>> It just brings you
some peace.
And it just makes you feel
so good.
I mean, even just paddling
a little bit today,
it's like, wow!
This is just great.
I tend to float
more than I paddle.
My official title is
the District Interpretive Ranger
for the Upper St. Croix River
and the Namekagon River.
My job is basically to help
people connect to the river,
and to do outreach
so people know it's here,
know how to access it.
To get the those out
who can really benefit
from the river.
This stretch of river
along the Namekagon is
one of the richest in history.
It's always been used
as a highway.
We talk about that a lot.
There used to be a place
called the Namekagon Farm, and
that's where all the loggers,
as they were headed up
to work in the logging camps
would stop to get their tobacco.
I got a really nice brochure
in the mail to a school
in Northern Wisconsin,
so I went to Northland College.
And after that, I knew I wanted
to live in Northern Wisconsin,
I don't think they're ever going
to be able to get me to go.
When I first started the job
as a park ranger,
I kinda saw myself as,
we teach people and we tell them
about the mussels and the otters
and everything.
And the direction
that really feels most right
is to just let the river
do its own magic.
We had a family veterans paddle.
We turned the corner in the
river and there were a bunch
of kids splashing around
and having a great time,
and it was just--
it's like the best part
of the job.
In one day, we had in our
visitor's center,
Japan, Austria, Paraguay.
We get people from all over.
It's so neat.
If I could have my dream,
I would break down every barrier
to anybody getting out
on the river.
Yeah, I got two kids.
Both me and my husband work.
And it's hard for me,
even as a park ranger,
to get my family out here.
So, you have so much going on
in life, and just to be able
to say, okay,
all you have to do is show up.
Show up with your family, we've
got everything else covered.
Worst part of my day?
If we see some trash on the
river, that kinda bums you out.
But for the most part,
more often than I see trash
I see visitors picking up trash.
You see somebody, and if it's
their first time putting in,
you always say, well,
I'll see you again next year.
I went to the Grand Canyon
when I first started working
for the Park Service,
and it was amazing.
Unbelievable.
You walk out,
you look out over the ridge
and it's just breathtaking.
You feel so small.
And this river is a little bit
different than that.
It's not one place you go.
But you get on this river
and it's just,
I feel like
it's just this old friend.