This issue of Ranger focuses on what I consider to be the most important employee demographic in the National Park Service — seasonals.

I would be willing to bet that most of the membership of ANPR, myself included, started their NPS career as a seasonal employee. That in itself illustrates the importance of the seasonal workforce to our organization.

I would also contend that seasonals are the backbone of park operations. As a seasonal interpreter at Gettysburg I probably did not think of myself in that way. But as I moved into management I came to realize that seasonals were extremely important. While planning and overseeing several interpretive programs it became obvious that without seasonals our primary mission could not be achieved. We depend on them to provide staffing during our peak seasons. They collect fees, provide interpretation, enforce regulations, fight fires and maintain facilities.

That is why I am happy to see Ranger address issues faced by seasonals everyday. I am also very proud of ANPR for finding a way to address a critical seasonal need, health insurance. The old seasonal health benefits program was one of the first things to draw my attention to ANPR. I hope that our new program will help maintain a healthy seasonal workforce. Without them we would be hard pressed to achieve the mission of the NPS.