Park ranger
A park ranger, park warden, or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. "Parks" may be broadly defined by some systems in this context, and include protected culturally or historically important built environments, and is not limited to the natural environment. Different countries use different names for the position. "Warden" is the favored term in Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Within the United States, the National Park Service refers to the position as a park ranger. The U.S. Forest Service refers to the position as a forest ranger. Other countries use the term "park warden" or "game warden" to describe this occupation. The profession includes a number of disciplines and specializations, and park rangers are often required to be proficient in more than one.
Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police
In 2005, the Maryland DNR consolidated the law enforcement function of the Maryland Park Service's state park rangers (known as Maryland Rangers) into the Natural Resources Police, and many of the Maryland Rangers become NRP officers. The NRP's mission expanded to include law enforcement duties for the state's parks, forests, and other lands managed by the DNR. Maryland Park Service managers who had law enforcement responsibilities before the merger retained their law enforcement commissions and continued to be called Maryland Rangers. The park service hired non-law enforcement personnel, also to be referred to as rangers, to take over the non-law enforcement duties previously performed by the Maryland Rangers.