After eight months on the job, Haines Park Ranger Tom Kain resigned his position last week.
Mike Eberhardt, Southeast parks superintendent and Kain’s boss, said Kain will stay on the job through May 29.
“Our hope is to have very little gap between Tom’s departure and the new ranger’s arrival, but (we) cannot predict how the hiring process will proceed,” Eberhardt said.
Kain said in an interview he resigned because he voluntarily dropped out of the mandatory law enforcement training at the Public Safety Training Academy in Sitka. Kain completed about half of the program before leaving.
Kain said he left for personal and professional reasons. “There were a lot of reasons. Things weren’t adding up,” he said.
Park rangers are required to obtain the certification, which allows them to carry guns, write tickets and perform other law enforcement duties.
“If I didn’t resign, I would get fired,” Kain said.
The only way to stay in the position would be to have the job reclassified as a parks specialist and not a law enforcement position, he said.
“It seems like it is not an option,” he said. “Every area has their needs. I think the community has vocalized that there is a desire or a need for the park ranger to be (a law enforcement officer).”
Pam Randles, president of the Chilkoot Bear Foundation, said it is critical to have a park ranger during the upcoming busy months of summer. With the possibility of the wildlife trooper’s temporary reassignment this summer, failure to fill the position in a timely manner would leave one trooper to cover all law enforcement issues outside of the townsite, she said.
“That’s asking a great deal,” Randles said.
Having someone in the Chilkoot River corridor with authority to enforce laws is important, she said. “I’m not suggesting we need to put the Gestapo out there, but I’m suggesting having someone in uniform out there who can give tickets.”
Before moving to Haines, Kain worked for the Division of Parks in Seward for four years, including as parks specialist.
Haines park ranger responsibilities include the Chilkoot, Chilkat and Portage Cove campgrounds, the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and Chilkat Islands State Marine Park. The ranger also serves as staff to the bald eagle preserve’s advisory council.
Kain said he will be heading back to Michigan with his family.