A new chief ranger for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has left behind the swamps and sea-level elevations of the Everglades National Park to join the staff of the most visited national park in the United States.

Bill Wright, who worked as a ranger in the Smokies 18 years ago at the beginning of his park service career, will come to the GSMNP to manage park ranger divisions that do everything from backcountry patrol to campground management.

“It’s a thrill for me to finally have the chance to come work at the Smokies,” Wright said.

At the Smokies, some rangers patrol in developed front country areas where they must be skilled in safety-related traffic management, accident investigation and campground operations. Others spend virtually all their days in the more remote backcountry areas where they work to prevent poaching of plants and animals, and marijuana cultivation.

No matter where they are assigned, all of the rangers in the Smokies possess a federal law enforcement commission and have extensive training in first aid.

“The main factor that makes being a park ranger appealing is that we get to work with the public in wonderful natural settings,” Wright said.