TRR photo by David Hulse Al Henry, chief of protection. (Click for larger image)

Al Henry, chief of protection

By DAVID HULSE

NARROWSBURG - With the 1999 retirement of former Chief Ranger Glenn Voss, Al Henry this year faces his first season as chief of protection for the National Park Service (NPS) on the Upper Delaware.

No stranger to the Upper Delaware, the Beach Lake resident was the first employee hired by former Superintendent John Hutzky, when the new NPS unit was being organized in 1979. Since then, he worked his way up to his last post as North District Ranger.

With Voss' retirement and the ensuing reorganization at the Upper Delaware, that post no longer exists and the one he now holds was created. He manages a protection staff of ten, which is responsible for the 73 miles of river between Hancock and Sparrowbush.

Protection rangers, sometimes known as "danger rangers," carry side arms and hold federal police powers on the river and federally owned or managed property. "Some rangers see it as a state police job, riding back and forth and talking to people now and then," he said.

But, Henry quickly added, they're responsible for more than just law enforcement. The job entails almost any of the work that the interpretation, resource management and maintenance divisions are involved in as well. Much of the work is determined by the public needs or requests at the time. "Law enforcement is just one of the tools. You never know what kind of questions you're going to get. We're multitalented," said Henry.

Law enforcement can be the toughest part of the job and Henry is straightforward about it. "When we have to do it, we have to do it, and the public sometimes gets disturbed when people are cuffed and transported. It might be nice to think we're wearing guns to shoot bears and animals, but as much as I hate to say it, they're mainly to deal with people...We all know why cops wear guns," he said.

One controversial program continues to be NPS telescopic surveillance of visitor activity on the rocks at Skinners Falls, one of the most popular spots on the river. Henry says it will continue under his term of office. "We've always done that...We've had underage drinking and controlled substance use problems there in the past. At one time, it was getting to the point where there were drug deals going down there," he said.

The situation has improved over the years, mainly because the younger visitors of the 1980's are now older and have families. "It's not been totally removed, but it's greatly improved," he said.

Henry says it's his policy to give warning by having a ranger walk through first "flying the flag," as he calls it. After that, "if it's an illegal or controlled substance, we're going to take the appropriate action," he said.

Beginning his first season in charge, Henry's expecting some early incidents. "During the first couple outings of the season, people will test us and most will come to realize that this not the place to come and do your drugs," he said.

It's the same with alcohol misuse, he said. Henry feels alcohol and boating don't mix and has little tolerance for alcohol misuse on the river. "You get people out there acting like goobers and drawing attention to themselves... It's something that has a good potential to kill you... Personally I don't think there is any room to mix alcohol and boating. I've seen what can happen," he said.

Maybe its luck, but others seem to have been getting the message. The Upper Delaware is now entering its fourth season without a drowning fatality. "There have been close calls and probably a lot more that we never heard about," he admitted.

He says it's been a "group effort" to keep that record, including NPS, the boating liveries and their patrols and the volunteer National Canoe Safety Patrol.

This summer too, NPS will start enforcing the prohibition of personal watercraft such as, "jet-skis" on the river. As of April 20, the nation-wide ban went into effect.

Then there is often traffic control work to do at the Roebling Bridge, where rangers will issue violations if motorists exceed the posted speed limits.

Henry said canoe patrols will continue, even though they greatly limit NPS response capability and tie up other staff to launch and collect the patrols. And there is never enough staff to do it all. Salaries and benefits go up with annual cost of living increases, but the overall budget remains the same, so positions get cut, he said.

Henry will adjust to the circumstances. "I've got no major plans to change things," he concluded.