A Brief Park Ranger Institute History
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In March 1978, the inaugural Park Ranger training took place in High Point, North Carolina. This event, titled “The North Carolina Park Ranger Workshop,” featured thirty participants. It was a collaborative effort between Recreation Resources Services at N.C. State University and the Park Ranger/Lake Warden staff in High Point.
The 1970s marked a remarkable period of expansion for Park Ranger units in North Carolina; however, there was a lack of specialized training to meet their unique needs. Following the March training, a planning committee was established, with John Byrd joining its ranks.
For the first decade, the Institute was hosted in various cities across North Carolina, rotating through High Point, Charlotte, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Asheville, Greenville, Greensboro, and Salisbury. For thirty-three years The Part Ranger Institute found a long term host at The North Carolina Justice Academy in Salemburg and Edneyville.
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The move to the Justice Academy gave us a long-term host and a name change from - The North Carolina Park Ranger Workshop to the North Carolina Park Ranger Training Institute and later, in 2006, with national and international attendees the name changed to The Park Ranger Institute. To date, the Institute has trained over 6,000 participants. We offer the only Professional Ranger Certification program in the country. The Institute has had attendees from forty-three different states, Canada, Ireland and Russia.
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In 2021, due to Covid, training had to be cancelled. This was the first time in forty-three years we were unable to offer The Park Ranger Institute training. Thankfully we were able to get back on track in 2022 and we look forward to many great years to come.
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2025 Brought about a new change as we experienced our training conference at Haw River State Park and in 2026, training Session I will be held at The North Carolina Mountain Training Facility and Session II at The Biden Environmental Center in Delaware.
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