GLACIER NATIONAL PARK – Condolences are pouring in for Douglas Follett, the oldest Glacier National Park park ranger who died at 98 years old. He worked in the Montana park for 60 seasons.
“Thank you, Ranger Doug. Your impact and legacy live on through your poems, family and friends, and the innumerable smiles you left behind,” Glacier National Park posted on Instagram. “Glacier’s staff, volunteers, and visitors will feel your absence.”
Follett learned to walk in the hallways of Glacier Park Lodge as his father worked on the Great Northern Railway in East Glacier Park, Montana, all the way back in 1927.
He got his first job in Glacier on the trail crew while in high school. After World War II, he became a teacher in Montana and supplemented his income as a seasonal park ranger during the summer of 1961 in Glacier, a place he loved dearly.
“In Glacier National Park — a place notorious for moody weather — Follett is a constant beam of sunshine,” wrote the National Parks Conservation Association in a 2010 profile piece. They called Follett “the voice of Glacier.”
Follett was featured in the documentary, “Your Friend, Ranger Doug.” He also wrote many poems about Glacier, including “The Tale of the Cedars.”
“Oh I have seen the giants fall
to lie beneath the cedars tall
And watch cold waters carry ‘way
the glacier’s lifeblood
day by day.”
NATIONAL PARK NEWS
