Sedona’s Park Rangers contributed more than 9,500 hours of volunteer time to the city of Sedona over the last five years. The program, which features uniformed rangers in Uptown, started June 7, 2007, through the city ’s Parks and Recreation Department. Sedona City Council members first approved the concept in 2005.
The rangers, wearing their familiar uniforms and wide-brimmed, tan hats, became a recognizable fixture in Uptown in recent years. The outfits are similar to the uniforms worn by rangers with the National Park Service.
Bob Huggins, manager for the Sedona Park Ranger program, along with his wife Judy, created the program for the city. Huggins worked for the National Park Service for 31 years.
“We picked Sedona because it’s such a beautiful place. Having lived in national parks all over the United States, we moved here. One of the first things I thought of is that it would be nice to have a park ranger program in the city, which would act similar to what they have in Grand Canyon Village, Yosemite Village, where there’s a high concentration of visitors,” Huggins said.
Huggins worked with the Sedona Fire District, the Sedona Police Department and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce before receiving the go-ahead from City Council. The program started with three rangers, though that number has now grown to nine volunteers, he said. Volunteer park rangers work, on average, two to six hours a week.
“It’s been very well-accepted,” Huggins said. “We act as a liaison for the merchants to talk to the city. We also work with the visitors, answering questions.
We’re trained in first responder, first aid, so we can help out when someone falls. It’s a real fun program, and the people who have joined us really enjoy it. They are very dedicated.”
Ranger duties include providing support to parks and recreation programs, protection of the city’s open space, providing assistance and informational services to visitors and residents, providing additional emergency support and support at community events in Sedona.
Parks and Recreation Manager Andi Welsh said the ranger program provides invaluable assistance to the city.
“They’re there helping people with directions, telling people what’s going on and how to get to trailheads, and they also help patrol the parks in the city.
They go out to the parks and, if they find any maintenance issues or vandalism or things they are seeing going on, they pass that information on to staff,” Welsh said.
Additional volunteers for the ranger program are currently being sought. Anyone interested in becoming a part of the group is encouraged to contact the Parks and Recreation Department at Sedona City Hall. City Hall is located at 102 Roadrunner Drive.
Offices are open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
