Park Leaders Show

On this episode of the Park Leaders Show, John Griffith shares the story of creating the Bioblitz Dance with the encouragement and support of Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro.

John explains the reason for the Bioblitz Dance and the steps of the Bioblitz Dance.

John Griffith challenges you and your park to do a Bioblitz Dance. If you do a Bioblitz Dance and let us know you are doing the dance because of the show, we will send you Park Leaders stickers for everyone who participates in the dance. You just have to let us know by letting us know on Facebook or include Bioblitz Dance and Park Leaders in the title of your video on YouTube.

You can find the Bioblitz Tutorial Here.

Fort McHenry National Monument is one of Steve Clark's favorite National Parks. It is not for the obvious reasons either. It is because of baseball.

Steve got his connection to the outdoors through baseball. Of course, the national anthem is sung before every baseball game. The Star Spangled Banner was birthed at Fort McHenry.

Steve's story is an example of how many people are connected to parks in different ways to different parks for different reasons. Now, Steve is the Superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, including the Flight 93 Memorial.

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Steve talks about his career in the National Park Service and the delicate balance of interpreting the story of Flight 93.

In recent episodes of the Park Leaders Show, both Alan Spears and Jon Jarvis mentioned the Greening Youth Foundation. When two people I respect both mention the same organization, I know I have to look deeper.

Angelou Ezeilo joins the Park Leaders Show to share her story and explain the work of Greening Youth Foundation. Greening Youth Foundation has had tremendous success engaging underrepresented youth and diverse youth to nature.

Greening Youth Foundation connects parks to diverse workers who are newly introduced to potential careers in conservation and outdoor recreation. Angelou points out that parks and organizations can longer say there are not diverse people interested in conservation and recreation jobs. Any park or organization can connect with Greening Youth Foundation to find candidates.

Alan Latourelle served as CEO of Parks Canada from 2002 to 2015. Alan joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss Parks Canada.

In this episode, Latourelle talks about his experience as CEO. He also discusses Parks Canada Centennial, the growth of Parks Canada, and getting more Canadian youth into parks.

We also explore the relationship between Parks Canada and First Nations. Indigenous people are 8% of Parks Canada staff and 12% of Parks Canada Executives.

Jon Jarvis, Director of the National Park Service, join the Park Leaders Show. Director Jarvis discusses his career, the National Parks Centennial, and the one thing National Parks offers you can find nowhere else.

I was at a conference with Director Jarvis, and we were able to sit down for a face to face interview. During our conversation, Jon outlines his career path with the National Park Service and some of his milestones along the way. We talk about the preparation and planning for the National Park Service Centennial. Director Jarvis also explains the sense of place parks add to history that can be found nowhere else.

Whether you work with the National Park Service or are a fan of parks, you do not want to miss this inside look at our National Park System.

Music for the Park Leaders Show is created by Jason Harrod.

Dawn Carr is the Executive Director of the Canadian Parks Council. The Canadian Parks Council is an organization that unites national and provincial parks all across the country.

Canadian Parks Council offers a Park System Leadership Course focused on developing excellent leaders in parks. Dawn offers that humility is the one common trait of leaders who participate in the Park Leadership Course.

I had the pleasure to meet Dawn in person at the Inspiring a New Generation Summit. In this episode Dawn discusses what Canada and the Canadian Parks Council is doing to connect youth to nature.

Episode 80 of the Park Leaders Show is ten random park related ideas. Individually, the ideas did not make a full episode. Collectively, the ideas create an episode of 10 ideas in 10 minutes (11 minutes, actually, but 10 in 10 sounds better).

I recently attended the Ranger Rendezvous and the Inspiring a New Generation Summit. Next on my list is the CA Parks Training Conference, where I will give two presentations and be part of a panel discussion.

If you would like Park Leaders founder, Jody Maberry, to speak to your organization or at your event, please reach out.

At the Ranger Rendezvous, I was reminded how important it is to belong to a Ranger Association. The Rendezvous is the annual conference for the Association of National Park Rangers. A Ranger Association will introduce you to other Rangers. And you never know who could be your next supervisor, co-worker, or potential employee.

Also at the Rendezvous, I met former Park Leader Show guests Bob Krumenaker and Cassius Cash. Anytime you have the opportunity to converse with a veteran park ranger; you should do it.

If you are a Park Manager, and there is turnover at your park, it is because of you. You don't listen. That is why people leave.

Visible tattoos on a park ranger are a bad idea. Tattoos should be concealed behind your uniform.

Performance reviews are not very useful. But what if people were held accountable for other staff members attaining goals? Wouldn't that promote the teamwork we are looking for?

If you are a Park Manager or Superintendent, one of the best things you can do for your agency is to invest in an up and comer. You don't need a formal mentorship program to help someone out.

The John Wayne Pioneer Trail is at risk. The state of Washington wants to give the trail to adjacent land owners. The threat to the trail is a prime example of why parks need to focus on diversity. If there were a diversity of voices from all backgrounds causing a ruckus, there would be no question about the future of the trail.

The Park Leaders Show is due for another panel episode. In the past, there have been panel episodes about Diversity and Communication. What should come next?

Forget about adding more policies and procedures. New policies may show exactly how you want things done, but it gets in the way of creativity and job satisfaction.

Want Park Leaders Stickers? You can get those here.

Alan Spears is the Cultural Resources Director for the National Parks Conservation Association. Alan Spears and I had the opportunity to sit down together and talk about cultural resources at the Ranger Rendezvous, the annual conference of the Association of National Park Rangers.

Alan got his start in the outdoors chasing frogs at Fort Dupont in Washington DC. Alan's presentation at the Ranger Rendezvous was about Urban Parks. His story shows the impact urban parks can have a child. And in this case, the child who played in nearby woods grew up to help the National Park Service protect and interpret cultural resources.

In this episode, we also talk about Harpers Ferry, Fort Monroe and the National Park Service's role in interpreting slavery as a root cause of the Civil War.

We also talk about why it is important for the National Park Service to tell stories that don't always have a storybook ending, like the Manhatten Project.

Alan reminds us; the National Park Service should be proud of the work they do and what they have collectively accomplished.

While discussing the challenge of enhancing cultural diversity in park staff and visitation, Alan mentions the Greening Youth Foundation as an example of an organization having an impact.

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Cam Sholly joins the Park Leaders Show to offer a look at the National Park Service from a Region perspective.

Cam is the Region Director for the Midwest Region of the National Park Service. In this episode, Cam explains how the Region offices offer support to parks throughout the region by putting Parks First.

Cam discusses his experience as a ranger in the field as a Chief Ranger and Park Superintendent and moving into positions in Washington DC and a Region office.

This episode will give you an understanding how the National Park Service operates from a Region level to a Park level. You will also gain insight on how a seasonal National Park Service can work towards a permanent position.

We also discuss the impact parks can have on local economies and how parks can work with community partners to protect and enhance a park while boosting local tourism.

Geocaching has been a popular outdoor activity for 15 years. It is in your park, or near your park. People will travel for miles to find a Geocache.

Now, GeoTours can help parks create a deliberate, curated experience for visitors. A GeoTour is a collection of geocaches that take people on a tour of a specific area. Each stop can highlight a natural feature, a historical fact, a cultural resource, and tell a story.

GeoTours have been used to highlight entire park systems, like this GeoTour with Kentucky State Parks, or an individual park, like this GeoTour at Mount Ranier.

The friendly folks at Geocaching will help your park create a GeoTour and even work with you to create a GeoTour passport so participants can keep track of their progress.

To find out more about GeoTour go here.

To get your hands on elusive Park Leaders stickers go here.