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Bradley Bischoff began his park warden life in 1981 stationed in the rugged South Boundary region of Jasper National Park.
Assigned alone to the backcountry with a handful of horses for 17 days at a time, Bischoff penned songs by the dim cabin lights in the high alpine ranges.
He later banded together with two other wardens, Ray Schmidt and Scott Ward, to create the aptly named band The Wardens.
They鈥檝e wrangled grizzlies, rescued hikers, and ridden up and down the trails with their horses.
And now they're sharing their love of the wilderness with children by adapting one of their songs into a kids' rhyming picture book.
鈥淲e were approached by two moms from the Airdrie area, who wanted to adapt our songs into kids鈥� books,鈥� said retiree Bischoff.
鈥淕etting children reading 鈥� we鈥檙e behind that 100 percent. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an investment in their future and ours.鈥�
The book was inspired by four-year-old Dekkie Clough from Carstairs, AB, who is obsessed with cowboys and horses.
When his mother couldn鈥檛 find him many contemporary Canadian books, she decided to publish her own.
Mom Ayesha Clough said: 鈥淗e鈥檚 been singing these songs by The Wardens pretty much since he could talk.
鈥淚鈥檓 so excited to get this first Rocky Mountain Rangers book in kids鈥� hands, and then hopefully do a couple more.鈥�
The Rocky Mountain Rangers picture book aims to bring the majesty of the Rockies to kids across Canada, inspire a love of the outdoors, and pride in our natural heritage.
Based on the song, 'Government Cowboy' by , the book takes children on patrol with the three real-life national park wardens in the backcountry of the Rockies.
The illustrations are based on real photos of the wardens at work in the mountain national parks.
The book鈥檚 illustrator, Lia Golemba hand-carved each two-page spread, made individual prints with ink and paper, then scanned and colourised the images digitally.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 ask for a better subject matter,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a celebration of Alberta鈥檚 natural beauty and our Western way of life, with liberal doses of art, rhyming verse, and humour.鈥�
Rocky Mountain Rangers: Guardians of the Wild can be ordered on Kickstarter at with a pledge of $20 or more until June 5. The book will be printed in June and mailed in July.
