New interpretive ranger enjoying Wyoming

It took just one backpacking trip for Ben Goodlad to fall in love with Wyoming, and one job search later, he’s a new interpretive park ranger at the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, stationed at the Cal S. Taggart Visitor Center in Lovell.Goodlad moved to Lovell from Baker City, Ore., where he worked for the Bureau of Land Management Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.A California native, Goodlad graduated from high school in Fresno, then served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, stationed at Air Station Miramar and in Okinawa. He worked as a purified water system operator for a reverse osmosis purification system that could even purify salt water, he noted.[caption id="attachment_10934" align="alignright" width="199"] Ben Goodlad[/caption]After his service, he enrolled at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in outdoor recreation with a minor in scientific diving.He worked as a scuba instructor in the Caribbean region for four years, logging more than 800 hours underwater in places like the Bahamas, Utila Island off the coast of Honduras, St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Grand Cayman.He returned to California to earn his EMT certification and worked for the Veterans Fire Crew through the Student Conservation Corps in Arizona and as a winter seasonal on Alcatraz Island in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area before a nine-month stint in Oregon at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.Bighorn Canyon NRA is his first permanent position, Goodlad said, calling it a “huge jump” for his career. And he’s also happy to be in a beautiful part of the United States.“I was backpacking in the Tetons last summer, and the area was gorgeous,” he said. “I thought I’d apply to this area and ended up getting this job.”As an interpretive park ranger, Goodlad will work with outreach – giving programs in schools and the like, greet visitors at the Bighorn Canyon Visitor Center and handle programming from kayaking to campfire programs. He’ll also assist with grant writing and work on the engine crew for fires.Goodlad is single and said he loves water sports, backpacking and the outdoors in general.He invites people to stop by the visitor center and noted that Bighorn Canyon is looking to have more outreach and attract volunteers to work in the park.

By David Peck