Becoming a Ranger—first impressions from a Main Range National Park Ranger’s first month on the job

A month into the job

Working amongst impressive mountain peaks, ridges and rare and endangered wildlife, after just over a month of the job, Keedan already had a passion for protection.

‘Wearing the ‘Herbie badge’ to me, means caring for Country and the native wildlife,’ he said.

‘One of my favourite ecosystems is the rainforest, and with Main Range being part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, that’s special.’

‘Learning about the different plants and animals that this Country has and how to manage this Country and its diversity of landscapes has been cool.’

From pest management and track and facility management to post hole digging, Ranger Keedan got across many tools and tasks within his first few weeks.

‘It’s been a great team to learn from, and I still want to learn more and see more of this national park before moving onto anything else.'

But there was one thing that Keedan wished he’d known before becoming a Ranger, it’s ‘The amount of toilets you have to clean!’

‘But I don’t mind a good chat and sharing information about the park or the native plants and animals it protects.’

‘So, if you see one of us Rangers out and about – and we could well be cleaning more toilets, come say hi!’

Ranger insights for your next trip to Main Range National Park

For those of you adding Main Range National Park to your next adventure list, Ranger Keedan has one top tip—be prepared.

‘There are a lot of mountain trails designed to be remote wilderness experiences in Main Range. They can be dangerous if you have not prepared correctly, or you are an unexperienced walker,' Ranger Keedan said.

‘The parks and forests website has all the information you need to be prepared before you visit, from general walker safety information to more specific detail about a particular walking track within Main Range National Park.’

As an Indigenous Ranger, one of Keedan’s biggest strengths that he brings to QPWS is cultural awareness and he wants to help educate visitors more on the cultural values and aspects of Main Range National Park.

‘There is also so much culture and history in this area. I am hoping that working together with other Indigenous Rangers in QPWS as well as Indigenous Land and Sea Rangers, we can show that there is more to learn in these spaces, and we can help educate people more about it.'

What the future holds

The future looks bright for Ranger Keedan and he’s looking forward to getting trained and involved in fire management.

‘I love seeing the results of the regrowth in the bush after a planned burn. Culturally, my people have been caring for Country with fire for thousands of years. I am very much looking forward to being trained up and getting onto the frontline fire crews,' Keedan said.

‘Githabul Country crosses the New South Wales and Queensland border. Working as a Ranger for QPWS gives me the opportunity to work on Githabul Country and learn more about my Country too.’

Inspired to make this your job too? 

If you want to make one of Queensland’s national parks your patch, visit Smartjobs for role information and to apply.