As the previously posted story indicates, these folks do a lot more dangerous work than the Smoky the Bear days and deserve the money.
It is often dangerous out there, and the ongoing problems in our area with illegal camping in the Lower Reach of the Parkway testify to that (see our report on our website) www.arpps.org
An excerpt.
Wardens, rangers win deal on raises
By Andy Furillo -- Bee Capitol Bureau Published 12:01 am PDT Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The union representing 6,700 California public safety employees reached an agreement with the state Monday that promises to increase salaries for game wardens, park rangers and Department of Justice special agents by 25 percent over four years.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Personnel Administration said the contract with the California Union of Safety Employees wasn't set to expire until next year, but that vacancy rates running anywhere from 18 percent to 30 percent in some public safety agencies pushed the state to get the tentative deal done now.
"Their shortages were getting serious, too serious to wait until next year's range increase kicked in," DPA spokeswoman Lynelle Jolley said.
Along with the big increases for the wardens, rangers and DOJ agents, the deal contained lesser raises for California Highway Patrol and Department of Parks and Recreation dispatchers, DOJ criminalists and other peace officers sprinkled through assorted state agencies.
"We got something for everybody," said CAUSE spokesman and lobbyist Craig Brown.
The union, meanwhile, agreed to pension changes for new, non-peace officer hires. Retirement pay for the new employees will be based on the highest three-year average salary instead of the current system that pegs pensions to a single year.
The contract still faces ratification by the union's rank and file and by the Legislature.
Under terms of the deal, the rangers, wardens and DOJ agents are in line for an immediate 10 percent raise. Their salaries would go up another 5 percent on Jan. 1, and two more 5 percent raises scheduled for 2008 would bump the pay package by 25 percent dating back to their last raise in July 2005.
Top pay for the three groups currently stands at $49,620 a year for the rangers, $53,184 for the wardens and $69,192 for the DOJ agents, according to the DPA's Jolley.
The salaries, however, have not been enough to attract public safety workers to the agencies. In the Department of Fish and Game, for instance, fully a third of its 192 line warden positions are vacant, according to figures provided by the agency.
