April 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 53

The Conservation Imperative
PRORAGIS data reveals park conservation trends
By Bill Beckner

h e pa r k s and recreation movement
is historically linked to the playgrounds
and settlement houses of the late 1800s.
Child labor, immigration, crowded urban conditions,
and other social ills resulted in efforts by Joseph Lee,
Jane Addams, and others to improve the lives and
health of children. There was a growing recognition of park spaces as a value to adults, children, and
families due to the interaction with nature and the
healthy atmosphere. In the early 1900s, led by the
example of President Theodore Roosevelt, a lifelong
champion of the value and healthful benefits of vigorous activity, many cities began the process of planning for parks in their communities.
So, while park and recreation professionals rightly
point to the value of the services provided, it is also
true that the places where those services occur are of
critical importance. Throughout the 1900s, American
parks evolved from being primarily Continental designs of landscapes, vegetation, and natural features
into spaces dominated by athletic fields and courts,
swimming pools, campgrounds, and lakes with boating opportunities. The pendulum, however, has begun to swing back: Recent land acquisition and park
design emphasizes retention of open spaces for passive activities, and even conservation sites featuring
habitat management.
Today, municipalities, counties, special districts,
and state parks manage and maintain over 20 million
acres of land. State parks, with over 14 million acres,
dominate both the acreage and the open space/
conservation acreage. Yet the estimated 12,000 local park and recreation providers in the U.S. manage

and maintain over 6.0 million acres. Of that acreage,
34.5 percent, or just over 2.0 million acres, are classified and managed as either open space (51.8 percent), conservation/managed habitat (43.3 percent),
or preservation reserves (4.9 percent). Of perhaps
greater significance, these 6.0 million acres are spread
out so as to be accessible to over 80 percent of the
national population. Thus, this mix of a three-vector
strategy appears ready to survive well into this century. Park and recreation departments will continue
to be expected to provide recreation programming,
facility operations, and land management-including open space, conservation, and preservation lands.
Obviously, continued growth of recreation program
participation levels will keep programming demand
healthy, despite the need in some areas to distribute
service provision to partners and individual entrepreneurs. Similarly, the uptick in participation in sports
and related individual activities will maintain demand
for the development of new active facility parks.
What is driving the demand for open space and
conservation lands? Even in this time of economic constraints, bond referendums, specific levies for
open-space management, local land trust easements,
and other related programs are continuing to support
land conservation.
At the turn of the 20th century, society's realization
that the " frontier " was disappearing led to designation of national monuments, as well as game management areas and forests. In modern urban America,
residents have been faced with infill developments
that alter natural areas for residential or commercial
development. Even when lands are privately owned,

residents, accustomed to its natural character, object
to its development. Unless the local government is
willing to buy the property at market costs, the residents lose their " open space " and seek other sources
as replacement.
One of those potential replacement locations in
some urban areas are the brownfields or former
industrial lands that have been environmentally
cleaned and can now be used for renovation including replanting and management as an open space. A
newer program called " redfields " is derived from the
purchase and demolition of neighborhood residential
housing that sells for reduced rates due to property
foreclosure. These entire areas are subject to renovation and redevelopment, including the addition of
parks and open spaces where none existed before.
Finally, in many communities, strategies for walkable
communities and related designs are resulting in built
environments with a smaller footprint and the inclusion of open space and conservation lands in strategic
proximity to the residential and commercial spaces,
coupled with the green storm water runoff practices.
It is clear from the PRORAGIS national data above
that departments that attain credibility in their communities as providers and managers of parks, recreation,
open space, and conservation lands will be increasingly
important assets-enriching their communities' social,
economic, and environmental sustainability.

Park Acres

Undeveloped Lands

Local Park Acres Maintained

State
14%

Local
6%

National
80%

Conservation
43%

Preservation
5%

Open Space
52%

Bill Beckner is NRPA Research

Manager and the lead organizer of
PRORAGIS-Parks & Recreation Operating
Ratio and GIS. www.nrpa.org/proragis.

Undeveloped
35%

w w w . N R P A . O R G A P R I L 2 0 1 2 Parks

Developed
65%

& Recreation

April 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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