CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (March 17, 2026) – In preparation for the 2026 recreation season, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District hosted its annual Park Ranger Workshop March 10–12 at Chattanooga State Community College. More than 50 rangers representing 10 lakes headed to the Erlanger Health Science Center for critical instruction on wilderness first aid, visitor assistance, and encroachment management, ensuring they are fully equipped to handle the complexities of shoreline management, public engagement, and water safety this year.
Lt. Col. Guillermo Guandique, Nashville District commander, expressed his appreciation to the park rangers for their continuous attention and hard work keeping visitors safe at Corps lakes.
The commander said that the Corps of Engineers park rangers are tremendous caretakers of beautiful parks, recreation areas, public lands, campgrounds, and they safeguard visitors, which aligns with the district’s motto, “We Protect People from Water, Protect Water from People and Make Water Useful.”
In 2025, these park rangers oversaw 23 million visitors and 75,000 camping reservations at 25 campgrounds and 281 recreation areas in the Cumberland River Basin in Tennessee and Kentucky. They conducted 325 boat patrol days, 1,878 vessel inspections, and 195 interpretive events for 144,266 contacts to promote environmental education and public safety.
“Every day you are out there on the front line making sure that the public understands what the water can do, and you safeguard them while protecting water resources,” Guandique told the park rangers. “I really appreciate everything that you all do.”
John Malone, natural resources specialist who organized the workshop, said the training provided to the rangers during the workshop enables them to maintain citation authority.
“We try to balance out the required training portion with visitor assistance topics and first aid and updates from senior leaders and subject matter experts with our Real Estate and Operations divisions,” Malone said.
Getting out of the classroom to learn in the outdoors came next. Malone said they participated in a National Park Service tour at Point Park on Lookout Mountain and visited the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project on the Tennessee River where the Nashville District is constructing a larger navigation lock that will accommodate nine jumbo barges in a single lockage, a massive 800 percent surge in efficiency.
“The tour at Lookout Mountain was quite impressive and allowed rangers to learn more about our district and local community history. I think the biggest takeaway for everyone there was being able to see how interpretation for a ranger is not just limited to providing facts and figures, but how storytelling can be impactful and educational.”
At Chickamauga Lock, Malone said the interaction with the lockmaster and project manager helped the rangers understand more about the engineering and construction facets of the organization, and how this project impacts the overall USACE navigation mission.
The last activity of the workshop involved visitor assistance scenarios and hands-on self-defense training. The scenarios allowed rangers to enhance communication skills, practice enforcing USACE rules and regulations, and to seek compliance at the lowest levels of enforcement.
Gearing up for recreation season
The commander recognized the Noise Exposure Product Delivery Team that worked to find and test products, conduct noise sampling, and selected an innovative new device that provides active hearing protection to filter out harmful sounds for rangers that patrol on the lakes and are exposed to engine and wind noise.
Safety Specialist Daniel Rennaker, Malone, and Park Rangers Ben Clark, Lucas Hix, John Poston, and Dylon Norton received commander’s coins for their efforts to protect hearing.
The Nashville District recently issued this new Personal Protective Equipment to all park rangers and boating instructors to utilize this recreation season. This noise exposure protection initiative also made its way into the USACE Great Lakes and Ohio River Division’s Boating Manual.
Tim Fudge, Nashville District Operations Division chief, commended the hearing conservation team for its debut of new hearing protection for rangers, noting that the recognition is well deserved and overdue.
“This is just something that came up out of the field organically,” Fudge said. “The team brought together representatives from Operations, Safety, and multiple field projects across the district. By combining safety expertise, leadership, and valuable field-level experience, the team developed a practical and effective solution that protects employee’s hearing.”
The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website athttps://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/About/Districts/Nashville-District/, on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/nashvillecorpsand on X (formerly Twitter) athttp://www.x.com/nashvillecorps. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest Nashville District employment and contracting opportunities athttps://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-nashville-district.