Violence, threats against park rangers, wildlife workers on rise
Jun 17, 2013, 10:50 AM | Updated: 11:19 am
The murder of a Mount Rainier National Park ranger is the most tragic example of a rise in assaults and threats against federal police and wildlife workers in 2012. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
The murder of a Mount Rainier National Park ranger is the most tragic example of a rise in assaults and threats against federal police and wildlife workers in 2012.
Federal agencies, such as the National Park Service, U.S. Park Police and the Bureau of Land Management reported 591 incidences of violence or threats in 2012, up 38 percent from the previous year, according to the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The shooting death of Park Ranger Margaret Anderson at Mount Rainier in January 2012, as she staffed a road block trying to capture a wanted man, was the first killing of a park ranger in the line of duty in a decade.
Employees blame increasing threats and violence on drugs, off-road vehicles operating in remote backcountry areas, and conflicts over land management.
