Chief Ranger Named at HVNP

A new Chief Ranger will hold the reigns at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park. John Broward was named to the position, which will include direct visitor and resource protection at the park.

Broward has served the National Park service for over 30 years with efforts that began in 1983. He has extensive background in search-and-rescue, helicopter management, incident command, and emergency medical response, along with visitor and resource protection.

Before he graduated from Florida State University with a degree in archeology, Broward volunteered as an archaeological technician for Biscayne National Park.

Broward later moved onto Everglades National Park, where he worked as a fee collector, a wildland firefighter, and a law enforcement ranger.

Prior to becoming a law enforcement ranger at HVNP in 2001, Broward spent several years as a backcountry area ranger at Crater Lake National Park.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the National Park Service volunteer program,” Broward said. “Volunteering is how I got my foot in the door, and that door opened up into a lifelong career.”

Since he began at HVNP in 2001, Broward worked his way up from the park’s emergency operations, search-and-rescue coordinator, and eruption crew supervisor. Other roles he has fulfilled over the past 14 years include law enforcement ranger and an intermittent period as Acting Chief Ranger for HVNP.