Our first national park was Yellowstone. Parts of Wyoming and Montana became Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant, and many more parks followed.
The U.S. Army was first used to regulate the parks and range the properties to protect the natural resources. Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service in 1916 and civilian employees began to work in our national parks.
The U.S. army played a strong influence in the park ranger uniform. The first World War was taking place. The dress uniform for an officer during World War I is what became the first ranger uniform, which was green wool material with black boots and a green felt wool campaign hat.
With the growing popularity of these parks it became obvious for rangers while trying to control traffic or enforce park rules that they needed a uniform that would stand out but function well for rangers working outdoors.
Tennessee State Park uniforms still have the influences of these first park uniforms. The Tennessee State Parks (TSP) uniform has a shoulder patch that while it looks quite different at first glance than the national park patch it shares the same arrow head shape.
The campaign hat is still a part of the dress uniform for Tennessee park rangers. This is the same hat that Tennessee State Highway Troopers wear. Forest rangers also have used this style of hat made famous by the most famous forest ranger, “Smokey the Bear”.
Now if you visit the park often and you see me about, more than likely you are going to see me in what is called the field uniform. I agree it's not nearly as formal or nice looking as the dress uniform. Most of the work we do day to day in the parks requires a lot of maintenance work that is hard on clothing.
Events like the recent Bluegrass Festival at Big Ridge will have hundreds of people moving around and the dress uniform is appropriate for such an occasion.
Most people probably do not put much thought into the uniform an officer is wearing but I guarantee that everyone subconsciously decides whether or not the person is a person of authority or just another civilian by how they are put together. It's a faith we put into those chosen to protect us.
It's a large responsibility on the role of any officer to honor and protect that trust the public put in the hands of law enforcement officers. The uniform is an important part of that representation. I don’t particularly like having to wear a uniform but I highly respect it and do not take it lightly.
It is nearly impossible to do what is expected of a Park Ranger or any officer of the law without being seen in that uniform. We need more officers in this world that will honor God by being truthful in that uniform and we need more people to honor God by being respectful of those wearing the uniform.