Abstract

Since their first appearance in the United States at the end of Nineteenth Century the national parks' rangers have been charged mainly with the task of monitoring the protected areas and preventing environmental crimes. However, over time their functions have expanded under the impact of major changes in socio-cultural context and in protected areas' goals. Among these new functions nature management and monitoring, assistance to scientific research, environmental interpretation and visitors' assistance have gained special importance. Through the oral testimonies of Abruzzo National Park rangers belonging to three generations, the article explores seventy years of ranger's profession changes in an area densely settled and affected by dramatic socio-economic transformations.