Leadership is not for the faint hearted. It’s easy to get voted off the island if you don’t constantly up your game. Leading doesn’t end with your direct reports, you must also be aware of the hearts and minds of the greater community that you serve. The leaders of our parks deserve more kudos than they receive. Their impact is far reaching including: environmental education and connection, leisure and recreation, community resilience, and civic engagement. These leaders are tasked:

• Increase environmental awareness

• Encourage environmental behavior

• Provide wildlife habitat and ecosystem services

• Provide access to nature

• Provide places for children to learn

• Provide a place for retreat, restoration, and relaxation

• Provide a place for physical exercise

• Provide a safe place for outdoor recreation

• Contribute to the local economy

• Develop a sense of pride in the local community

• Make the community a more beautiful place

• Bring together people from different races and ethnicities

• Provide a place for community to gather

• Link people to political action

I recently attended two conferences, the Association of Nature Center Administrators’ Summit (ANCA) and the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD) conference on leadership in our state and local parks. At ANCA they reported the results of a recent survey.

Survey Says

98% of parks said they need to raise their funds from new sources, government funding isn’t going to cut it going forward.

77% said the Executive Director’s role has changed, they now need to be more entrepreneurial and leave a legacy.

77% said the park has to have an active role in the community.

76% said parks need to create authentic experiences, things like citizen science are good avenues.

57% said the target audience has changed to more adults and families and less to school programs.

These changes require leaders of our parks to change their skill sets and strategies. The increased need to fundraise requires more education staff to achieve fiscal success at their parks. Diverse skill sets are required. The recent recession will continue to impact strategic planning as they need to be better prepared for the next one. Emerging leaders need to be more tech-focused, incorporate climate change into their programming, collaborate more with other non-profits, expand programming beyond schools, and create authentic experiences in their programming. In order to be relevant in their communities they need to lead the way in:

• Conservation and restoration

• Education and advocacy

• Collaboration and partnerships

• Reflecting our community

These leaders also need to know how to communicate with their boards. They have to build relationships with their board, gain commitments, communicate consistently, and train and provide job descriptions. A park leader also has to teach environmental literacy. They have to create strategy and the drive the activities to achieve their goals.

At NASPD I heard survey results on what visitors are demanding of our parks. The top three things visitors want is:

1. Clean bathrooms

2. Good signs

3. Effective maps

With the average American spending ten hours a day in front of a screen, our parks are a key to our health and well-being. People desire blue skies and fresh air. Luckily spending on leisure travel is up, but these travelers are demanding, and they expect amenities. Nature-based travel offers our parks an alternate revenue stream if they can keep up with the demand (which includes technology). The highest spenders on leisure travel are the Chinese. Leaders have to think globally.

I am grateful to those of you that lead our parks. You are passionate about what you do, that is evident in the heavy shoes you fill. You are aware, knowledgeable, have great attitudes, and understand collective action. You remind me of one of my favorite speeches by Theodore Roosevelt – The Man in the Arena. Thank you for your great enthusiasms!