Bob Garcia was studying biology at San Jose State University in 1975 when he got the call from staff at Midpen, then a newly created public agency, in need of someone to help build out the ranger program and get eyes and ears on the ground in the first open space preserves. At the time, the agency was still known as the Midpeninsula Regional Parks District. When Garcia joined, there were fewer than 10 total employees.
Garcia most often patrolled the newly acquired lands on the lookout for trespassers, whether they be illegally camping or riding motorcycles through the protected open space lands. While his main focus was to patrol, he also performed maintenance duties. In those very early days, he was missing much of the necessary equipment, such as a two-way radio, a standardized uniform with a badge, and an all-terrain vehicle capable of traversing dirt roads.
“Some of my favorite memories are of doing the simple things like selecting the first Midpen ranger uniforms and ordering a patrol vehicle,” Garcia explained. “The first Midpen vehicle wasn’t ‘The Thing’ [pictured at top], it was actually my personal Volkswagen bug.”
What Midpen may not have had in terms of equipment and supplies, was more than made up for with tenacity and dedication.
“We all had a shared common vision,” Garcia recounted. “What Midpen is today, and what it has become, is far beyond what I could have imagined at the time.”
Now retired, Garcia still actively spends time outdoors in Midpen preserves, including riding his horse through Thornewood Open Space Preserve.
Read more profiles about people who love open space at openspace.org/open-stories.
“It was all brand new. A brand-new agency, brand-new job and a new role that was just created,” explained Bob Garcia, Midpen’s first ranger.