BLM Rangers

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

National



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BLM Rangers

John Wesley Sering, Chief Ranger

In April 2007, I was selected as Chief Ranger for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) after 30 years as a permanent BLM employee. I began working as an Outdoor Recreation Planner in the Riverside District in 1977–78, after earning a Master of Science degree in Geography, Wildland Recreation, and Wilderness Management from the University of Idaho. From there I moved to Montrose, Colorado, as a Wilderness Coordinator until 1989, when I switched careers to become the first BLM District Ranger in Montrose (only the second Ranger in Colorado at the time). I accepted the State Staff Ranger position in Boise, Idaho, after serving as a Ranger for 17 years in Montrose; Wenatchee, Washington; Taos, New Mexico; and Moab, Utah. Starting as a seasonal Wilderness Ranger for the Forest Service in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, I have experienced a love of the outdoors throughout my career. Working as a BLM Ranger has always given me a chance to enjoy the environment around me. I’ve enjoyed meeting and educating people who come to BLM lands to recreate— patrolling the San Juan Islands with sea lions and orcas in Washington State, experiencing the diversity and challenges of the tri-cultures in Taos, or patrolling in a Jeep Rubicon in Moab.

Law Enforcement

I accepted the National Chief Ranger position because I believe strongly in BLM Law Enforcement Rangers and their commitment to natural resource protection, and I wanted to give back to the Ranger program. The BLM Ranger program has the best land management Law Enforcement Officers of any agency I have ever observed. This high quality is due to the type of people who are hired, the training they receive, and the commitment they have to their jobs and to the land. I want to be a voice for the BLM Ranger program, give positive guidance, act as a mentor, and earn the respect of the Rangers.

The BLM has a relatively small force of Rangers, with slightly more than 180 Rangers nationwide in the field, patrolling more than 258 million acres of public lands. Rangers deal with a variety of issues, ranging from violations caused by off-highway vehicle use, investigations of wildland fires, eradication of marijuana and drug smuggling, vandalism and removal of natural resources, theft of archaeological and paleontological artifacts, enforcement of recreation permits, and protection of developed recreation sites.

The year has been a successful one for the Ranger program in many ways. We developed a new recruitment program, including a BLM Ranger brochure and an upcoming video. We are also planning outreach with colleges and universities and will attend future job fairs. There is an excellent cadre of Field Training Officers working with new BLM Rangers, both from other agencies and graduating from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Our K-9 Teams are outstanding and are sought for national, State, and local work details, as well as other special activities outside their home States. For the first time, the BLM has a full complement of eleven State Staff Rangers.

Through training, opportunities to work details in other locations, and working with varying and often complex resource issues with a variety of resource specialists, the BLM Rangers are a breed unto themselves.

George Orr, Ranger of the Year

Ranger of the Year George Orr, from Burns, Oregon, is an outstanding Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) with a sincere dedication to serving the Burns District employees, the general public, and the people of Harney County. The Burns District is composed of 2.5 million acres of public lands covering a geographic area of 10,000 square miles, and is home to the largest National Landscape Conservation System unit in Oregon—the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area (CMPA), designated by Congress in October 2000.

The Burns District has had the worst 2 years of wildfires in its history. In 2006, a total of 153,000 acres were burned; in 2007, a total of 203,000 acres were consumed by wildfires. During both years of extreme wildfires, Ranger Orr was especially diligent and placed himself in harm’s way, along with Harney County Sheriff’s Deputies, in countless emergency evacuations of homes because of extreme and erratic wildfire behavior, which threatened life and property. U.S. Hwy 20/395—a major artery though southeastern Oregon—was closed a record number of times this past summer because of wildfire encroachment. In one incident, Ranger Orr had set up a roadblock to stop a wanted individual. That person ran the roadblock, clipping Orr’s vehicle, which led to a high-speed chase and apprehension of the suspect.

Ranger Orr has taken the time to foster good relations between District employees and their specific programs of responsibility. He has taken an interest in the management and protection of resource values, especially within the Steens Mountain CMPA, which has high national visibility. The CMPA includes the largest Wilderness Area in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Oregon, and Orr has been very active and responsive in managing the OHV use along the wilderness boundary. He has been willing to help with the management of Special Recreation Permits and track organizations without valid permits from the BLM.

Ranger Orr has established outstanding relations with local law enforcement agencies. His interaction with the U.S. Forest Service, the Harney County Sheriff’s Department, Oregon State Police, the Burns Paiute Tribal Officers, and the local Burns and Hines Police Departments reflect the mutual respect and good working relations that are essential in the protection of public lands and resources, along with the promotion of public health and safety. These agencies have collaborated on many drug raids of growing operations on public lands. They captured and arrested illegal immigrants who were growing marijuana worth millions of dollars in street value. Ranger Orr has been called on by many agencies and jurisdictions for work details that cross organizational lines. He spent several weeks in Fiscal Year 2007 working with U.S. Border Patrol Agents on the southern border.

These are some examples of how Ranger Orr demonstrates courage, dedication, and honor. He has enduring stamina and the ability to go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure employee, as well as public, health and safety. He has spent long hours away from his home and family in the line of duty. He is the only BLM LEO within Harney County, Oregon, with a range of more than 10,000 square miles. Ranger Orr performs his job to the best of his ability and with the resources he is given, always with an emphasis on completing his mission safely.

Perry McCoy, Ranger, Secretary's Valor Award Recipient

Former Grand Junction, Colorado, Ranger Dan “Perry” McCoy was given the Secretary’s Valor Award in May 2007. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Ranger McCoy demonstrated unusual courage involving a high degree of personal risk in the face of danger for diffusing a hostage situation during a dangerous investigation involving drugs on public lands.

“BLM Rangers are asked to cover thousands of acres of public lands on their own, putting their lives on the line for public lands and those who use them,” says BLM Law Enforcement Director William Woody. “Many patrol alone and are special, resourceful individuals who are dedicated to their jurisdictions, their families, and their peers.”

“BLM Rangers—and Perry McCoy is one of the best and most dedicated—are right there, working closely with local, State, and other Federal agency law enforcement personnel, search and rescue, and wildland firefighters,” continued Woody. “McCoy earned his colleagues’ respect and trust, and for that there can be no greater reward.”

Ranger McCoy was named the 2006 BLM Ranger of the Year. He now works for the BLM in Wyoming.