2023 GNP Winter Intern - Jamie Strandwitz

Month one is done....

Can't believe it's been a month already!
So much has happened in such a short period, so I have a lot to tell, but I guess I should give a

little background on myself first....

I'm Jamie :)
This is my 8th season with the National Park Service, and it's far from the last. The life I've built around being a Ranger and how that picture has evolved over time is now a part of my identity.
I grew up in Buffalo, WY. It's a little town with a population of less than 4,000, the Bighorn Mountains to the immediate west and sprawling prairie to the east. I'm one of the youngest of eight children and my fondest memories are of playing in the Bighorns as a kid, whether that was on a family day trip or while my dad felled lodgepoles that warmed our home in the winter months.
I think I would have found my way to the mountains no matter how or where I could have grown up, but I am so thankful that my parents chose to leave the east coast after they had the first three Strandwitz kids and head out west.

Becoming a Ranger was not on my radar until after I moved to the Flathead in the fall of 2016. I remember admiring the Rangers I saw while on a visit to Yellowstone with a friend and her family my senior year of high school, but I thought that I would have to get a degree in biology or some other earth science to fulfill that role, and I was on the track of wellness, community health, social sciences and learning hard skills like technical ropes, backcountry travel, and EMS.
Once I settled into the Flathead, I started directing the Boys and Girls Club in Columbia Falls. I got to know the community pretty well in that role, and one of the parents of a kid at the Club happened to be a former Ranger. It was too late at that point to apply for positions in the Park, but that summer when the Club was not in session, I started working for a gear shop in Apgar. I made friends with folks in the permit oncce, applied for the Backcountry Permits Ranger position the following December, and the rest is history.
I've still managed to sneak a couple part-time afterschool program gigs into the works and am thrilled to be back in the Flathead and volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club again after working at Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks for three years, but my mission to become a "Ranger of all trades" has occupied most of my time. I'm continuously polishing skill sets and taking on new ones; EMT, avalanche rescue, helicopter crew member, firefighting, climbing/skiing/mountaineering, carpentry, and various leadership roles to name a few.
Recognizing the meaning of this position in particular has been both inspiring and an honor. I hope that my interpretation and execution of being a Ranger holds true to the Schuberts' vision and the legacy that Taggart created through his passion for the outdoors and being a "Steward of the Land." Thank you to everyone involved for your support and investing in my journey.

Alright, here we go....

The first week of coming back to Glacier was like coming home. I was re-oriented to the West Glacier, Walton, Highway 2, and Two Medicine areas. I got to catch up with a lot of familiar faces and started to get to know plenty of new ones. The Parkie community living is West G. has been so welcoming and I've gotten to take part in events ranging from SAR trainings, to yoga nights, to Super Bowl (or as the Interpretation Rangers say, Superb Owl) parties, and Martin City Days.

My supervisor, Brian Drew, is the Two Medicine District Ranger and I'm pleased with the work we've accomplished so far, even after being sidelined with Covid for a week. I've gone out on several patrols of high use areas, helped repair the radio repeater up at the Scalplock Lookout, gone out on two ski tours with an avalanche forecaster from the Flathead Avalanche Center, attended a winter weather talk presented by a NOAA forecaster out of Missoula, started

working on updating our Avalanche Response Plan and a Winter Ranger handbook, and my first blog ;)

Getting to shadow folks in leadership positions is one of my main goals this winter, aside from upping my ice-climbing/avi forecasting/backcountry skiing skill sets of course, and I'm well on my way to fulfilling that goal. I've gotten to spend time with a couple of our District Rangers, our Deputy Chief Ranger, avalanche professionals from the Flathead Avalanche Cener and the BNSF Railroad, and I've got plenty more opportunities written into my schedule.

I have been slowed down a little due to a bit of an overuse injury, but in lieu of being out in the field I'm making good progress on more office and person to person projects.
I'm hoping to have an update every two weeks for the rest of the season here in Glacier, complete with multi-media razzle dazzle (which I hope improves with time as I learn more about this blog business), but until next time here are some photos of patrols, my team, and the contents of my patrol pack.
Cheers!