In New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation, or the D-E-C, is facing staffing shortages. The DEC's law enforcement division, which includes forest rangers and conservation officers, is being stretched thin.
Read the full transcript below:
Annie Bennett: This is Northeast Notebook. I’m Annie Bennett.
Emily Russell: It's an essential job for the Adirondack State Park and for New York overall.
Annie Bennett: In New York, the Department of Environmental Conservation, or the D-E-C, is facing staffing shortages. The DEC's law enforcement division, which includes forest rangers and conservation officers, is being stretched thin.
Matt Krug: You're going to have to work half the weekend or more. You're going to have to work nights. It's exhaustion.
Annie Bennett: Scarcities at state parks and forests are common in the northeast. Vermont reported firing 16% of its Forest Service staff in 2025. Massachusetts cut personnel at historic monuments. And in New York, training academies are struggling to fill open spots. Today we'll learn about the hurdles the Empire State is facing to keep public lands safe.
NAT SOUND (RESCUE) I've been trying to come through the other side...
Matt Krug: I was called out about, uh, 10 o'clock that night, and landfall was happening. When Hurricane Sandy hit, it was really the first major hurricane to come inland in a long time, so people were unprepared.
NAT SOUND (RESCUE) Oh, he just stalled?...
Matt Krug: They didn't evacuate coastal areas.
NAT SOUND (RESCUE) He just stalled...
Annie Bennett: Matt Krug is director of Environmental Conservation officers for the P-B-A, or the Police Benevolent Association, of New York State. What you're hearing is a National Guard rescue in Woodmere, on Long Island, during Hurricane Sandy. Matt was involved in similar rescue efforts for the 2012 storm.
Matt Krug: We removed, I mean, dozens and dozens of people from the flooded areas after some of the high tide had gone down. I remember getting one- it was an elderly couple, out of their house, and we got them to the boat and then to a vehicle… That was definitely an exhausting time where I wish we had a, a larger amount of staff. There's been different flood incidents that I've been part of where you're on the clock for, uh, 23 to 26 hours.
Annie Bennett: And now, there are more environmental policies and regulations for officers to enforce. 2001 was the peak with 349 conservation officers. In 2025, that was down to 285.
Matt Krug: Statewide, as far as I'm aware, I'm not sure of any agencies that are either fully staffed or have the adequate staffing.
Annie Bennett: If you ask a conservation officer or a forest ranger what they do, the answer is, well, vague.
Matt Krug: You could be seizing an alligator one day and then writing a truck for leaking oil on the roadway the next- or later that afternoon.
Tyler Mitchell: So, forest rangers will respond all over the state for search and rescue, for wildfires.
Annie Bennett: Tyler Mitchell, who you just heard from, is a forest ranger and also a PBA member.
Tyler Mitchell: In the rescue world, if we're talking about generally within the blue lines of Catskill Parks, Adirondack Parks, that's- that's uh, where most of our rangers are located.
Annie Bennett: Now, it would be tough to navigate just one, temporary deficit. But staffing issues in the DEC are widespread and persistent.
Emily Russell: I have talked to forest rangers, you know, over the years that say they're never staffed appropriately enough,
Annie Bennett: Emily Russell has covered forest rangers extensively for North Country Public Radio.
Emily Russell: I'm in the Adirondacks where, you know, I think a majority of very dangerous rescues happen. You know, it's an essential job for the Adirondack State Park and for, for New York
overall.
Annie Bennett: And yet, the DEC's roster shows only handfuls of coverage across wide and busy areas.
Matt Krug: Right now Greene County, Hamilton County, and Southern Essex, which are large areas, especially during the summer months when there's a lot of people going to the lake, going fishing, or they'll be coming up for hunting. They, they don't have any staffing whatsoever, which we have other officers covering and they have to travel long distances, longer response times.
Tyler Mitchell: Since COVID, it really has felt a lot different. COVID drove a lot more people outdoors, so we have a lot more people recreating on those lands.
Annie Bennett: So, in New York, the state is broken into nine regions and rangers are assigned a county to cover. Rensselaer County is on record with only one forest ranger. And Tyler says there are only 106 field rangers across the entire state. I asked him to put that number in perspective for us.
Annie Bennett: Okay, let's say just like something that, you know, the average person can relate to. They go on a hike and they're in a remote area and they break their leg. How many rangers would that require about?
Tyler Mitchell: Oh, that's a tough...
Annie Bennett: I know it would give based on the weight of the person, the position. But can you just give me a general range?
Tyler Mitchell: I would say you probably want approximately a half dozen, as long as there's no super technical issues or, you know, technical issues or technical rope systems that need to get set up...
Annie Bennett: So if you need six people just for like the standard version of that, then that is...I'm doing some quick math here... about six percent of your staffing just for one standard rescue, right?
Tyler Mitchell: Yep.
Annie Bennett: But why the challenge to recruit? Well, like most things in the world, it comes back to two key things: time and money.
Matt Krug: You're gonna work over half the weekends or more. You're gonna have to work nights. And then the pay also doesn't help.
Annie Bennett: Emily says that late hours and overtime are part of the job but not to the extent we're seeing.
Emily Russell: So the way that they make up for that pay gap is they end up working a lot of overtime, like six, seven, 800 hours of overtime every year. And that's often also not by choice, right? Like they're called, they finish their day at 4 or 5 or 6 o'clock at night, and then they get a call at 7 o'clock at night that someone is, you know, on Whiteface or on Cascade and needs to get hoisted off a summit or is lost the trail and you know,
these guys and gals are really pushed to the limits, especially on, you know, holiday weekends and throughout the summer.
Tyler Mitchell: I think in an ideal world, (I'd) be able to not feel like you have to pick up the phone every single time it rings, you know, at 2 o’clock in the morning.
Matt Krug: We just had an officer that had 13 years on that quit. He said, "Enough's enough. I'm going to go to a position that's going to actually pay a little bit more without the overtime." It's happening more and more.
Matt Krug: It's exhaustion. It puts a significant toll on your families. The hours would definitely be more reasonable if you had more staffing and you wouldn't need the overtime.
Annie Bennett: The DEC declined to speak with WAMC but did provide a statement. They said: The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) Division of Forest Protection plays a critically important role in protecting New York lands and keeping people safe by responding to search and rescues, wildland fires, and state land violations. DEC is committed to ensuring our Forest Rangers can meet the
challenges of today and tomorrow and are excited to welcome 17 new Rangers to the ranks statewide later this year following their graduation this September from our most recent Basic Training Academy. DEC also continues robust recruitment efforts to ensure our police forces successfully continue their storied legacies of public safety and environmental protection.
Emily Russell: Now, one big change that the state has made recently is that they've expanded who's eligible to be a forest ranger. It used to be that you, uh, had to have a bachelor's degree in, in something pretty specific or, like, a few specific fields. Now that they've-- Now they've opened that up to just saying, "Okay, you have to have a bachelor's degree." Now, it doesn't have to be in forestry or outdoor ed or anything like that.
Annie Bennett: Matt and Tyler are optimistic about changes currently in the works at the DEC, but Matt does worries about loosening application requirements too much.
Matt Krug: I'm hesitant to push for anything else because we are specialized. I, I can't as a, a union person advocate for reducing our qualifications because we, we do want to hire the best and brightest when you need it.
Annie Bennett: But it's not just the nature lovers that are affected by this. Everyone relies on DEC officials for help, particularly in emergencies like Hurricane Sandy. But, there's no way of knowing when responders will be called next.
Matt Krug: We don't know when the next huge natural disaster's going to be for New York State, um, whether it's the winter snowstorm out in Buffalo or the next hurricane, or even COVID. When another major hurricane hits, I don't think we're going to have the staffing or boats for it.
Annie Bennett: Northeast Notebook is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Our editor is Diane DeVore. Original music by Eduardo Rivera. Our Executive Producer is Lucas Willard. Consider subscribing to Northeast Notebook wherever you get your podcasts. And hey, if you like the show, take a second to rate and review; it really does help others find us. And today's show was produced and hosted by me, Annie Bennett. Thanks for listening.
Maryam Ahmad: And a quick addendum here - you heard some numbers in this podcast episode that need a quick update. According to the most recent data, the Department of Environmental Conservation added 17 new forest rangers for New York State. They've been in the academy, and graduated in late September. DEC Deputy Commissioner for Public Protection Melinda Seiden said, “Forest Rangers patrol more than five million acres of land and do it all hours of the day and night to keep people safe. I am excited to add these 17 Rangers to our ranks.”
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