Puerto Rico Natural Resources Ranger Corps | |
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Motto | Protect, Conserve |
Agency overview | |
Formed | June 29, 1979 |
Employees | 310 (2021) |
Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Puerto Rico, United States |
Size | 5,324 square miles (13,790 km2) |
Population | 3,994,259 (2007 estimate) |
Constituting instrument |
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General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico |
Agency executive |
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Parent agency | Department of Natural and Environmental Resources of Puerto Rico |
Units | Aerial Patrol Marine Patrol Ground Patrol |
Regional Offices | List
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Website | |
The Puerto Rico Natural Resources Ranger Corps (Spanish : Cuerpo de Vigilantes de Recursos Naturales) is the law enforcement conservation officers for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Its primary mission is to protect endemic plants and animals of Puerto Rico, prevent the introduction of invasive animals and plants and prosecute any person who violates environmental laws. [1]
Its headquarters are located at State Road PR-8838, Km. 6.3, El Cinco neighborhood, in San Juan.
Guards Corps was created on June 29, 1977 by Act No.1 SE. [2] The Corps or Rangers are responsible for ensuring the protection of natural resources, monitoring the observance of the laws and regulations that protect the environment, and preventing pollution of the environment. The Corps also serves as the police in all areas under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Since 2004 the agency has had 310 rangers and has been unable to train new members due to lack of funds. [3] The rangers of the agency are represented by the Servidores Públicos Unidos de Puerto Rico (United Public Servants of Puerto Rico). [4] Since 2020 the union has requested raises in the salaries of its members. [5] In 2021 the union condemned the inhumane working conditions for workers stationed on Isla de Mona. [6]
The University of Puerto Rico is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,300 faculty members. UPR has the largest and most diverse academic offerings in the commonwealth, with 472 academic programs of which 32 lead to a doctorate.
Mona is the third-largest island of the Puerto Rican archipelago, after the main island of Puerto Rico and Vieques. It is the largest of three islands in the Mona Passage, a strait between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, the others being Monito Island and Desecheo Island. It measures about 7 miles by 4 miles, and lies 41 mi (66 km) west of Puerto Rico, of which it is administratively a part. It is one of two islands that make up the Isla de Mona e Islote Monito barrio in the municipality of Mayagüez.
Caja de Muertos is an uninhabited island off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, in the municipality of Ponce. The island and its surrounding waters are protected by the Caja de Muertos Nature Reserve, because of its native turtle traffic and ecological value of its dry forests and reefs. Hikers and beachgoers are often seen in the island, which can be reached by ferry from the La Guancha Boardwalk sector of Ponce Playa. Together with Cardona, Ratones, Morrillito, Isla del Frio, Gatas, and Isla de Jueyes, Caja de Muertos is one of seven islands ascribed to the municipality of Ponce.
Eleutherodactylus juanariveroi, the Puerto Rican wetland frog or, is an endangered species of coqui, a frog species, endemic to Puerto Rico. It was discovered in 2005 by Neftalí Rios, and was named after Puerto Rican herpetologist Juan A. Rivero, in honor of his contributions to Puerto Rican herpetology.
The Culebrinas River, is a river in northwest Puerto Rico. It originates in southwestern Lares for 25 miles (40 km) till it empties into the Mona Passage south of downtown Aguadilla. It goes through Lares, San Sebastián, Moca, Aguada and Aguadilla municipalities. It is 37.33 miles long and when it floods causes damage to infrastructure in a number of municipalities.
Isla de Ratones also known as Cayo Ratones or Isla Ratones is a small island located near the Joyuda Lagoon in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. The island is a popular spot for snorkeling and bathing.
Raúl Gándara Cartagena (1910–1989) was fire chief in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and the first and longest-serving Commonwealth of Puerto Rico fire chief. He served from 1942 to 1972.
The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (PRDNER) is the executive department of the government of Puerto Rico tasked with protecting, conserving, developing, and managing the natural and environmental resources in Puerto Rico. As of April 2022 the current interim Secretary is Anaí Rodríguez after the resignation of Rafael A. Machargo. As of November 2020 the department has 1,096 employees.
Enrique "Quique" Questell Alvarado is a Puerto Rican politician and the former mayor of Santa Isabel. Questell is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and served as mayor from 2005 until 2020.
Reserva Natural Punta Cucharas is a nature reserve in Barrio Canas, Ponce, Puerto Rico. It consists of both a land area component as well as an offshore marine area. The land component has an area of 698 cuerdas while the marine component has an expanse of 3,516 cuerdas, for a total area of 4,214 cuerdas. The Reserve consists of mangrove ecosystems, coastal sand dunes, a saline lagoon known as Laguna Las Salinas, open water, and a century-old local community. The lagoon occupies and area of 347,898 m2 Ecological protection is managed and enforced by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Eight activities are allowed at the Reserve: scuba diving, boating, fishing, hiking, sun bathing, photography, bird watching and canoeing. Activities prohibited are: Camping, crabbing/trapping, horseback riding, water crafting, and hunting. Pets, ATVs, and fireplaces are also prohibited.
Cuevas Las Cabachuelas is a large cave system in Puerto Rico, located between the municipalities of Morovis and Ciales in the Cabachuelas Natural Reserve, which was established in 2012. It is of natural, cultural, archaeological, hydrological and geomorphological importance to Puerto Rico. Guided tours are offered by the Diógenes Colón Gómez Cultural Center in Morovis.
Guilarte State Forest is one of the 20 forests that make up the public forests system in Puerto Rico. The forest is located in the eastern half of the Central Mountain Range or Cordillera Central. The main geographical feature of the forest reserve is Monte Guilarte, which is Puerto Rico's 7th highest mountain at 3,950 feet above sea level. While Monte Guilarte is located in the municipality of Adjuntas, the forest's borders also include parts of Guayanilla, Peñuelas and Yauco.
Caja de Muertos Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in southern Puerto Rico consisting of the islands of Caja de Muertos, Cayo Morrillito, Cayo Berbería, and their surrounding reefs and waters in the Caribbean Sea. This nature reserve was founded on January 2, 1980, by the Puerto Rico Planning Board as recommended by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources with the purpose of preserving the subtropical dry forest ecosystems found within these islands, some important sea turtle nesting sites, and the marine habitats found on their surrounding reefs and waters.
Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserve consists of two islands, Mona and Monito, in the Mona Passage off western Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. Mona and Monito Islands Nature Reserve encompasses both land and marine area, and with an area of 38,893 acres it is the largest protected natural area in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Much like the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Mona and Monito Islands reserve represents a living laboratory for archaeological, biological, geological, oceanographical and wildlife management research.
The government of Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia was formed in the weeks following the 2020 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election as he released a list of nominees for most of the positions before his swearing in on 2 January 2021. His New Progressive Party (PNP) not having a majority in either chamber of the 19th Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico meant that he would have to further negotiate the approval of his nominees with the opposition parties that hold control of the legislature.
The government of Wanda Vázquez Garced was formed the week following the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares as a result of the massive protests resulting from the Telegramgate scandal, and a Supreme Court decision that vacated the office from an invalid occupant.
The government of Ricardo Rosselló Nevares was formed in the weeks following the 2016 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election and ended prematurely on the first week of August 2019.