Nature's Notes * * * * * 99 



the animals, the streams, and the cliffs. They are under the direction of 

 a chief naturalist, Ansel F. Hall, a recognized authority of fine scientific 

 standing. 



The nature-guide idea was first undertaken a great many years ago. 

 Dr. H. S. Conard, of Grinnell College, Iowa, former head ranger 

 naturalist of Yellowstone, is the third generation of nature teachers who 

 have taken students and friends afield to study the secrets of the hills 

 and forests. The first excursions into the national parks were conducted 

 by men of scientific training, often college professors and teachers. 

 Later, when travel increased, it was difficult to find men adequately 

 trained to talk of the parks' wonders authoritatively. Enos A. Mills, of 

 Rocky Mountain Park, and Dr. Harold C. Bryant, of the University of 

 California, were pioneers in the movement to train ranger naturalists so 

 that they might tell visitors the interesting truth about the national parks. 



The regular rangers, though not scientifically trained as a rule, have 

 made themselves reliable practical naturalists to cope with the barrage 

 of inquiries which they are sure to meet each summer. Long experience 

 has taught them never to laugh at any question, albeit foolish. "When 

 do the geysers freeze over?" The Yellowstone ranger hears that daily. 

 Anyone who stops to think would know the geysers do not freeze over. 

 Yet the ranger must keep a straight face and answer the question seri 

 ously. Behind it may be an earnest desire for knowledge. There is some 

 thing of the explorer in every person. When he has discovered a 

 petrified tree, he wants to know how wood came to turn to stone, how 

 long ago it happened. It makes the visit to the petrified tree doubly 

 interesting to be informed by the ranger naturalist that the wood did not 

 turn to stone but that the grain of the tree, decaying, was replaced by 

 silica from the water, that it happened many thousands of years ago, 

 and that no eruption has taken place in that great span of years to 

 destroy the relic of the last of the earth's upheavals. 



Recognizing the educational possibilities of this interest in the natural 

 phenomena of the parks, the National 

 Park Service aims to keep at least one 

 ranger naturalist in each park. In the 

 larger parks a considerable staff is main 

 tained, directed by a head naturalist who 

 is also in charge of the park museum. In 

 Yosemite, several ranger naturalists are 

 on duty on the floor of Yosemite Valley, 

 one at Glacier Point, and at times others 

 are stationed at the Big Trees, Tuolumne 

 Meadows, and other points where Dudes 

 and Sagebrushers gather. 



