A couple of days before a certain round celestial body passed in front of another certain round celestial body, the New York State Park Police added a nice “round” number – 20 new graduates – to its ranks. Some of these new officers were put right to work – sent to the path of eclipse totality to help with an influx of visitation. Nearly one million people visited New York’s state parks and historic sites between April 6 and 9 to witness the eclipse.
After the eclipse, the new officers will spend the next couple of months in field training. They are assigned regionally to learn and prepare to serve State Parks’ 250 properties. Last year, our agency saw record attendance of 84 million, so the need for personnel has not slowed. The new officers will receive supervised training from senior officers, followed by assignment to patrol responsibilities.
With its spectacular scenery, Letchworth State Park is one of the most beloved parks in our system. But a crucial part of its story is the power of thinking differently.
Letchworth State Park.
William Pryor Letchworth, the park’s namesake, was deeply interested in epilepsy, traveling the country and the world in the late 1800s to study how it was treated. It’s not unreasonable to imagine that Letchworth would be proud to know that the park bearing his name is now home to a first-of-its-kind nature trail designed to meet the needs of people with an often misunderstood and stigmatized condition: autism.
Since 2002, New York State Parks and Historic Sites have been proudly protected by a team of four-legged officers and their handlers. The K-9 program commenced in 2002 with two K-9 teams trained in explosive detection stationed on Long Island. The team expanded from there, adding four more K-9 teams stationed in the Niagara and Saratoga-Capital District Regions, and in the Hudson Valley, all primarily trained for finding explosive devices. This inaugural generation served with distinction until 2014, marked by the retirement of K-9 Chase from the Palisades Region.
Park Police K-9s at work: Kairos sweeping Northwell Health Theater at Jones Beach, Travers at Saratoga Spa State Park, Niko investigating a crime scene in the Buffalo-Niagara region.
The K-9 force is larger and more diverse than ever today, with six K-9 teams throughout New York. The police dogs range in breeds and specialties, serving not only the State Parks system but the communities they live in, often being called in to help at large events and to find missing people. There is no typical day for a K-9 team. One day, they could be patrolling a park, and the next, tracking down perpetrators. Regardless of their task, they are well-prepared with each new pup undergoing extensive training to ensure they can handle whatever comes their way. Training ranges from explosive detection, search and rescue, tracking, and other disciplines well-suited for this unique breed of officer.
However, each pup is only half of the team. Their handler, a New York State Park Police Officer, is specially trained to work with K-9s and they must work in sync to be successful. Many of the handlers can only describe the relationship they build with their K-9 companions as “special” and their passion for their partners is clear. These teams work and live with each other every day. When not at work, these pups live life much like any other dog would, living at home with their handlers and their families, relaxing, playing, and receiving plenty of pets.
Let‘s dive into the biographies and backgrounds of each of these canine crimefighters, highlighting their unique personalities and showcasing some of the amazing things they have done to make the our state parks safer.
All are welcome at New York State Parks and Historic Sites, but getting to our facilities isn’t always easy. People who don’t have cars, for example, are often left to navigate transportation barriers that prevent them from accessing outdoor recreation opportunities.
A group of adults and children experience the Maid Of The Mist at Niagara Falls through the Ladders to the Outdoors program.
KeJuan Harmon is actively working to bridge the access gap for kids to discover and experience the wonders of state parks firsthand. In his role as State Parks’ Statewide Ladders to the Outdoors Coordinator, Harmon is giving back to communities in Western and Central New York. As part of the Share Your Story project for our agency’s Centennial, he describes the magic that happens when kids experience the outdoors for the first time.
“One of the most surprising things since I started working with our State Parks is the invisible barrier of Niagara Falls, the amount of kids from within three or four miles of Niagara Falls that have never been.”
Art and artifact conservators are the guardians of our cultural heritage. Their fascinating work blends art and science to protect the treasures of the past for future generations. But that work is often invisible to the public.
The American Institute for Conservation showcases this field through the annual Ask A Conservator Day. This year, NY State Parks and Historic Sites’ Department of Historic Preservation conservators Elizabeth Robson (Paintings) and Paige Schmidt (Wooden Objects) took a break from their labs to answer questions about their work.
What do conservators do? What is outside the scope of their field?
Conservators are highly skilled, highly trained professionals who care for art and artifacts. They assess the condition of a particular object and carry out a course of treatment for it. They also provide guidance on how to store and exhibit an object or work of art.
Conservators also specialize in one area of expertise, such as paintings, paper, objects, textiles, or architecture. There are further specialties within these categories, like murals, books, photographs, frames, wooden objects, archaeological objects, metals, and more. While a conservator’s treatment may improve the aesthetics of an object (e.g. replacing missing paint), they never do so at the expense of any original material. Nor do they give appraisals of artworks or artifacts.
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