The History of Rangers in Scotland

The history of conservation in Scotland is largely centred around the Highlands, in the north and west of the country. It is here that the relationship between the people and the land in strongest, based on the Gaelic-speaking culture with a tradition of a natural respect for the land.

The Scottish countryside has seen enormous changes in the last 200 years, a good example of the global conflicts of growth, employment and population needs; and aesthetics, recreation and conservation. In the 19th century the growing population of Edinburgh and Glasgow turned to the Highlands to find fresh air and open spaces. Professor Christopher Smout suggests that the Highlands have been viewed in different ways: * Three traditional uses of the land as a resource:

1. for the community in terms of farming, forestry and fishing;
2. for the private land-lord in terms of hunting, shooting and fishing;
3. for industry, in terms of mining, quarrying and hydro-electricity schemes.

* Set against this are three ideas relating to the "green" or "romantic" ideal of the countryside:

1. the land as an "invigorating obstacle course", for walkers, climbers, skiers and water-sports;
2. as a place of tranquility;
3. as a refuge for its wildlife.

These ideas led to conflict between the people who lived in the area and the "incomers". Sir Robert Cowan, once Chairman of the Highlands and Islands Development Board, said in 1990: "People in the Highlands and Islands do not want or need to be told what developments can, or cannot, take place on their land by those often many miles removed from the physical reality". This is reflected not only in how the Highlander views Edinburgh or Glasgow, but also how Scotland views the authority of the London-based Government.

English and American Ideas

Much of the inspiration for conservation in Scotland was influences by the National Parks Service in the USA. It is ironic that this Parks Service had itself been inspired by that great 19th century Scottish conservationist, John Muir, who until recently was relatively unknown in his own country. In the USA the Interpretation and Resource Management roles were kept separate from Surveillance and Policing work. In Scotland, in 1967, the CCS was looking for approaches for its new Ranger Service. John Foster, the first Director of the CCS, and Don Aldridge, Head of Interpretation, both had experience in the USA and the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England. At the same time, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) was creating Rangers. Its Director, Jamie Stormonth Darling, also had close connections with the USA Park system. The NTS and the CCS concluded that in both the USA and the Peak District, the separation of roles in those Ranger Services had led to poor Resource Management. They decided that in a new Scottish Ranger Service, each Ranger would be a "person of many parts", with a wide training.

The need for new Countryside Protection

The clash of interests in the countryside came to a head in the early 1960s with growing pressures on the countryside. 
The long established Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) was the scientific based government organisation, responsible for looking after designated fragile areas and wildlife, backed up by biological recording and scientific research. The NCC was not designed to be primarily concerned with receiving and advising visitors to the countryside. Part of the solution was the passing of the Countryside (Scotland) Act of 1967 which created the Countryside Commission for Scotland (CCS) to look at the needs of public access. From this grew a new Ranger Service.

The Countryside Commission for Scotland 

In 1967 the CCS started with a clean sheet to develop responsible land management for public enjoyment, access, and recreation, and education in the countryside for conservation. The CCS was the "parent" of all Scottish Ranger Services, providing funding, policies, training and inspiration. Its headquarters are at the Battleby Centre, just north of Perth, which has become a home-from-home for Rangers. Battleby also houses a fine practical display of outdoor, interpretive techniques and countryside furniture designs, to create a high standard of design, equipment and maintenance for use in public access areas.

Who could have a Ranger Service? 

The Countryside (Scotland) Act 1967 allowed for Ranger Services to be set up by local government and NGOs. They would be able to ask for grant-aid from CCS. The essential requirement for local authorities was that they should have power to make "byelaws" over the land where Rangers worked. In some places there were only byelaws for the publicly-run picnic sites and road-side lay-bys, so Rangers, in order to be "legal" had to use these areas as the base for their work. For the private sector, employers had to have ownership of, and provide access to, the land. In 1981 a new Act of Parliament allowed for the development "Regional Parks". This opened up new employment and career prospects for Rangers.

What is Countryside?

1967 the CCS could only work in "designated countryside". This was defined in geographical terms, giving the CCS a remit over the whole of Scotland including the urban fringe. Thus only the centres of major towns and cities were excluded from having a Ranger Service. In practice, the type of countryside that Rangers worked over varied from the "organised" Country Parks in central Scotland, to the wildest untouched hill-tops; from the woodland areas to wind-swept cliffs. Perhaps the most bizarre piece of "countryside" was that created out of the flames and smoke of the derelict coal mining areas of Fife. Lochore Meadows was completely landscaped and new countryside built over flattened coal tips. This was one of the most ambitious countryside reclamation schemes in Europe. The definition of "designated countryside" was removed in 1991, allowing Ranger Services to work in urban areas, of which the Wester Hailes project is one example.