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Inside Man
Ranger Spurlock
Aired March 19, 2015 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:12] MORGAN SPURLOCK, CNN HOST: There's a time in every men's life where he must awaken the intrepid explorer in him. And now is my time, to boldly go where not man has voluntarily gone before. Yes, my friends, now it's time for me to throw myself into an icy abyss, in the name of our nation's part surface. What could go wrong? You're welcome America.
Joshua tree, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone. It's hard to imagine all these different places exist within the same country, and it's even harder to imagine this country within them. But today's America is very different from that of 100 years ago, when the national park service was created. We move faster and are constantly plugged in.
And there's a lot of manmade competition out there. These days, when you think of a park, you think of amusement or theme. Heck, this is what my family vacation looks like. So I have to wonder, in this day and age, are the national parks still relevant?
In order to find out, I'm going to go behind the scenes of the national part service. And there's only one way to do that, by becoming a park ranger. But before I can hit the great outdoors, I need to get an overview of the park service itself. This may look like the National Mall but it's actually a national park.
And I'm in D.C. to meet the person in charge of it all. America's highest ranking park ranger, National Park Service Director, Jonathan Jarvis.
JONATHAN JARVIS, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Hello Morgan.
SPURLOCK: Great to meet you. This is a great place to meet somebody.
JARVIS: In the shade, it's...
SPURLOCK: That's right.
JARVIS: ... one of the most iconic symbols of all Washington D.C. And you think a little a bit inside our baseball and the National Park Service.
SPURLOCK: I'm excited to be here. Thank you.
What do most people not know about the Washington monument?
JARVIS: I think the most interesting point about the monument itself as a structure... SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: ... besides of it's history and the fact that it ran out of money and they had to rebuild it. Not rebuild it but add on.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: It sat for a long time. Is that, it is -- there's not metal infrastructure that holds it together, it's just a big gravity hold together, stock of rock.
SPURLOCK: That's amazing.
JARVIS: Nice shot of the Jefferson. It's where I started in 1976. And then touching the trees here on the right is the FDR memorial.
SPURLOCK: Right.
JARVIS: It's a really beautiful memorial, it's really one of my favorites.
SPURLOCK: Great shot of the White House, the ellipse.
JARVIS: And another sort of little known fact is that the White House is a unit of the National Park system. We don't have anything to do with security, we don't have anything with, you know, what goes inside what the White House. But the physical facility itself and all of the grounds are the responsibility of the National Park Service.
SPURLOCK: You are responsible for the Washington's monument as well, that's part of -- I mean, you're watch.
JARVIS: It's part of my watch. You know, I have the entire National Park system. So 401 national parks, every state in the union got 80 million acres. Everything from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone, (inaudible) it the National Mall as well, all part of our responsibility.
SPURLOCK: It's pretty great jig.
JARVIS: It is.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: I'm a big staff, though.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed in to existence of revolutionary new invention, the National Park Service. The goal, to preserve and protect America's most beautiful land and to make it accessible to all. Today, the National Park Service manages over 401 diverse units, including parks, monuments and historical land marks. These cites are home to some of the biggest living plant, carnivores and geographical features in the planet. So what does it take to keep all these places up and running? A large staff, with nearly 20,000 employees, the National Park Service employees roughly as many people as the state department. On top of that, they relay on a group of nearly 250,000 volunteers each year who increase the park staff by a factor of 10.
[21:05: 03] But despite these big numbers, the national park service operates on a relatively small annual budget, which every year cost the average American taxpayer, well the price of a latte. Yup, about four bucks.
So today, 100 years since it was created, aside from budgetary constraints, what are the challenges the National Park Service is facing?
JARVIS: One of our concerns is children are not going outdoors, like they use to, so how do we become relevant to the nest generation? How do we get them to see themselves, their story, their history, their families in the national parks as a part of it in -- like you and I were, you know, is growing up with the outdoors.
One of the other big issues is climate change. We were seeing climate effects, you know, glaciers are predicted to be gone from Glacier National Park within 20 or 25 years.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: Joshua trees may not be able to persist in Joshua Tree National Park. Increasing storms, intense fire, like part of my job is to use every asset that we have to ensure ,these places are protected for future generations.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: And what's really interesting about that is that that means that you need to let the people in, let them experience it, let them a personal connection to these places. And that's why when I talk about relevancy in the second century, it's all about providing that same opportunity for this next generation.
SPURLOCK: Yeah, to give people like me to take their kids.
JARVIS: Take their kids, that's right.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
JARVIS: You're key to this.
SPURLOCK: Right.
JARVIS: Keep kid of yours out there.
SPURLOCK: Take that kid out there.
JARVIS: Yeah. Camping and hiking.
SPURLOCK: Get that iPad out of his hand and...
JARVIS: Right.
SPURLOCK: ... get him outside.
JARVIS: Yeah, exactly.
SPURLOCK: Awesome. Thank you, sir. Absolute pleasure.
JARVIS: Thanks. Yeah.
SPURLOCK: Thank you.
Director Jarvis has inspired me. So in addition to working as a park ranger, I'm also going to do my part to get a young person excited about the park service. I'm going to take my city slicking, video game loving son, Laken with me to a national park, so he can appreciate the great outdoors.
And since I can't go to all 401 national parks, I've figure I may as well go big or go home. So my next stop is the great state of Alaska.
Where buddy.
LAKEN JAMES SPURLOCK, MORGAN SPURLOCK'S SON: Nice.
SPURLOCK: Nice. I'm thinking tent right there. What do you think.
L. SPURLOCK: Yeah, right here is like really flat.
SPURLOCK: So start snapping them across. All the way up. OK, hold that.
L. SPURLOCK: I told you dad.
SPURLOCK: Look at that. Boom.
Now this is living. Nobody here except father, son and Mother Nature. This is getting me pretty excited about working as a park ranger and I'm definitely going to need my trustee sidekick. I'd say we're ready to get to work. Look out Alaska, the Spurlock men are taking (inaudible).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: This week I'm taking a look inside the National Park Service.
See her?
L. SPURLOCK: I see a fish moose.
SPURLOCK: High-five.
I've come to Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska to become a volunteer park ranger, so I can get the inside scope on what makes a national park run.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I go to having you get you to sign your name right there.
SPURLOCK: And that's not all. My little boy Laken is doing the Junior Ranger Program, so that he can learn more cool things about the part while I'm at work. So now that he's all set, it's time for me to report for duty. I'm heading to the top to get my marching orders from my new boss.
Hey, how are you?
DON STRIKER, SUPERINTENDENT OF DENALI NATIONAL PARK: Howdy, Don Striker, Superintendent of Denali.
SPURLOCK: Great to meet you. So tell me about the size of how big Denali is. You look at the map and it looks huge.
STRIKER: And it is huge. At 6 million acres, it's the equivalent of three Yellowstones.
SPURLOCK: Wow.
Yes, you heard that right, 6 million acres. Almost the same size as the state of Massachusetts. It's attractions, North America's highest peak. You probably know what is Mount McKinley, into Native Alaskans, it's known as Denali, which means "high one". The park is also home to 233 different species of animals, including bears moose, caribou and dall sheep.
To keep Denali's four-legged residence and two-legged visitors both happy, the park has designated one-third of its land as (inaudible), allowing for a true experience of the great outdoors. I can't wait to get to work.
STRIKER: We got of course a full uniform for you. But your name tag is going to be the important starting point. So all the people who come into contact with you know your name, if they do get your name.
SPURLOCK: So they can report me to you.
STRIKER: So that they can report -- exactly. You're going to be setup an all star cast. We've got a really broad array of rangers...
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
STRIKER: ... to give you a deep dive into what is it really mean to be a park ranger. We've got everything from accountants to about 20 different flavors of (inaudible).
SPURLOCK: OK.
STRIKER: Everything from glacier, so glaciologists.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. STRIKER: Geologist, of course, because of the mountain. And then we have biologist, so there's people who specialized in wolves and people specialized in caribou.
SPURLOCK: So give me some parting advice of what I need to -- what I seem to be keep in mind while I'm here?
STRIKER: This is your place.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
STRIKER: And it's also everybody else's special place. And to take seriously the responsibility that all of us as Americans have to care for this special places.
SPURLOCK: I've got my fancy name badge and now, I'm about to be come a volunteer here in Denali. And it's a big responsibility, so hopefully with my fancy badge, I can live up to that.
Now that I'm a badge caring member of the park's ranger team, my first job is to learn some park safety. So I'm meeting up with Matt King, one of the wildlife technicians here.
This is a good camp site right here, right? Everything is put away.
MATT KING, PARK RANGER AND WILDLIFE TECHNICIAN: All -- like everything is put away and a very...
SPURLOCK: Matt's job is to preserve the park's wildlife. And they're number one threat, humans. Believe it or not, his job is actually more about managing people than animals.
And so when walking through a camp site, like, what are we looking for?
KING: You're just looking to see what people potentially left out. Food, coolers, things like that around, food scented items. We've had squirrels chew through coolers to get through people's food before.
SPURLOCK: So you guys got some crazy squirrels up here.
KING: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: There must be somebody close by.
KING: Yeah, this is probably, in case if somebody went to the bathroom, they have coke, chewing gums.
[21:25:01] Doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal, but it's still just things that can add up and aggregate.
SPURLOCK: So we just set this just right here?
KING: Yeah. And so the door is unlocked.
SPURLOCK: Look at that, one bear and multiple human saved. KING: So this is one of our bears (inaudible) trash cans.
SPURLOCK: Right.
KING: Because you can see, it lifts easily, close it, he can't lift it again. And so it's just something that's a little bit harder...
SPURLOCK: And a bear can pull that up?
KING: They can't, quietly the leverage most of the time.
SPURLOCK: OK.
KING: But it's called a bear resistant trash can, because it's like, almost nothing is bear proof, but as you see, it will close it again, another bear saved.
SPURLOCK: Another bear saved.
KING: Because that's the thing. If a bear does happen to get into a food source, it gets very defensive, he can be as little as six days, all day from just getting a single granola bar or getting into a trash dumpster to, like chasing after people. Actually, physically breaking into cabins or lodges, things like that, in order to get food.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
KING: And it can just become such a safety hazard, especially if they get on a good food source.
SPURLOCK: Right.
KING: That if anybody were to come close, they'll take off after and then chase them down.
SPURLOCK: Hopefully what won't happen. But just so I know how to handle myself while I'm here, Matt is giving me a lesson on what to do if I have to run in with some of the parks most dangerous wildlife, bears and moose. It turns out it requires way more thought than running for your life and screaming help. So Matt wants to make sure I've got the protocol down by testing me in a fake real life situation. It's animal safety population quiz time.
KING: All right, Well Morgan, here, let's try this handy over my bear (inaudible), please don't spray me.
SPURLOCK: OK.
KING: All run through and practice, like either call out what I'm doing or you decide how it is you're suppose to respond to that.
SPURLOCK: OK.
KING: So I'm just feeding.
SPURLOCK: OK. So here's what Matt taught me, if the bear is unaware of your, slowly back up. Just going to back away from the bear. I'm just going to slowly back away from the bear.
But if he notices you, speak to him in a loud but steady voice.
Now, hey there. You keep eating bear, I'm just leaving. I have nothing to do with this, bear.
And if he starts coming your way, stay calm and perfectly still.
And he's coming for me, so I'd stay on my ground. I don't move. Now, you're about 20 feet away.
And if all else fails.
Now, I got my bear spray out.
Go on the offensive.
Take that crazy bear. Back to your bear house bear.
I really show that thick bear who is boss. Next up, how to handle a moose.
KING: All the sudden it runs at you. What do you do?
SPURLOCK: And then I'll just start zigzagging. And I'll get behind a tree.
KING: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: And then I zig this way, and then I zig this way, and then I go over on the woods.
KING: Yeah. That's actually perfect. You can't even get me moose.
SPURLOCK: I'm not even here. I'm up in the woods. Moose escape, success. Look at that, I got right away from that moose, like that.
KING: Let's go dress you up.
SPURLOCK: Well I'm glad I got my bear and moose protection down. Here is hoping I never have to use it while I'm here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: I'm a volunteer ranger in training at Denali National Park, to better understand what makes our park service tick. And now that I know what to do if I ever run in with Denali wildlife, I'm ready to see some. So we're off to look for bears.
There it is.
L. SPURLOCK: Where? Where?
SPURLOCK: Hold on.
Spotting animals is also one of my son Laken junior ranger activities. SPURLOCK: It's probably 100 yards. Look at the end of, like I'm pointing right at him. Look straight down my finger. Do you see him?
L. SPURLOCK: There he is.
SPURLOCK: The main purpose of the National Park Service is to preserve the land for posterity. And in keeping with this mission, Denali is one of the most pristine and untouched places in the U.S. Within the park, two million acres of designated wilderness, that means no roads, vehicles or permanent structures can impede upon the native animal and plant life. Great efforts have been made by the park to follow the letter and spirit of the Wilderness Act of 1964, which was created to ensure that large parts of America would exist untrammeled by men, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.
In order to preserve the park's wilderness, it's important to make sure that no destructive activities occurring anywhere. So today, I'm on a helicopter patrol with Chief Ranger John Leonard, to make sure there aren't any poachers on the grounds.
JOHN LEONARD, CHIEF RANGER DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE: We're going to go from (inaudible) along the northern boundary in what's known as the Stampede Corridor.
SPURLOCK: And what are we going to be looking for when we're out there?
LEONARD: Like if there's any like ATVs, four-wheelers, all sorts of things that come in the park.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEONARD: If there's anybody that has an animal down in the park. We have rangers that are out on the ground in those areas that we'll be over flying and they're out contacting and talking to other as well.
SPURLOCK: OK. Great. I got my helmet, I got my fire-proof gloves, my fire-proof light suit, ready to go patrol the park, look for some bad guys.
While I love the view from up above, I'm hoping I don't actually see anything we're on the look out for. I'm persuading the designated area, I'm happy to report that there are no signs of suspicious activity.
Besides hunters and poachers, the expansive wilderness in Denali has been a draw to those seeking refuge from the plugged in world. Most notably these are where the real life events chronicled and into the wild. The 1996 book and 2007 movie took place. They tell the story of Christopher McCandless, who traveled across North America and spend time in the Alaskan wilderness in the 1990s.
A large part of his time in Alaska was spent camping out in an abandoned bus just north of the Denali Park quarter. The bus is still in place, since out patrol shift is done, we're going to go check it out.
Looks like somebody has been staying here recently.
LEONARD: Yeah. I haven't been for a while. Hey, anybody in there?
SPURLOCK: Do you think, is that a black bear welcoming committee?
LEONARD: I wouldn't want to take my chances with that device.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
LEONARD: That looks like more -- more like something that's from medieval times.'
SPURLOCK: Thunder dome.
LEONARD: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: And as they said if a black bear comes running out, you'd be ready to fight. I'd say that that is your black bear tool.
[21:25:01] You wouldn't be in adventure if you already had a solution for any problem you might encounter. Two roads, the birds in the woods and I, I took the road less traveled by -- and that has made all the difference.
Is a message like this good for the park service? Is this good for Denali, encouraging people to come out and kind of chase the wild or do you look at this as being almost the wrong message because people need to be more prepared cautious?
LEONARD: You know, what's interesting is it's probably little mixed. I would suspect that a lot of younger folks have been introduced to wild places through this look into the wild and Christopher McCandless' experience. On the other hand, what we've try to help with is, when people come out, that they come out prepared and they come out to experience an area in the appropriate manner.
And, you know, this doesn't speak, leave no trace in wilderness and all those sort of things, but it's interesting how different people find wilderness, you know, what tipping point is for a person, that maybe grow up in an urban environment and they're introduced to wild places like you and I were when we're very young.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. I grew up going to parks just like you did, you know, camping with my family. Where did that change happen? Where did the shift happen?
LEONARD: Right now, there's a lot of things their competing with parks and public lands. There's so much out there, I think for folks to do. The world become smaller, travels become cheaper. And so there's just a lot of competition for people spare time.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. How do you compete with kids to make them want to come here as much as they want to go to like Disney World? LEONARD: You know, I think the best we can do is try to reach them through whatever avenue they're involved with and introduce them to public lands.
And reaching the younger generation continues to be a challenge for the park service. The average age of a visitor to this park is 57 years old. And it's not just Denali that's struggling to attract young people, the average age of visitors to Yellowstone National Park is 54.
And in the past decade, its visitors under the age of 15 have been cut in half. So what is the National Park Service doing to engage the youth? Besides the junior ranger program, the park service is also trying to bridge the gap between the analog and digital world by using social media and technology to attract the plugged in generation.
And for young adults, there's this students conservation association, which places more than 4,000 volunteers annually in public lands and urban green spaces. And today, I'm working along side these young volunteers to finish a new foot bridge.
Where are you from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from New York.
SPURLOCK: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: Prefer this thing from this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Everything kind of slows down here. New York is very easy to be rushed, just kind of breaks that cycle, if you get in your place.
SPURLOCK: Why do you think we're so disconnected?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of that is just technology. It's now becoming expected, especially in the workforce. Is you be consistently visible, right?
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's trickling down to kids and to teenagers and they're feeling the need to be consistently accessible.
SPURLOCK: Right. What is this -- what is coming out here to a place like this -- kind of being here do for kids?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it puts into perspective their place in this world and they just -- they can better understand as a human, what is our role on this earth and how are we having an impact and, you know, what are we doing to (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For me, when I was in high school, it really changed my view on the world, because I realize that not only was I strong and independent, and I could, you know, go out in the woods and do things, but it really gave me a sense of ownership over the parks and realizing that I can take care of them, I can be a part of preserving them for everyone.
SPURLOCK: Awesome. I think we should get to work. We're making them do everything.
My first task is to retrieve more wood for the bridge. But it turns out, since we're in a remote area, getting supplies without a vehicle is a challenge and highly inelegant.
So I think it's time to channel the wilderness act and stop trembling (ph) this land. That's right, instead of pulling our load around the lake, I'm going to take one for the team and push it through the lake. But first, some protection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
SPURLOCK: Did you literally pull this off a man's body? The boot is filled with water.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it really? Oh men.
SPURLOCK: So much about putting on like dry (inaudible). So completely wet inside the (inaudible). So wet in the (inaudible).
It's not the most high-tech mode of transportation, but it works. These guys might have age on their side, but I'm young at heart. And that counts for something, right?
While youth engagement continues to be an issue, it's heartening to see such hard working and dedicated young people taking ownership of the park.
Nice job. Nice job guys. Nice job guys.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
SPURLOCK: All the way around. Look at that.
[21:30:00] Most have ended up in my sock. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. (inaudible) aren't suppose to do that. It's the whole idea of (inaudible) is this shouldn't be wet right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: This week, I'm working as a volunteer ranger at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. I brought my son Laken along to try and do my part to get a young person excited about our National Park Service.
L. SPURLOCK: Dad would this kind of (inaudible) if you put a water on it, it turns green.
SPURLOCK: See, look at that, we're usually spending out time talking about mine craft not moss. But will the parks be around for his children to enjoy? National parks around the country are increasingly being threatened by climate change. Rising sea levels are threatening the Everglades. Animals are being affected by increased carbon dioxide levels in the great smoky mountains.
Increase drought is threatening the very existence of Joshua trees in Joshua Tree. And similarly, Glacier National Park might be without glaciers as early as 2020. And since the park for some of the nations most untouched lands, they serve as a base line which other parts of the country and world can be compared.
[21:35:03] Back at Denali as part of my volunteer ranger training, I'm going to track the effects of global warming on the park. I'm first setting out in Carl Roland and Sarah Stehn, two scientists who are monitoring changes in vegetation. They're using a process called repeat photography. They take photos of the park from the early 1900s, go to the same spots in the park and recreate the image.
It's amazing how many more trees there are.
You can see the difference in the trees and other plant life from the photo I took today versus one taking the exact same spot in 1958. The dramatic growth of these trees strongly correlates to rising temperatures.
And so people will say, it's a good sign, where it's getting more trees. Look, the trees or the trees are just, you know, they're reproducing, we have so many more than here, this is -- how is this bad?
CARL ROLAND: (inaudible) trees occur across the North American continent. Some of the plants that occur upon that ridge are known in interior Alaska only.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ROLAND: So as you get a bunch of these woody plants moving into those areas, you're going to slowly diminish and eradicate this mechanical resource that makes this place unique.
SPURLOCK: It's not just vegetation that's changing Denali. In October 2013, a massive landslide cover the park road in completely block traffic. So my next job is to gather data with archaeologist Denny Capps and Russell Rosenberg to learn more about what caused it.
See those tiny human shape dots in the middle of you screen, that's us. And behind us is the scene of the slide.
What cause rocks slide to happen?
DENNY CAPPS: There's extensive permafrost at this location. So it's likely that falling permafrost triggered the slide, this continues to be as substantial risk for the park road for their continued operation of it and also for visitor and staff safety. So we want to come out here take a look and make sure things aren't moving around too much.
SPURLOCK: All right cool. Well, let's get to work. Denny mention melting permafrost could be the cause of the slide. But
what does that mean? Permafrost is permanently frozen soil and makes up 24 percent of the land in the northern Hemisphere. The upper or active layer of permafrost is like normal dirt. It freezes in winter and falls in warmer months. But below that, is a layer that remains frozen year round.
It holds everything together and acts like a lid locking in massive amounts of frozen carbon. But as global temperatures rise, permafrost melts and the stored carbon is released in the form of carbon dioxide and methane. It's a dangerous cycle as those gases are released, they heat up the atmosphere which just causes more permafrost to melt. And that means more erosion and more dangerous landslides like this one.
CAPPS: Now that feels frozen.
SPURLOCK: Denny and Russell are monitoring the lower layers of debris to try and predict future slides. If the temperature is above freezing, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, it's a sign of melting permafrost.
So that's good sign. So the fact that this frozen is positive.
CAPPS: If it stays frozen that would help hold it in place so in that way, it's positive.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
CAPPS: But taking these measurements is to see how far down its frozen and to see how that temperature structures is evolving through time.
SPURLOCK: Denny and Russell's work is key to keeping visitors safe and monitoring how the park is evolving.
It's not often that you actually get to see the effects of climate change first hand. But here, you can see the potentially dangerous impact of rising temperatures.
RUSSELL ROSENBERG: Nice work.
SPURLOCK: 39.4, I mean that's barely under 40 degrees. And when you see a temperature, that's that high, that's much above freezing, what are your concerns?
ROSENBERG: This mass is no longer frozen, no longer held together through permafrost and could potentially be available to move downhill in the next major rainfall event.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ROSENBERG: Or worst case scenario, a major earthquake.
SPURLOCK: Right. As it continues -- climate continues to get warmer which ultimately it's going to happened, you know, at least all signs pointing yes. Is this just going to happened more and more often in the park? CAPPS: Well, that certainly one of our concerns. (inaudible) some in the field work that's been done here in modeling as well. It's been estimated that Denali was 75 percent covered in permafrost in 1960. And by 2060, it's protected by five percent or the park is going to be covered in permafrost and how that's going to affect both infrastructure, like the road that we're standing adjacent to and as we'll as the flora and fauna. We're expecting major changes here and else where in the arctic.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. So somebody like me who lives in New York city who isn't affected by this, you know, or at least, you know, you don't think your affected by this from daily basis. What could I --what can someone like me or from anywhere else do to change things?
CAPPS: All I'd say just comes down to your daily choices that you make. Just, you know, while you're turning those lights switches on and off, the political decisions that you make, how you vote, the products you decide to buy or not buy.
SPURLOCK: And it's not only permafrost that's melting in Denali, most of the glaciers are melting too.
[21:40:01] And that's a lot of melting ice. Are we passed the point of no return? There's only one way to find out, and that's to head up there and check out a glacier.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: I'm working as a volunteer park ranger in Denali National Park, to get a behind the scenes look at how our park service works. And today, I'm doing something I never thought I do in my life.
Come on, how awesome is this? Get ready to go to a glacier. When was the last time you said that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, folks, everybody strapped in? Yeah, let's go flying.
SPURLOCK: Luckily he's got me in case something goes wrong. See, I'm here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
SPURLOCK: Since climate change is one of the biggest threats of the stability of our national parks, I'm going to the top of a glacier to see it first hand.
So right now, we are flying our plane in between these two gigantic mountain ranges. You can see to the right and left. On our way, it was called the Ruth Amphitheatre. We're going to land the plane right on top of the glacier in the middle of the Valley National Park, right of the foothills of Mount McKinley.
[21:45: 00] This is just one of hundreds of glaciers here in Denali, and all of them are losing volume and retreating due to global warming. On this map of Mount McKinley and the surrounding peaks, the red represents all the glacier loss. Worldwide, scientists predict glaciers may recede another 40 percent by the end of this century. And if nothing is done to curve climate change, up to 70 percent of the global glacier mass could be gone by the year 2100. That means rising sea levels, flooding and a dramatically different polar landscape.
That was amazing. But we just land on a glacier.
Hey, how you're doing?
CHRIS ERICSON, DENALI PARK RANGER: Team Morgan, welcome to the Ruth glacier.
SPURLOCK: Good to see you.
ERICSON: And it's the heart of Denali National Park.
SPURLOCK: You have the best officer ever.
ERICSON: Yeah, it's pretty fabulous place to scale here. It's huge, it's the true wilderness and just a very pristine area.
SPURLOCK: So what are we going to be doing today?
ERICSON: Well today you're going to be working with the rangers that helped protect the resource of Mount McKinley and protecting people when they come climb Denali, the highest peak in North America.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: And volunteer with the rescue team, and learn how to do crevasse rescue, self arrest, and then help us out.
SPURLOCK: Fantastic.
One affect of climate change here on the glacier is the larger number of crevasses that are forming. A crevasse is a giant crack caused by glacier movement but they're being accelerated here by rising temperatures. And it's no surprise that more and more crevasses means more potential danger for visitors. So while I'm up here, I'm going to work with a highly trained search and rescue team.
It's just like the A team right here.
ERICSON: Yeah, it's...
SPURLOCK: That's right.
ERICSON: We need to get you some gear.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ERICSON: Start with your harness.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ERICSON: You ever worn one of these?
SPURLOCK: I have not.
ERICSON: OK.
SPURLOCK: It's the first.
ERICSON: All right, so this goes around the back.
SPURLOCK: Like this?
ERICSON: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: Like that.
ERICSON: Yeah.
SPURLOCK: Meet Chris Ericson, a mountaineering ranger here in Denali who patrols Mount McKinley and the surrounding glaciers.
ERICSON: And your holding your (inaudible)?
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: Thumb right there, always hold it that way. Never hold it this way, (inaudible).
SPURLOCK: You know what you're doing. OK. Like that.
ERICSON: Here we go.
SPURLOCK: Great.
ERICSON: Take the part that's closest to your thumb. Good, towards...
SPURLOCK: His main job making sure mountain visitor stay safe and kicking in to search and rescue mode if things go wrong. Today, he's teaching me the ropes of a mountain rescue. But first, I need to know how to save myself before I can save someone else.
ERICSON: Nice looking knot. One of the main ways you need to get out of a crevasse is using prusiks, you need to be able to climb the rope.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ERICSON: If you think that you can hand over hand to climb to the rope, it's not going to work. That doesn't go well.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: So you need to learn how to climb the rope. And we're going to do that with other smaller pieces of rope. So if you are hanging from the rope, you're going to have two of these. One is going to be for your feet.
SPURLOCK: Right. Sure.
ERICSON: So your foot is going to go inside with this one. This one is going to be for your waist, what you do is you stand up on your feet. This one will go slack. Slide it forward and then sit down. Once you sit down, this one goes slack. Slide this one forward. Stand up, slide, and sit down. Rinse and repeat. Just keep doing that over and over and over, until you climb your way back up.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ERICSON: You'll figure it out.
SPURLOCK: OK.
ERICSON: Hopefully. Are you sure you're ready to jump into the crevasse? This is elective, you know, you're choosing to do this.
SPURLOCK: I know.
I look much more prepared and I actually am.
ERICSON: Hold up. Hold up. Hold up.
SPURLOCK: Oh, I forgot that.
ERICSON: There you go. That's how we know that you're real expert when you're dragging your (inaudible) behind you.
SPURLOCK: That's right. That's right.
There's a time in every man's life when he must awaken the intrepid exploring in him. And now is my time, to boldly go where no man has voluntarily gone before. Yes my friends, now is the part of the lesson where I throw myself into a crevasse in the name of our nation's park service. What could go wrong?
So I'm hanging in a crevasse, in the middle of Denali. And now, they're lowering me down. This is a - I'm probably about 10 feet from the top. Now the question is, can I get myself out if I had to?
ERICSON: Hey Morgan, are you all right?
SPURLOCK: I'm all right.
ERICSON: Did you survive?
SPURLOCK: I survived. So now, what?
[21:50:02] Push that up. Let me stand right up.
Hanging in the middle of a crevasse in a glacier in Denali, this is just one of the amazing things that you can do in a national park. Maybe not this. I wouldn't advice this. You probably don't want to do this but it's pretty about the things you could do. You're probably aren't (inaudible) as this is this.
ERICSON: All right. So Morgan, you're at the tough part. Yeah. Grab my (inaudible). Ready?
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: Here you go.
SPURLOCK: All right. Saved myself. With little help from my friends, but...
ERICSON: Well, nice job. You're able to get out of the crevasse. If we can't get our own team out, then there's no expectation we'd be able to get anybody else out, right?
SPURLOCK: Right.
ERICSON: So we're going to start by self-rescue, the most important technique on the mountain.
SPURLOCK: So I'd be this tired after self-rescue?
ERICSON: It's fairly typical...
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: ... to be a little out of breath, yeah?
SPURLOCK: OK, good. So how often you guys have to do this type of rescue?
ERICSON: Well, it depends on the year. But anywhere from 30 to 40 would be a typical year. Some of those accidents are really small, frost bite maybe or, you know, just real small incidents. Some of them are much bigger...
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: ... fatalities or large accidents involving multiple people.
SPURLOCK: Yeah. Because that's what -- I guess people really don't understand is how dangerous this is.
ERICSON: It can be.
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: It can be the easiest walking to park or it can be very, very bad day...
SPURLOCK: Yeah.
ERICSON: ... and anywhere in between.
SPURLOCK: So, I rescued myself. And now, this is how you rescue people who can't pull themselves out. And in this case, it's actually a camera man.
That's right, my camera guy David, isn't quite as nimble as me, he needs a little help getting out.
You made it.
DAVID, CAMERA MAN: Thank you very much.
SPURLOCK: Nice.
It's been such an honor to work as a volunteer park ranger here in Alaska. And being here right now feels like the perfect culmination of an incredible week of work.
I mean, when you're standing in the middle of something like this, it just really reinforces how spectacular place Denali is and just how amazing and lucky we are to have just the national parks to begin with. You know, I mean, the park system gives you access to things that are so untouched or so kind of unspoiled by us. And to get come here and experience, this is volunteer has given me such an appreciation for it.
And it's inspiring to train side by side with all the different rangers and volunteers here who work so hard to preserve the park and keep visitors safe and sound.
That was been amazing, thank you.
ERICSON: Well, thanks, Morgan, so much for coming out working with us today and thanks so much for all your hard work in the park this week. This is a small token of our appreciation. I wanted to awards you, the Denali Pro Pin which we gave out each year to numerous volunteers and park visitors that come out and do good things here on the mountain.
SPURLOCK: Thank you. And I will - I'll wear proudly. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Great meeting you. Appreciate it.
ERICSON: All right, take care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPURLOCK: I see you. I see what you're doing. I missed. I missed (inaudible).
As Director Jarvis said back in Washington D.C., the best way to support the parking service is to actually go out and enjoy the parks. And Laken and I were certainly able to do that in Denali.
L. SPURLOCK: And I like parks with mountains and we're in the park with mountain.
SPURLOCK: I don't know, I like mountains too. I'm just like you. You and me, we got so much in common.
L. SPURLOCK: Yeah. It figures we're father and son. SPURLOCK: We have one last thing to do before we leave, and that's to turn in Laken's activity book and get him sworn in as a junior ranger.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello. Oh.
SPURLOCK: He wanted to come and turn in his form.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what I'm going to do is I'm going to sign in back pages here, this is the certificate that makes it official. All right.
SPURLOCK: You look super cool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you are going to raise your right hand, OK, and you're going to repeat after me.
As a junior ranger...
L. SPURLOCK: As a junior ranger...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... I pledged...
L. SPURLOCK: ... I pledged...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... to spend time exploring our national park...
L. SPURLOCK: ... to spend time exploring our national park...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... continue learning about the natural world...
L. SPURLOCK: ... continue learning about the natural world...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... and do all that it can to protect the world around me.
L. SPURLOCK: ... and do all that it can to protect the world around me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. And congratulations. With that, you are the newest junior ranger here in Denali National Park.
L. SPURLOCK: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And here is your badge to prove it. And folks, can we give a round of applause to our newest junior ranger here in Denali National Park? All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know something really cool about your badge? Your badge is actually bigger than all of the other rangers. You know why?
L. SPURLOCK: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you're more important than I am. Because in 40 years, I'm going to be old and retire and you're going to be coming to national park (inaudible). So that's why your badge is bigger.
SPURLOCK: No pressure, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No pressure.
L. SPURLOCK: Wait, can I pour it in?
SPURLOCK: Yeah. You want to pour it in this?
Play the drum. Cheers.
You know, for me, this is what the national parks were all about. You know, being able to come to a place like this with the people that you love and that you want to share it with and being able to have a time like I've had to look my -- when my son is amazing. And for me, it doesn't get any better than this.
How about some s'mores , buddy?
L. SPURLOCK: I like sitting by the fire.
SPURLOCK: It's nice, right? This is one of my favorite things.
