Monday, September 10, 2007

Hello State Parks!

As I sit on the plane returning from lovely and historic Williamsburg, VA and the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) conference, I’ve had an abundance of time to reflect on my experience mixing and mingling with State Park Directors for the past three days (due to several hours sitting on the tarmac in Chicago).

Leave No Trace and the NASPD have signed a new partnership agreement that identifies ways in which we can work together to bring the Leave No Trace message to millions of state park visitors across the nation. We signed this agreement at the conference this morning where I had the opportunity to speak in front of all of the attending State Park Directors (and other attendees which included many National Park Service folks).

The message that I stressed at the conference was that State Parks can and should play a significant role in bringing this critical program to new and diverse audiences. The time is right for this partnership. We have a tremendous opportunity before us and by working together, we can have a great impact on how people recreate on state park lands.

We have a number of state parks successfully using the Leave No Trace program in various ways including Maryland, Pennsylvania, Colorado and others. Our goal is to build on these programs and continue to create tailored messaging and outreach that meets the needs to each and every State Park across the nation. Stay tuned for more updates regarding this new and exciting partnership!

1 comment:

The Hurricane said...

Sounds great! Good for you! You're right though--people who visit the National and even State parks are so diverse,.. and some are still not aware of all that is going on, or what isn't going on, more so,.. and how their efforts could help even more! Thanks for this! And I gotta link this blog! :) Have a great day!