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Padre Island Interpretive Program Simply Succeeds

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Padre Island touch table; 'qnr' photo via Flickr

The touch-table at Padre Island National Seashore. Photo via Flickr

I believe the role of interpretation in park resource management is of utmost importance. When a skilled interpreter can reach an audience with his message, visitors can walk away from the park visit with a deeper understanding and appreciation for the resource the park service is trying to protect. This is why I worry about the trends I see in the parks which belittle the role of the professional interpreter.

It is not uncommon to read about electronic rangers arriving in the parks -- computer controlled handheld devices with GPS installed, available for rent. We are beginning to see pay-to-participate interpretive programs offered by the Park Service in some areas. And in other areas, professional interpreters are being replaced by concessionaire operated bus tours with pre-recorded programs played over the speaker system. I have great concern that the role of interpreter is coming to be understood as one of simply "tour guide", or worse, an entertainment act.

I am pleased to share with you an article which appeared in the San Antonio Express-News. The author of "a Ranger's lessons", discovers first hand how powerful an interpretive program can be when given by an experienced, knowledgeable park ranger to an intimate group of curious visitors.

Have you been on a program like this? The Padre Island National Seashore interpreter, William "Buzz" Botts, starts with the cool factor of the beach environment.

[He began his talk] at the "Beach in a Box," a "touch table" filled with sand and a collection of items gathered from the beach, each of them presenting a different story: a pelican skull, a dolphin spine and a green glass globe, which turned out to my surprise to be an antique fishing float, and a piece of fulgurite, which is a petrified chunk of sand melted by a lightning strike on the sand that cooled into a column of stone.

Once the unique nature of the Padre Island environment has been revealed, time to move into protection mode, reveal that this special place has some issues that have to be addressed.

"When they do necropsies of sea turtles — which is like an autopsy — a common feature is the plastic they find in their gut. Then there are the bite marks we find in these plastic bottles, which is evidence of feeding by sea turtles. They probably think it's a jellyfish."

Unfortunately for the professional interpreter, it is next to impossible to quantify the success of the program. How many people after having seen this program will retain the information and alter their behavior to better protect the park resource? Who can say? For this article though, the author leaves us a final thought which suggests the ranger's program changed her outlook of the beach.

Later, as I buy ice cream from the ice cream truck on the beach, the lady apologizes for the seaweed that Hurricane Dean had deposited. I told her the seaweed didn't bother me much; it's part of nature — but to see the plastic strewn around was the problem.

Pretty cool. Would this ranger's interpretive program been as successful if it had been delivered over an iPod? My sense is, no it wouldn't have been. There is just something special that occurs when people talk with people. It is hard to reproduce that level of communication electronically.

Comments

I'd like to see anyone replace this ranger or this kid's experience with an ipod...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfQ0oX-PLnU


Jon,
Thanks very much for adding that video. It demonstrates exactly my thoughts regarding this article. For all the talk about "reaching out to the iPod generation", I think something very important is being missed. People want to talk with people, they want to connect with someone at the park, kids included. There are lessons to be learned in that short video.


Yeah. What Beamis said.

And I don't see what is so extraordinary about the interaction bewteen the ranger and the little boy in the video. Other than that the visitor center was staffed enough that the ranger had enough free time to give this one boy. If the opportunity allows, park rangers are having exchanges like this one with park visitors everyday. And Gasp! some of those rangers are even gun toters!

On that note, comparing this videotaped interaction with internet based interpretation is like comparing a Granny Smith to a MacIntosh. Ya know, one's best raw the other makes excellent pies. That's why the stores sell both of them.


Haunter Hiker and Beamis - thanks very much for weighing in.

H.H. - I agree with you, there isn't anything extraordinary about that video, which I think is great! To me, it represents what "business as normal" ought to be in the National Park Service. The video is nothing more than an interpreter (I presume) doing her job. And, I agree, there are NPS Law Enforcement rangers which provide the same level of dedication and passion for the job and for the visitor.

And, I agree with you that there is nothing wrong with non-personal interpretation, like that found in visitor center exhibits, orientation movies, the web, and podcasts -- this is the stuff I'm payed to produce (my real job), so believe me, I really find nothing wrong with it. What bothers me, is when it is suggested that non-personal interpretation can be a substitute for intrapersonal interpretation (like suggesting the MacIntosh is just as tasty as the Granny Smith is raw). I've been sent in email about new devices described as "GPS Rangers". The title of the article is "Gadgetry to lure 'iPod' generation to California's Death Valley". Says the salesman of this device, "Look at Americans -- they don't read that many books. Why fight it? Join it!"

The point I'm hoping to make with this article, and the attached video in the comments section, is that the person to person interpretation can be much more powerful tool at resource protection than a gadget can. The pessimist (or is it realist) in me says the NPS may be turning to these electronic gadgets because they can produce a tangible return on investment (in rental dollars) where as people interpreters cost too much money to maintain (income, housing, etc) and produce a result which is hard to measure.


This ranger latched on to the fact that this kid had an interest in Peregrines and went with it. Bully for her, as TR would say. She could have easily recited the usual blah blah swearing in ceremony for the kid and then re-parked her butt back behind the desk and pasted on a smile waiting for the next "Where's the bathroom?" question to come along. My kids do Junior Ranger booklets everywhere we go and sometimes you can't even find a ranger around to talk to them, then you get the bookstore cashier reading some script or even worse, just handing the kid a plastic badge with maybe a "congratulations". I have my kids do these not only to learn about the park but to get that minute or two of interaction with the ranger, questioning what they found, sharing their experiences. There are not enough rangers nor do they usually have enough time to interact one-on-one with kids. The formal interp programs have been scaled back so much you can hardly find anything offered outside of summer these days. So, yeah, unfortunately this video shows the way it ought to be and increasingly the way it "used to be". To say she only did this because she had the time is pretty darn cynical. It's obvious to me she cared enough that the kid left with a memorable, positive experience in the hopes that someday he will do the same for others. Caring is contagious, and an electronic gizmo doesn't care a lick.


I support the administrative merging of co-located parks to reduce the upper management ranks.

What's funny is that the techno-approach being used to reach visitors could also easily be used for management and staff to regularly interact.


I agree with Merryland above. The internet and other electronic means of communication are excellent mechanisms for promoting inter- and intra- staff communications. The internet and other forms of electronic communications can be very effective in keeping interim employees like seasonals and volunteers current on park administrative changes, new procedures for the operation and conduct of duty, upcoming events, and recent research findings. This information is especially useful when communicated to the returning employee during their off-season away from their park.

Owen Hoffman
Oak Ridge, TN 37830


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