Ranger Reflections with Jim Ford
“Being reunited with nature and biology, and truly understanding my role in the biosphere, answered so many questions that had been plaguing me. It healed me in a way nothing else has, and continues to sustain me.”
What are some of your responsibilities with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area?
I am a Park Ranger and Education Specialist with the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS). I create and facilitate Mississippi River-related formal education programs for school groups. I also oversee the Canoemobile Mississippi River program in partnership with the local nonprofit, Wilderness Inquiry. This program brings 10,000 Minnesota youth onto the Mississippi River in large Voyageur Canoes!
Why did you choose to become a ranger?
I did not really choose to be a ranger, but it was a door that opened to me and I ran through at full speed. I chose to dedicate my life to educating youth about the natural world, specifically urban youth. I did this because I was an urban youth once myself, from Chicago, with no meaningful connection to the natural world. I did not realize until after a semester abroad in Costa Rica at 20 years old that this disconnect was the root cause of so many of my emotional and physical problems. Being reunited with nature and biology, and truly understanding my role in the biosphere, answered so many questions that had been plaguing me. It healed me in a way nothing else has, and continues to sustain me.
Lofty language aside, this is what led me to become a high school biology teacher. I taught on the west-side of Chicago for three years, and at a juvenile detention center in Minnesota for four years. Continuing with my outdoor mission, I started a large organic vegetable garden at the juvenile detention center and centered my curriculum around it. The investment and changes I saw in my students when compared to traditional classroom textbook learning were stunning.
I stepped back from teaching to explore the world of organic farming, and on the side led kayak eco-tours of the Mississippi River backwaters near Wabasha. It was at that point in my life when I learned about a job opening at the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. They were the door that opened for me as a ranger, since they were looking for a teacher with experience teaching urban youth to lead the park’s Urban Wilderness Canoe Adventures program (currently named Canoemobile).
What is your philosophy for educating students about nature and parks? What gives you hope when getting people to appreciate the outdoors?
I have believed for a long time that the disconnect from natural systems due to the rise of urbanization has led to most of our current environmental problems. There are many ways to address this problem, one of which is simply to take people from the urban areas and directly reintroduce them to natural systems in the hope that they fall in love with it. People care for things they love. Every student will not form a Henry David Thoreau-type bond with nature, but at least they will be informed of their connection to nature.
I also try to avoid the self-deprecating (but valid in many ways) pitfall of regarding humans as a plague on the planet and the cause of all problems. This view of humanity can be extremely damaging to a child’s worldview, and in turn, the view of themselves. How can a young person develop confidence and positive self-esteem when the message they hear is, “Your very existence is killing the Earth.” So I consciously speak positively of the relationship between people, plants, and animals and how we have to sustain that relationship like any other relationship. I also talk about the strides people are taking to heal the damage done.
What are some accomplishments from your time as a MISS park ranger?
I am proud of co-creating the River Educator program with David Kappelhoff, Education Coordinator with our park’s partner, Mississippi Park Connection (MPC). Using grant funding we hired a cadre of retired teachers to aid in facilitating park programs. Using these new staff, we created a number of new park programs for fourth graders. The program I worked on the most was called Living River, which is a very fun program that uses hands-on activities to teach kids about the floodplain forest along with two organisms making their habitat within that ecosystem. The program has received great reviews from teachers.
I am also proud of leading the River Educator Fellowship, a high school internship program for people of color. I broadened this internship program to expose the fellows to different branches of the park, and also focused on teaching interview skills and resume building. Many of the fellows I mentored over the past five seasons have landed in the environmental field, and obtained employment in institutions like Friends of the Mississippi River, Mississippi Park Connection, and as student rangers with the park itself.
Lastly, I am proud that I bolstered the park’s water safety program. I created a paddling skills and safety course for seasonal rangers, as well as Wilderness Inquiry trail staff.
Who do you look up to in your profession, and how have they influenced your work with the park?
I really respect Lyndon Torstenson’s dedication to his profession. He built an education program from scratch and is passionate about environmental education. Dave Wiggins trained me in and I really admired his creativity, his public speaking skills and his willingness to try new things.
I was always impressed with how Katie Nyberg, executive director of Mississippi Park Connection, thinks outside the box to solve problems and create new programs. She is a natural born leader who makes good decisions and leads by example.
It was always refreshing to work with David Kappelhoff who always says “yes and” and loves creating fun, exciting programs. David has also helped me see how technology can be a useful tool and not an insidious force extinguishing the human spirit and driving us towards a post-human future of A.I. controlled cyborgs ; )
