NACPRO News - October 25, 2022

NACPRO News

October 25, 2022

In This Issue...

Best Practices Forum
Welcome New Member
A Word from our Sponsors
Member News
Research and Resources
In the News
Training
Job Announcements

About NACPRO

The National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials is a non-profit professional organization that advances official policies that promote county and regional park and recreation issues while providing members with opportunities to network, exchange ideas and best practices, and enhance professional development.

Learn more about us at: www.nacpro.org

DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE

The next issue of NACPRO News will be delivered on October 11, 2022.

If you have news or an article to share, please send it to the editor by October 10.

EDITOR
Brenda Adams-Weyant
(814) 927-8212
[email protected]

NACPRO's Sponsors

Job Announcements

Executive Director
Forest Preserve District of Kane County
Geneva, Illinois
$120,000 Annually
Closing date: Oct 31, 2022

Planner 3 - Parks/Landscape Architect
Metro Parks and Recreation Department
Nashville, Tennessee
$82,575.23 Annually
Closing date: Oct 31, 2022

Planner 3 – Parks/Sr. Level Land Planner
Metro Parks and Recreation
Nashville, Tennessee
$82,575.23 Annually
Closing date: Nov 8, 2022

Human Resources Manager
Winnetka Park District, Illinois
$75,000 - $90,000 Annually
Closing date: Nov 11, 2022

Chief, Partnerships Office
California Department of Parks and Recreation
Sacramento, California
$9,471 - $13,677 Monthly
Closing date: Nov 21, 2022

Land Manager - Environmental Specialist III
Sarasota County Government
Sarasota, Florida
$50,523.20 - $67,932.80 Annually
Closing date: Dec 30, 2022

Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Park Planner 2
Miami Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces
Miami, Florida
$56,580 - $99,603 Annually
Closing date: Open until closed

Park Planning and Development Division Manager
Sarasota County Government
Sarasota, Florida
$80,000 - $92,000 Annually
Closing date: Open until filled

Parks Planning
Sarasota County Government
Sarasota, Florida
$60,000 - $75,000 Annually
Closing date: Open until filled

Director of Building Design & Construction
Great Parks of Hamilton County
Cincinnati, Ohio
Salary: $106,683 Annually
Closing date: Open until filled

Recreation Manager
Shawnee County Parks and Recreation
Topeka, Kansas
$23.89 Hourly
Closing date: Open until filled

Accountant II
Shawnee County Parks and Recreation
Topeka, Kansas
$25.66 Hourly
Closing date: Open until filled

Got a vacancy to fill? NACPRO will post your vacancy on our website and email a copy to our mailing list of over 1100 parks and recreation professionals for a fee of $100 for NACPRO members and $200 for non-members. NACPRO membership is $90/person.

For more information:
https://nacpro.mcjobboard.net/jobs

Best Practices Forum

Got an issue you need advice on? Or a best practice you want to share? Send us the details and we will publish it in the next NACPRO News.

Welcome New Member

Ms. Dawn Dickerson
Communications Manager
Metroparks Toledo, Ohio

A Word from our Sponsors

Pilot Rock Accessible Trash Containers & Site Amenities

R. J. Thomas Manufacturing makes a variety of park and campground products designed to meet ADA guidelines for wheelchair accessibility. This product line includes a bench, utility and picnic tables, lantern poles, trash receptacles, campfire rings and a grill.

For more information:
https://www.pilotrock.com/videos/detail/8/

Member News

Bill Mitchell Recognized for Outstanding Contributions in Parks and Conservation
Courtesy of WeConservePA

PENNSYLVANIA - A prominent Pennsylvania park and conservation leader, William Mitchell, received the Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medal for Parks and Conservation, September 21, 2022, at the annual award hosted by the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Honorable Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medals recognize outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of public parks and conservation in the United States. The inaugural Pugsley Medals were awarded in 1928.

We need to show the world who we are: Old Prairie Town adds Native American camp replica
Courtesy of the Topeka Capital-Journal

By Tim Hrenchir

KANSAS - Native American history hadn't been among the subjects highlighted at Old Prairie Town, the replica of an 1800s Kansas community at Topeka's Ward-Meade Park.

That changed Friday. Ceremonies were held to dedicate a replica of a Native American encampment recently put in place at the park.

The encampment replica includes a prayer circle, a medicine wheel, a garden and a bark house, known as a wigwam, said Mike McLaughlin, communications and public information supervisor for Shawnee County Parks and Recreation.

Those included Potawatomi tribal members, who were relocated to the Topeka area in 1846, Friday's audience heard from Joseph "Zeke" Rupnick, chairman of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Research and Resources

Agency Performance Review Survey Is Ready for Your Input
Courtesy of NRPA

By Melissa May

From now through the end of January, the NRPA Research team is conducting its annual campaign to encourage you to complete the Agency Performance Survey. This survey provides NRPA with vital data that serves as the backbone of Park Metrics, and that allows us to produce the annual NRPA Agency Performance Review. Your contribution to NRPA Park Metrics by completing the Agency Performance Survey influences the entire profession.

Last year’s Agency Performance Review contained insights from more than 1,000 park and recreation agencies — spanning from large systems located in urban settings to smaller agencies that serve just a few hundred residents in small, rural towns — providing our field with a wealth of data.

The Mental and Therapeutic Benefits of Nature for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
Courtesy pf NRPA

By Tim Herd, CPRE

Whether it’s simply walking in a park, gardening, biking, kayaking, wildlife watching or even just sitting with a view of green space, nature is good for what ails us.

For children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), research shows that engagement with nature provides sensory motor skill, emotional and social benefits. However, related issues — like sensory challenges, phobias, inappropriate behaviors and safety concerns — may make the adventure a bit harder than just your average walk in the park. Of course, each child’s strengths and needs vary, but psychologists say nature exposure can be an effective intervention strategy.

Here are some simple starting steps to introduce children with ASD to nature...

2022 State of the Birds Report
Courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

The United States and Canada have lost 3 billion breeding birds since 1970—a loss of 1 in 4 birds, according to research published in Science in 2019. This steep decline in abundance can be reversed with new scales of conservation actions that benefit not only birds but also wildlife and people. When birds thrive, we all win.

The report identifies 70 Tipping Point species that have lost half or more of their breeding population since 1970, and are on track to lose another half or more in the next 50 years.

These Tipping Point species are high priorities for science and conservation because of their high vulnerability to extinction, high urgency, and steep population declines where known. All are included on the Birds of Conservation Concern List of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or state lists of Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

Rural Parks and Recreation: There are no cookie-cutter answers to understanding and meeting residents’ needs
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business

By Clement Lau

CALIFORNIA - What are the unique needs of rural areas, and how do park and recreation departments best address them? Agencies like the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) have been seeking answers to these questions. Specifically, DPR has gathered input regarding park-planning efforts from residents in rural communities across the county.

While rural areas are rich in parkland, they still have unmet park and recreation needs. For example, residents in the Antelope Valley reported they are lacking water-based recreation facilities such as swimming pools and splash pads, shaded seating and play areas, and trails. Also, many of the existing local parks are old and have deferred maintenance and improvement needs.

Park access is often measured in the percentage of residents living within a half-mile or 10-minute walk of a park. While this metric makes sense in urban areas, it is less applicable in rural areas where residents are less able or less likely to walk to a park due to the sprawling nature of rural areas, safety issues associated with the lack of pedestrian infrastructure (sidewalks, street trees, etc.), hostile weather conditions (excessive heat, strong winds, etc.), and other factors.

Creating video content to improve engagement
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business

By Jessica Aiello

If you decide to try in-house video production, you can add to your skills repertoire by finding affordable online and in-person courses on videography from sources in your area. Dunlap recently took a “Crash Course in Video for Social Media” from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design, which was geared toward novices with minimal video-making budgets.

If you want to go the professional route, “Make sure you find a videographer who is passionate about your vision for the video,” recommends Powell. That is why he responded to PPFF’s RFP. During the pandemic he discovered the stress relief that comes from outdoor recreation, so this project was the perfect outlet for him.

Regardless of whether you go with smartphone video or a top-notch videographer, here is PPFF’s recommended step-by-step process for making your next video. Those related to hiring an external videographer have an asterisk.

Grant Opportunity: Supporting Healthy Aging Through Parks and Recreation (SHAPR)
Courtesy of NRPA

NRPA, with the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is pleased to announce the availability of the Supporting Healthy Aging Through Parks and Recreation (SHAPR) grant. This grant supports park and recreation professionals in increasing access, availability, participation, and sustainable support for programs that improve physical activity, engagement, and the quality of life for older adults. Watch this informational video about the SHAPR grant opportunity and apply by December 2.

Community Fitness Facility Trends for 2022
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business

The pandemic had a great impact on fitness facilities across the nation. Now, there’s a growing sense that many Americans want to get back to the gym and interact with their friends and neighbors while getting fit. This survey, conducted in December 2021 and January 2022, was powered by Matrix. We offer a few select answers we thought might be useful in your fall planning.

In the News

The post-Halloween tradition is an easy, impactful way to divert waste from landfills
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business

By Jefferey Spivey

Many pumpkins are unceremoniously tossed in the garbage, wasting a valuable resource and contributing to environmental harm. Enter pumpkin smashes. Positioned as a fun, easy, and impactful way to dispose of unwanted pumpkins, these events ensure that used pumpkins avoid the trash bin and fulfill their unlimited potential.

Undoubtedly, many participants are drawn to pumpkin-smash events by the simple promise of the title. There’s an emotional release that comes from throwing a pumpkin to the ground, stomping on it, smashing it to bits with a bat or a hammer, catapulting it, or even crushing it with a custom-made device like St. Cloud Parks and Recreation’s “Gallagher the Pumpkin Smasher.” Named after the comedian who often smashed watermelons as part of his act, “Gallagher the Pumpkin Smasher” resembles a construction-site trebuchet and is placed in front of a target

If You Don’t Already Live in a Sponge City, You Will Soon
Courtesy of Wired

By Matt Simon

Like anything else, water is great in moderation—urbanites need it to survive, but downpours can flood streets and homes. And as you might have noticed, climate change isn’t good at moderation. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, supercharging storms to dump more water quicker, which can overwhelm municipal sewer systems built for the climate of long ago. Thus you get the biblical flooding that’s been drowning cities around the world, from Zhengzhou, China, to Seoul, South Korea, to Cologne, Germany, to New York City.

In response, urban planners are increasingly thinking of cities less as rain jackets—designed to whisk water away as fast as possible before it has a chance to accumulate—and more as sponges. By deploying thirsty green spaces and digging huge dirt bowls where water can gather and percolate into underlying aquifers, “sponge cities” are making rain an asset to be exploited instead of expelled.

Training

Indiana University Executive Development Program

April 16-19, 2023 - Bloomington, Indiana

For 54 years the Indiana University Executive Development Program has helped park and recreation professionals at the local, state and national level who are in front line, management, and leadership positions build and strengthen the fundamental skills needed to manage and lead in a public and non-profit setting.

IU EDP is organized around a two-year curriculum focusing on leadership and management skill development. To continually offer cutting edge education opportunities, the curriculum is reviewed annually by the IU EDP board of Trustees who are past program graduates.

This program is for individuals who are in the parks and recreation profession at any level.

Scholarships: Four 50% Tuition Scholarships Available!
Contact Julie at 812-856-1068 for scholarship criteria and application. Deadline is December 16, 2022. Also, check with your state association, as many provide scholarships
for continuing education.

For more information:
https://iuedp.org/

Webinar: Building a Trail Foundation from the Ground Up

Date: October 27, 2022
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: American Trails

This webinar will discuss details on what is needed in order to create a trail foundation from the ground up and how to keep it successful. Presenters will look at organizational governance (bylaws, articles of incorporation, etc.), board member retention, fundraising, marketing and outreach, as well as partnerships. They will also discuss the groundwork when it comes to a foundation’s particular focus—the trail—and will include details on general advocacy, land acquisition, fundraising and grant writing, as well as planning, design, construction, and maintenance of a trail. Lastly they will also discuss how to effectively recruit and keep volunteers, the education and stewardship needed for the trail, and will include successful trail organization examples (from inception to today) in various parts of the country.

For more information:
https://www.americantrails.org/training/building-a-trail-foundation-from-the-ground-up

Webinar: Trails and Utilities - A Powerful Partnership

Date: November 1, 2022
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm ET
Cost: Free
Organization: Rails-to-Trails Conservancy

Working alongside utility companies across the country, many communities build safe and accessible trails within utility corridors. Some of the most visible examples of these trails span miles under large power lines, but there are many other types of utilities – including water, sewer, natural gas, electric and fiber optic – that also share trail corridors.

Join Rails-to-Trails to discuss the benefits, challenges, and opportunities of co-locating trails and utilities. Panelists will share lessons learned and experiences from both the trail manager and utility company perspectives to highlight these powerful partnerships.

For more information:
https://railstotrails-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GJuj_J-WRJ-sL0YBoXzKRQ#/registration

Webinar: Incorporating Big Data into Safety Analysis - An Integrated and Proactive Approach

Date: November 2, 2022
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm ET
Cost: Free members/$79 non-members
Organization: Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals (SORP)

In the past few years, Big Data has emerged as an important alternative for numerous transportation studies, especially as a source to obtain data retroactively. Big Data appears to be a good source for data collection and integration moving forward, especially in the safety field.

"Incorporating Big Data into Safety Analysis: An Integrated and Proactive Approach" is a Technical Brief developed by the ITE Safety Council and published in August 2022. The document defines Big Data in the context of safety, addresses how Big Data can supplement traditional data as well as how it can improve safety by filling the existing gaps. This report includes a discussion on how Big Data is currently being used to address safety issues, what the available sources for safety professionals are, and what issues still need to be addressed. The report focus areas are data collection and processing, proactive safety approach, driver behavior, and pedestrian and bicycle safety.

For more information:
https://www.ite.org/events-meetings/ite-calendar/incorporating-big-data-into-safety-analysis-an-integrated-and-proactive-approach/

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