WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Ms. Nancy Desmond
Special Projects Administrator
Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio
Ms. Liz Geith
Director of Park Management- South
Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio
Mr. Sean McDermott
Chief Planning and Design Officer
Cleveland Metroparks, Ohio
Mr. Dennis Hodges
Parks and Recreation Department Manager
Columbia County Parks & Recreation, Georgia
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A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS
Pilot Rock - No more warped tabletops
Get free table top end caps with your purchase of a rectangular wood top picnic table. Use the promo code TAK in the RFQ promo code field through August 31st.
Don’t need the picnic table, but still need the end caps? Get 25% off your purchase of a pair of picnic table end caps with promo code 25OFF in the RFQ promo code field.
For more information:
https://www.pilotrock.com/accessories/tak-31g-for-3-nom-dimension-lumber/
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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.
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MEMBER NEWS
Supervisors OK free Wi-Fi for county parks
Courtesy of signalscv.com
By Jim Holt
CALIFORNIA - In addition to sunshine and trees, Los Angeles County Park visitors will soon be getting free Wi-Fi service after county supervisors voted Tuesday to make it so.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion co-authored by Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn to provide free Wi-Fi service at all county parks.
Barger and Hahn stated in the motion that providing free Wi-Fi service in parks and open spaces is an effective step toward bridging the digital divide among socio-economic levels to ensure diverse communities, including children and patrons who are vulnerable or experiencing homelessness, have access to information, including details about county resources and services.
Read more:
https://signalscv.com/2019/08/supes-ok-free-wi-fi-for-county-parks/
Connecting 10 Million People to the Outdoors in Los Angeles County
Courtesy of American Trails
CALIFORNIA - For the more than 10 million residents of Los Angeles County, it turns out there is a huge somewhat undiscovered gold mine of parks, trails and awe-inspiring outdoor adventures waiting right in their backyards. How do agencies effectively get all of the information about these destinations into the hands of locals and visitors?
Los Angeles is a massive county with an incredibly complex park and recreation ecosystem with organizations at all levels owning, managing and contributing to the rich outdoor recreation opportunities.
It became clear that key partners would need to step up and take a leadership role in order to best serve the community. Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, along with other key land managers in the county including California State Parks, the National Park Service, Mountains Restoration Trust, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and Catalina Island Conservancy comprise a partnership called ‘Trails LA County’ with a focus on better connecting people with the public trails across the county.
Trails LA County has developed two key resources that are available to the public, an officially County-sanctioned world-class trails mobile app and website.
Read more:
https://www.americantrails.org/resources/connecting-10-million-people-to-the-outdoors-in-los-angeles-county
SK8 Charleston - the Uphill Climb to Victory
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Mary Ashton Watson
SOUTH CAROLINA - The skateboarding community of Charleston, S.C., had been advocating for a regional-sized skate park for decades. With few other skate parks available in the Lowcountry and new laws prohibiting skateboarding on the streets of downtown, skateboarders had limited places to ride. In 2011, The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) took the first steps toward making area skateboarders’ dreams a reality.
Despite the many obstacles the project faced, SK8 Charleston has been very successful. Shortly after opening, the American Society of Civil Engineers South Carolina awarded SK8 Charleston the Project of the Year. With 32,500 square feet of skate-able terrain, this park features an 11.5-foot-deep “pro” bowl, a 7-foot-deep intermediate bowl, a 200-foot-long snake run funneling down into a 9-foot-deep pocket, and a 315-foot-long street course, complete with three pieces of skate art and marble. Overlooking this complex is a raised building with a perfect viewing deck for those wanting to watch the action.
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2019/7/sk8-charleston?rq=sk8
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RESEARCH AND RESOURCES
Wading Through the Rules
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Connie Sue Centrella
When it comes to government regulations and standards in the aquatic industry, there are plenty of changes--enough to make our heads swim. Yet, keeping abreast of these changes is critical for facility managers and pool operators, who are responsible for the health and safety of guests and employees. There are currently four initiatives with which aquatic professionals should be familiar...
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2012/07/03/wading-through-the-rules
Barking Up The Right Tree
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business
By Tony Forshage
Dog parks are among the fastest-growing recreational amenities in city parks across the country. According to the Trust for Public Land, off-leash dog areas in urban parks have increased by 40 percent over the past decade.* The city of San Antonio’s Parks & Recreation Department in Texas has contributed to this national trend by building a dozen dog parks in the past 10 or so years.
In an attempt to impart some knowledge related to park design and construction, two case studies stand in stark contrast: Madison Square Park is in the downtown area bordered by a hospital, commercial offices, a church, and multi-family residences, while Phil Hardberger Park is a sprawling natural area in the northwest suburbs. While both studies offer advice on successful navigation in constructing a dog park, they also serve as a reminder that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions when it comes to pooch parks.
Read more:
https://www.parksandrecbusiness.com/articles/2019/7/barking-up-the-right-tree
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IN THE NEWS
Course Correction
Courtesy of Governing.com
By Liz Farmer
Municipal golf courses are struggling amid a national decline in the sport. Golf courses were part of a nationwide building boom in the 1990s and early 2000s as municipalities and developers invested in the sport, often linking them to new housing developments. But over the past 15 years, golfing participation has fallen by 20 percent, from 30 million in 2005 to 24 million today. Now, according to the National Golf Foundation, there are more municipal courses than ever—some 2,800 across the country—but they are serving far fewer golfers than they once did. As a result, course costs are cutting into city budgets. One-third of public golf courses don’t make enough to cover annual operations. That number goes up when taking into account other expenses, such as debt and employee retirement benefits.
The supply-and-demand economics have forced difficult conversations in cities about whether taxpayer money should support a recreational activity that appeals to fewer people than a generation ago, is expensive to maintain and takes up a lot of real estate. Over the past year alone, more than a half-dozen cities have closed public courses, and even more may follow suit.
Read more:
https://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-golf-courses.html
Burning Man gathering in Nevada desert poses challenges, opportunities for surrounding counties
Courtesy of NACo
By Charlie Ban
For a week, Pershing County, Nev. jumps up eight spots in total population for the Silver State. Up to 70,000 people will converge on the Black Rock Desert wilderness area starting Aug. 25 for Burning Man, the 33rd year of a gathering that involves the assembly and dismantling of an ersatz city on an expansive salt flat.
The event is held on a U.S. wilderness area, under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction, but its execution involves the three northwest Nevada counties that become hosts, service providers and transportation hubs for revelers.
Burning Man has been solely in Black Rock Desert since 1991 and has grown steadily from 250 attendees that year to more than 51,000 in 2010, up from 43,000 a year before. That coincided with a turning point in local attitudes toward the event.
Read more:
https://www.naco.org/articles/burning-man-gathering-nevada-desert-poses-challenges-opportunities-surrounding-counties
From trash to treasure: Years of work on Tuolumne River in Modesto have paid off
Courtesy of the Modesto Bee
By Deke Farrow
CALIFORNIA - Now in its sixth year, Operation 9-2-99 cleanups have cleared more than 400 tons of debris, Guptill said, including between 1,200 and 1,300 shopping carts and about the same number of tires.
The Dry Creek coalition has picked up about 250 tons, Jesberg said. And earlier this month, on the group’s Facebook page, he shared some welcome news: “For the first time in ten years of cleaning up the Dry Creek Regional Park trails, there is not enough work to justify hosting a cleanup event — that’s right, the trails are looking fantastic right now — due to your tireless efforts of picking up trash each visit.”
One of the larger goals of the groups' efforts is to bring thriving recreational activity to the waterways and adjacent rails, to prevent misuse.
Read more:
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article233345237.html
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TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
National Walking Summit
Courtesy of the Federal Lands Transportation Institute Training Newsletter
September 24, 2019 - Columbus, Ohio
The walking movement is changing- encountering opportunities one could not expect several years ago and which have increasingly influenced the work of the national walking movement. The national walking movement has always been informed by local work to create safer, more accessible, well-connected networks of mobility. There is no one-sized fits all solution--strategies that are employed to create safer walking environments must reflect the history, culture, and background of each community. With that in mind, America Walks has decided to embrace the opportunities brought on by these changes and redefine the 2019 National Walking Summit to focus on localized geographic-based convenings that will feature the unique characteristic of each place and will highlight the home-grown solutions and adaptations that are at work in communities.
For more information:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-national-walking-summit-places-for-people-tickets-62599700389
Registration Open for 2019 NOHVCC and INOHVAA Annual Conferences
Courtesy of National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council
October 15 to 19 - Reno, Nevada
You can expect great presentations, networking time and a lot of fun. These joint conferences bring together the best and brightest in the OHV community – including enthusiasts and land managers – and provide the perfect opportunity to gain and share insights on issues, hurdles and successes.
After preliminary activities on the 15th, the INOHVAA conference will begin sessions on the 16th, a mobile field workshop for attendees of both conferences on Thursday, October 17, joint INOHVAA/NOHVCC sessions on Friday, October 18 and, finally, the NOHVCC conference will conclude with sessions on Saturday and a banquet on Saturday evening.
For more information:
https://www.nohvcc.org/annual-conference-2019/
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JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS
Parks Division Manager
City of San Jose, California
Posted August 21, 2019. Closes September 13, 2019.
Parks Director
County of San Mateo, California
Posted August 21, 2019. Closes September 16, 2019.
Executive Director
Skokie Park District, Illinois
Posted July 18, 2019. Closes August 30, 2019.
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Director
City of Raleigh, North Carolina
Posted June 5, 2019. Open until filled.
For more information:
https://nacpro.memberclicks.net/jobs
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