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Meet the Ranger — Shannon Young

Shannon (Lyon) Young knew from a very young age what she wanted to do when she grew up. “A National Park Service ranger did a presentation at a career fair I attended in the ninth grade and I was hooked. Working in the national parks, that was for me.”

Shannon went on to earn a degree in Interpretation from Colorado State University and started working as a Park Service student conservation association volunteer in 1982. Then, as a seasonal ranger, she worked at several national park units including Mt. Rainier NP, Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, Great Basin NP, Sequoia NP, Devils Postpile National Monument, and Point Reyes National Seashore. Shannon obtained her first permanent appointment at Yosemite in 1989, and arrived at the Colorado National Monument nine years ago, where she serves as the Administrative Support Assistant.

Shannon’s job encompasses various duties. She assists the Administrative Officer, Shirley Winterhalder, in tracking accounts and other fiscal responsibilities. She is a contracting officer. She also serves as the computer administrator for the monument: she purchases and installs the computers, she manages the computer network, and serves as a troubleshooter for both software and hardware complications. She also manages the accountable property in the monument.

Although Shannon spends most of her time at work in the office, she still maintains her love of nature. She spends plenty of time outdoors volunteering as a certified search and rescue dog handler. Shannon and her dog, a twelve-year-old German shepherd/labrador/Irish wolfhound mix called Klapatche (named after a beautiful meadow in Mt. Rainier NP) are both members of Search and Rescue Dogs of Colorado (SARDOC). Klapatche is certified in both water and air scent search and rescue. The training is intensive, but Shannon and Klapatche love it. “SAR is addictive; it’s like a disease,” says Shannon. “It’s great to have the chance to save a life and also have fun with your dog in nature.”

Although Klapatche is still active, at twelve years old she is starting to slow down, so Shannon is training another dog, a two-and a-half-year-old Australian Shepherd, Maggie, to take over some of Klapatche’s duties. Maggie will be tested with SARDOC early this year. Once the dog is certified, however, the training doesn’t end there. Shannon takes her dogs out several times a week in all kinds of weather for training. She usually takes the dogs out to BLM or Forest Service lands surrounding Grand Junction and has them search for volunteers who are hiding. Shannon is always looking for volunteers who are willing to go out and hide for her dogs. The rewards of volunteering are the knowledge that such efforts could help the dog to someday save a life, having a day out in nature, and licks and tail wags from the dogs. Anyone who is interested in volunteering with Shannon and her dogs or wants more information, is encouraged to call Shannon at work at 858-3617 ext. 303, or at home at 245-0035.

Shannon’s other great interest is the violin. She plays in the Grand Junction Symphony and also in a traditional Celtic folk band, Blarney Pilgrim. The other band members are her husband, Colorado National Monument Chief Ranger Ron Young, who plays hammer dulcimer and bodhran, and friend Connie Smith, who plays piano. Blarney Pilgrim plays locally at coffeehouses, weddings, parties, and at special events such as the Robbie Burns Night and St. Patrick’s Day parties at the Adam’s Mark. There is also a CD of Blarney Pilgrim’s music available at local record stores.

Shannon’s varied interests and her love of Colorado National Monument make her a fascinating person to talk to and an invaluable member of the monument staff.