Twenty-two of the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s 38 new forest rangers are working in the Adirondack Park.

On Tuesday, less than a week after the DEC graduated 38 new forest rangers, DEC spokesperson Jeff Wernick told the Enterprise that nearly 60% of the graduates are heading out to work in the Adirondacks.

Local green groups and state officials for months have said that the Adirondack Park needs more forest rangers. At the forest ranger graduation last Friday, DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos reiterated that the Adirondacks have the “highest need” for rangers.

Wernick said the new forest rangers started their first day of work on Monday.

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The breakdown

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According to the DEC’s current forest ranger roster there are 46 forest rangers — not including lieutenants and captains — currently serving the DEC’s Adirondack regions. With the 22 new rangers, that brings the total number of rangers in the Adirondack Park to 68.

In Region 5 North — which covers Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties — there are six new rangers, according to Wernick, stocking the region with a total of 23 forest rangers, two forest ranger lieutenants and a forest ranger captain.

Region 5 South — which includes Essex, Fulton, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties — will get seven new forest ranger graduates, bringing the region’s force to 24 forest rangers, three forest ranger lieutenants and a ranger captain.

Nine forest ranger graduates will work in Region 6, which covers Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Oneida and St. Lawrence Counties. With the additions, the region will have 21 forest rangers, three forest ranger lieutenants and one ranger captain.

Wernick said that the new staffing distribution is “subject to adjustment based on response needs” — if a bunch of rangers in one region retires, he said, staffing could be shifted to fill in the gaps.

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Retiring, hiring

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Seggos said on Dec. 2 that the new forest ranger graduates bring the state’s forest ranger force to a total of 159 people — the largest number of forest rangers ever, according to Seggos. Wernick said the DEC’s last “high watermark” in ranger staffing was a total of 140 rangers around five years ago. The force has ranged from 111 to 140 people over the last 10 years, according to Wernick.

While many state and local officials have applauded the forest ranger additions, they’ve also expressed concerns in the past that imminent ranger retirements could counter the increase. When asked about those concerns on Tuesday, Wernick said the 22 new rangers bring a net increase to the total number of DEC forest rangers in the park relative to retirements in the force — a trend he said is present across all of the DEC’s regions in New York.

A total of four forest rangers retired in 2022, according to Wernick. He said the DEC might get a couple of ranger retirements at the beginning of 2023, but he doesn’t expect the DEC to receive an influx of retirements high enough to counteract the new hires.

“No one put in their notice at the graduation ceremony and said, ‘Alright, you’ve got all these people, I’m out,'” he said. “It didn’t work that way.”

Wernick said there aren’t any pending forest ranger retirements right now. He said the DEC doesn’t have data on how many rangers are currently eligible for retirement.

“Right now, all I know is that no one has filed paperwork to retire,” he said.

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Local rangers stay, separate

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Thirteen of the 38 graduates are residents of the Adirondack Park. While some new graduates from the forest preserve are working where they live, other local rangers are relocating for the job.

Tupper Lake resident and forest ranger graduate David Corey is being stationed in Franklin County. Originally from Albany, Corey relocated to Tupper Lake two years ago. He said he’s happy he won’t have to move to start work.

Saranac Lake resident and new forest ranger Gregory Bowler, however, is being stationed in Montgomery County. His father, Ron Bowler, said the transition could be tough for his son, whose girlfriend is a teacher in the Tri-Lakes.