughout the book a clip from notes that were left in the daily logbook or daily report. It was interesting to read that Queen Elizabeth II visited Yosemite at the time he was working at. There are many stories the author provides with some ending in tragedy and others with a happy ending. If you ever wondered what Park Ranger life is like this should be a preeminent book to read and it may even encourage some to pursue this line of work.

I loved the vivid conversational writing style Tom Habecker uses in this book. It must have been fun for him to relive his life and career by going through decades of journaling! A Park Ranger’s job is so much more than I had realized. Actual journal clips and wonderful pictures significantly added to this book of recollections. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and felt transported.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rowman and Littlefield, Falcon Guides for permitting access to an ARC for review purposes.

Overall i found this book to be quite enjoyable. A terrific tale of what life truly is like as a park ranger. I learned a lot from it. I’m grateful the author kept up such diligent notes to be able to retell stories from his long career.

A really enjoyable memoir from a National Park ranger. I found it so interesting and it made me appreciate all that the rangers do to preserve our natural spaces.