Park Service program aims to better reflect the American 'mosaic'

JACKSON — Nadine Salas is interested in going into law enforcement but has had concerns, reflecting on what she’s heard about the profession and being a young Latina woman. She’s wondered whether the space is necessarily safe for her — and whether she should even ask questions about it.

“I think I’ve internalized a bit of that,” said Salas, 25. “I’m trying actively to break out of that.”

That’s why, a few weeks back, she decided to ask law enforcement ranger Shelby Barbay a handful of questions about policing in Grand Teton National Park. 

Salas was one of 20 or so participants in this year’s National Park Service Academy, a federal program aimed at introducing a diverse slate of American students and young professionals to Park Service careers. Through a weeklong orientation in Grand Teton and internships at other American parks, participants get training, exposure to the Park Service’s different jobs and connection with mentors and peers.

For Salas, the program — and the conversation with Barbay, in particular — inspired her and gave her more confidence to explore a career in law enforcement.

“Which I know that I absolutely want to do,” Salas said.

Fear, she said, had been getting in the way.

On a gray afternoon in March, Salas and the other members of the 2022 National Park Service Academy cohort were bouncing around Grand Teton’s administrative headquarters, talking with Jenny Lake rangers about search and rescue and emergency medical services, getting experience throwing a mock spike strip under the wheels of a fleeing vehicle and experimenting with a fire hose connected to one of the park’s structure fire engines.

The games, the conversations on that gray afternoon — all of it was in service of introducing them to the Park Service’s various career paths. 

But Julie Gonzalez, Grand Teton’s community engagement coordinator, said Park Service employment isn’t necessarily the end goal. She graduated from the program.

“If that’s a byproduct of what we do, we’re all here for it,” Gonzalez said. “But, really, we just want to create this understanding and connection with folks to what the National Park Service does. And help create that sense of belonging, that this is something that you can do if you want to.”

After their week of orientation in Grand Teton the participants in this year’s National Park Service Academy will go on to summer internships at Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Mount Rainier and Yellowstone national parks, Gonzalez said. 

But the program isn’t focused on one type of work in the park — or participant. Internships focus on wildlife, trails, interpretation, fire and more. And, while there are people in the academy with backgrounds that center around environmental science and conservation, the program is open to people of all majors and backgrounds, including people from technical and vocational schools.

“I think that’s representative of the National Park Service as a whole,” Gonzalez said.

Marco Lopez, 27, works in the dental field and is finishing his associate degree in May. From Chicago he grew up visiting national parks like Glacier in Montana and Badlands in South Dakota. The outdoors resonates with him, and he started volunteering with his local forest preserve. So when he found out about the academy through his community college and got the offer, he dropped everything to make it happen.

“Let me put it this way,” Lopez said. “I drove 21 hours in my own personal car from Chicago, I quit my job. I turned my whole life around just to try and jump on this opportunity. It’s been the best thing ever for me.”

Lopez and Rowan Ball, 21, will both be working in law enforcement at Mount Rainier National Park this summer.

But unlike Lopez, Ball didn’t grow up visiting the national parks. They’re from eastern Pennsylvania and always felt like the parks were far removed from their life. Ball was working in the Southwest on a conservation crew when they found out about the National Park Service Academy through the American Conservation Experience’s Emerging Professionals in Conservation program. That’s a program that connects recent graduates with jobs in federal land and wildlife agencies.

Ball thought the academy would be a good opportunity to learn about the National Park Service before diving into it. And they haven’t been disappointed.

“Every night that I’m here I get a little emotional,” Ball said.

Plus, their cohort members and Grand Teton staff have been incredibly welcoming, something Ball worried about before getting into conservation.

“My main concern when I was considering pursuing conservation is not being taken seriously or respected because I’m nonbinary,” they said.

The Academy has helped alleviate that fear.

“I am not only accepted but celebrated and very respected,” Ball said. “It’s done wonders for my confidence and my concept of what my future might be.”

Gonzalez said the cohort has had conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within the Park Service.

She acknowledged that “there’s a lot of work to be done” to have Park Service staff better represent the “mosaic” of American people, as the academy describes its goal. The space cultivated at the National Park Service Academy, for example, might not be representative of every park where graduates go on to work, Gonzalez said. But she said strides are being made. The leadership of the National Park Service’s individual units, Gonzalez said, has a lot to do with whether having “a representative, diverse and inclusive workforce is a priority.”

Grand Teton Superintendent Chip Jenkins has made that a priority, Gonzalez said, and that trickles down into other division chiefs.

“Which is part of why we see a lot of folks that go through this program and get hired,” Gonzalez said.

Three National Park Service Academy graduates currently work for Grand Teton, Gonzalez said: Two are permanent employees, and one is in a seasonal role. But during the summer, Gonzalez said, the park hires more. In 2021, she said, about six graduates were hired for seasonal work.

“What gives me hope is seeing that leadership has recognized this as a priority,” Gonzalez said.

For Salas, breaking into a career rooted in conservation and the outdoors was always a concern.

In the Mexican community she grew up in, it wasn’t common to go camping or climbing — or pursue the other adventure-driven sports associated with national parks like Grand Teton. Her family would go outside, visiting nearby lakes for people’s birthdays or getting together to eat in the local park.

“After coming to the Academy, I think my biggest fear, which was not belonging, has been completely eradicated,” Salas said. “Not only do I see myself in this space, this is the most diversity I’ve ever seen in any kind of working group.”

She’s interested in “holding space in a position in the National Park System” so she can resonate with people with similar life experiences.

That, Salas said, would be invaluable.

“Somebody could just see me and be like, ‘OK, I look like her. We might have the same background,’” she said. “’I feel like this is a space that I belong in, too.’”

This story was published on April 13, 2022.