Ranger Lisa Hendy at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona
(National Park Service photo)ABOUT HER* Age: 39.* Hometown: Chattanooga.* Education: Girls Preparatory School, Auburn University (bachelor’s degree in park management), Utah State (master’s degree in exercise physiology and biometrics).* Hobbies: Climbing, canyoneering, rafting.GOVERNMENT VS. PARKS”I think the Park Service has the best mission of any federal agency,” she told the Washington Post. “We get to protect the most amazing places for the enjoyment of future generations. Our job is to make sure that some of the most spectacular monuments and places in the country are going to be there for the nation’s children and grandchildren. You can be frustrated with the federal government all you want, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want that to happen. It’s such a great mission.”
The call came, according to Chattanooga native Lisa Hendy, when she was driving through Wyoming in a blizzard.
She’d just been selected to receive the National Park Service’s 2011 Harry Yount National Park Ranger Award for excellence, in effect naming her the best ranger in the nation.
“I had to pull over when my supervisor told me,” Hendy, 39, told OldWestNewWest.com Travel & History Magazine. “Afterward, I drove for a while trying to absorb the news and realized I was 11 miles past my turn-off. It was overwhelming.”
The ranger, who was recently in Chattanooga rehabbing an ankle injury, is a law enforcement ranger in Grand Canyon National Park’s Canyon District. Her official title is Canyon district patrol supervisor. In a week, she will become chief of the branch of emergency services at Yosemite National Park.