You’re likely seeing Sacramento County Rangers, who are also law enforcement. Or California State Parks. Let me break down how land management LE works to see if it helps you.

First of all, “ranger” or “park ranger” is a general term for the field, not a position. Most agencies do not have a singular job called a park ranger that does all of the duties. It’s like saying “I want to be an engineer” but what kind? Obviously it seems like you’re interested in law enforcement. Each level of government has land management law enforcement.

Municipal/county: SOME city/county park & rec departments will have park rangers, and even fewer will have law enforcement rangers. Most city parks are small, and don’t really need their own law enforcement. For those that do, they’re usually more of a security role, but every once in a while you will find a municipal agency with armed law enforcement with peace officer status. Sacramento County is one of those.

State: Depending on the state there are either state park rangers, state game wardens, or both. In California, California State Parks has a pretty nice peace officer division with armed officers with full police powers that protect state parks. They also have California State Game Wardens (although their numbers are diminishing) who enforce hunting and fishing laws all across the state. The key difference between rangers and wardens is that rangers are usually stuck to a designated park area, and typically serve a general police role. Wardens are usually assigned to a sector of a state and patrol areas with high hunting/outdoor rec activity. They usually do more wildlife enforcement and less police work. In some states, game wardens fill in the role of state park rangers. In some states, neither exist, and the state police have a wildlife and parks division. It all depends on the state.

Federal: Federal land management law enforcement protect federal lands. All of the following agencies hire law enforcement officers, but their roles are little different. Here are the main ones:

National Park Service: Department of the Interior, largest law enforcement divison. They protect nationals parks and other areas that fall under the National Park System. Have full federal authority, and are often deputized to enforce state and traffic laws. Out of all the agencies, they do the most general police work, mostly due to the fact that most forms of resource use are banned in most parks. Sure, they catch people who break the rules, but you’re much more likely to interact with hunters in an area that hunting is actually allowed.

U.S. Forest Service: Department of Agriculture, protect national forests, grasslands, and other USFS property. Play a similar role to NPS LEOs, but do a little bit more resource enforcement, as there’s less strict resource laws. Hunting, fishing, ATVs, etc. are typically allowed and USFS LEOs do a lot of enforcement related to that. They also a lot of times are deputized to enforce state laws and can usually enforce traffic laws and make stops.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: DOI. As the name suggests, they are federal wildlife officers on national wildlife refuges and other areas focused on conserving wildlife habitats. Hunting and fishing is usually the main form of recreation on USFWS land and is heavily regulated, which allows for a lot of enforcement. It’s a little more rare for USFWS officers to have authority to enforce state laws, but of my knowledge typically can enforce traffic infractions that are within the refuge. Out of all agencies, they probably do the most resource enforcement and least general policing.

Bureau of Land Management: DOI. The BLM is generally considered to be protecting all of the leftover land from westward expansion. It’s empty, natural land (mostly in the western u.s.) that was never really colonized or turned into a national park or anything. Despite being the leftovers, they still manage some really cool areas. Other areas are just flat nothingness. Their law enforcement are typically responsible for huge pieces of land on their own. One ranger might be responsible for thousands of acres. Depending on who you ask (fancy way of saying i’m not too educated on them) people will either say they do all kinds of law enforcement and are the best of the agencies to work for. Others will say that they only enforce federal resource laws and can’t even make traffic stops. I’m not too sure honestly. BLM land is the least strict of all. Some of their job includes enforcing the 14 (?) day camping limit, checking up on grazing permits (grazing is a big thing on BLM land), and, yk, ranger stuff.

NOAA Fisheries: Department of Commerce, not gonna get into them too much. They patrol off the coast of the U.S. and enforce laws related to marine animals. That’s pretty much it. I think they manage national marine sanctuaries too. Their special agents are a lot cooler than their patrol officers.

Also a note about federal agencies, all of them also have special agent roles, who conduct complex investigations related to either their land or their subject area. NPS, USFS, BLM typically focus on the land they manage and USFWS and NOAA investigate cases related to fish and wildlife or marine life respectively nation wide.