Rangers answer

By Tania Martin
THE Dandenong Ranges National Park has welcomed a new temporary ranger as a part of Parks Victoria’s summer recruitment program.
Chantal Fowler started work in December and said her main role was to support the other park rangers as well as help to conduct the summer program of events.
Ms Fowler said with the recent good weather she expected to see an increase in the number of visitor during the next couple of months.
She said she enjoyed working at the park and on the holiday program with children and families.
Ms Fowler said a lot of the programs would be held in the education centre at the Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground on Mt Dandenong Tourist Road.
Some of the school holiday programs Ms Fowler will be helping with are story time, and the fire puppet play, which teaches children and parents how to have fun and be safe in the forest in summer.
Parks Victoria has employed 33 temporary rangers to help meet the needs of visitors during the busy summer period.
Meanwhile, the permanent rangers will continue to concentrate on visitor safety and information, on-going programs, fire responsibilities and other ranger services.
Ms Fowler will give information to visitors, perform safety patrols, and help with on-ground management work and pest and plant management.
Parks Victoria ranger in charge Matt Hoogland said the summer period places great demands on all rangers with more visitors, fire responsibilities and on-going community and environmental programs.
The summer recruitment program was first introduced in 1999 and has since proved to be a valuable resource to Parks Victoria, with rangers employed from November to April in national and state parks across the state.