Santa Clara County appoints its first female chief park ranger

A century after Marguerite Lindsley became the first female National Park System ranger Santa Clara County has appointed its first woman as chief park ranger to oversee operations of more than acres of citizens park lands Ali Henry a -year veteran of Santa Clara County Parks was appointed to her new role on July where she will serve as the fourth chief ranger in the organization s nearly -year history Related Articles Child dies injured after tree falls at California summer camp Fort Ord Dunes State Park campground to be built along Monterey Bay San Jose gets court order to keep alleged drug dealers out of St James Park Signs posted at National Park Institution sites seen as threats to whitewash dark side of history A mansion with a mission Filoli House and Garden promotes history beauty Henry accidentally stumbled upon her future career path in when she was a -year-old candidate at Gavilan College in Gilroy At the time the county was looking to hire park services attendants to work at entrance kiosks I thought I could do that ' Henry recalled For the next several years she worked at the county s power boating reservoirs soaking up all the information she could about the role of a park ranger When she hit the maximum annual hours she could work as a temporary employee she volunteered for more than hours as as docent helping order and improve signage throughout the park system and installing lighting at flag poles so flags don t have to be taken down every night During that time Henry reported in an interview that she fell in love with the profession and after she graduated college she was hired on as a park ranger Working as a ranger she commented that you never know what you re going to get on any given day Park rangers for Santa Clara County Parks are generalists That means we have to be really good at a lot of different things she mentioned Not only do we do the law enforcement component we re exigency biological response we re wild land firefighters we do a ton of district outreach and engagement and I love that about the job In her new role Henry is now more likely to be detected behind her desk than in one of the county s parks But being in a leadership role she disclosed allows her to promotion the rangers out in the field and ensure they have all the tools and information they need She right now oversees about employees between park rangers and non-sworn civilian staff but the department is looking to grow and Henry wants to put recruiting a diverse workforce at the forefront I want to reach all different types of folks and I really do want people to see especially young women and girls that this work in populace organization is achievable that they can do it and maybe they see themselves doing that work in the future Henry noted The National Park Provision has committed to diversifying its own rank and file in newest years In only of the National Park Operation s law enforcement workforce were women Joe Aguilera the deputy director of visitor services and facilities for Santa Clara County Parks called Henry s hiring an vital milestone that represents the county s commitment to diversity equity and inclusion There s no question why Chief Henry was selected for the job her leadership tenacity and commitment to populace amenity makes her the right person to lead Park Ranger Operations for the Department he declared in a comment Working with Chief Henry for the past three years I ve witnessed not only the positive impacts of her leadership on staff and the inhabitants but also her dedication to upholding the mission of the department to provide protect and preserve regional parklands for the enjoyment tuition and inspiration of this and future generations