Legacy of the Yosemite Mafia: The Ranger Image and Noble Cause Corruption in the National Park Service

The National Park Service lords over our nation’s parks, forests, and monuments. They are obsessed with their image; however, they were lacking in law enforcement training. A handful of shootings and a riot in 1970 would question the role of the Park Ranger and the use of force to enforce law and order. The author would serve in Indiana, where he witnessed corruption that was connected to the Mafia stranglehold of the neighboring state of Illinois. The crux of the story begins when the author works at Yosemite National Park and witnesses corruption relating to drugs and abuse of power involving park rangers and their detractors. The author reports the criminal actions only to be met with scorn and derision. His actions lead to a transfer and constant suspicion by co-workers. But this is only the beginning.

Paul Berkowitz has crafted a book about public service corruption that grabs the reader early on and educates throughout. This isn’t your traditional thin blue line story of wrongdoing, but the importance of his story remains ever present throughout. The wrongdoers’ deeds are criminal, misguided, and leave a stain on a public office. Berkowitz has performed a public service with his book.