When people are concerned primarily with their own advancement, enjoyment, wealth, and success, even at the expense of others, conflicts are bound to occur. It's common to hear about swindles, robberies, and other similar crimes. We have people in business continually trying to bend or bypass the rules and laws in order to take advantage of someone else.

To combat this greed, there are new regulations constantly being created. And, people trying to find new ways around them.

These regulations are enforced and there are penalties if you get caught. If there was no enforcement then many people would ignore them.

This is where many people get their view of policemen - people that enforce laws and imprison bad guys. But, that is a small part of the service they provide. They also perform first aid, help lost kids, provide information, make people feel safe, and many other good deeds.

In the wilderness, you might meet a wilderness ranger, employed by the US Forest Service or other land management agency. These rangers are similar to police. They have the duty to enforce regulations, such as group sizes, campfire use, and campsite locations. Many people think of them only in this role - the role of enforcer - and therefore are apprehensive when meeting one.

Unfortunately, some of the rangers also see themselves mainly in this role and they promote that confrontational view of the community. I've met a couple of these rangers over the years. They let you know that it's "their" wilderness and your group is visiting, and by gosh you'd better watch yourselves. These rangers must have the worst job in the world - being out in beautiful country but not able to enjoy it because they are too busy looking for "trespassers" causing problems.

On the other hand, there are some rangers like the one I talked to on both my treks this past month. His name is Ranger Bob and he embodied what I think a ranger should be. He checked our permit to make sure we were 'legal'. He asked us our plans and how our hike was going. He pointed out a couple good sites to camp that were well away from other groups - in a way that I understood he wanted us to use them, but not in a forceful authoritarian way. Then, he let me know that fires were prohibited in the wilderness and he appreciated me bringing young guys out to enjoy the countryside.

A few minutes after he left us to continue his hunt for illegal fire sites, he came back and asked if we were interested in viewing some wildlife. He then led us around a small stand of trees to see two moose in the creekbed - moose that two other groups had gone past, completely oblivious. We would have missed them to if he hadn't made the extra effort to point them out.

Now, that's the kind of guy I'd like to be. Someone willing to give advice, share experience, educate visitors in proper techniques, make sure they understand the rules, and provide enforcement only when necessary. Helping folks understand what they should do, why they should do it, and how they should do it best. And, you don't have to be Bob the Ranger to do just that - we should be doing it all the time in Scouting.

Scout On
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