July 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 8

P E R S P E C T I V E S A M E S S A G E F R O M N R PA' S L E A D E R S

Sally Jewell's Top Four Park Priorities
In June, I joined a select group of chief executives from national conservation and recreation organizations for a meeting with Sally Jewell, our nation's 51st Secretary of the Interior. I found her to be refreshingly candid about her challenges and her enthusiasm about
working with NRPA. She is totally committed to many of our most important priorities.
First, she is a big believer in the Land and Water Conservation Fund - specifically the
LWCF State Assistance Program. She had just returned from England and marveled
about their pocket parks. She recognizes that people must have easy access to their local
parks in order to connect with the environment. She is particularly committed to engaging urban communities and wants to develop innovative solutions to their conservation
challenges. Given this recognition of the importance of community parks, we hope she
will champion efforts to provide more resources at the state and local levels.
Second, she is concerned that we are not engaging youth where they live and
in ways that are meaningful to them. She fears, as we do, that we will quickly
lose touch not just with this generation, but coming generations as well, and
there will be no future stewards of our natural resources and public lands. She
was very interested in NRPA's partnership with National Wildlife Federation to
connect 10 million kids to nature and the outdoors.
Perhaps most importantly for us, she believes strongly in data-driven solutions to
complex issues. As CEO of REI, she was the driving force behind the Outdoor Industry Association's research on the economic impacts of outdoor recreation. The
highly respected OIA economic analysis reports are frequently cited by elected officials,
including members of Congress. She expressed great interest in PRORAGIS and its ability
to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning the value of parks and recreation. It's
clear that she will have to rely on NRPA for this data, and it's imperative that we deliver.
Finally, the key conviction that she expressed was her belief that many people have moved
away from an understanding that parks and public lands are an essential part of the common good. Her belief was unshakable that these lands and waters - from local to state to
national - are part of an irreplaceable public trust. While she keenly recognizes the role
that philanthropic contributions and private capital play, she believes the private sector
cannot and will not provide all that is needed to keep and maintain public lands.
Sally Jewell is off to a very good start as Secretary of the Interior, and I wish her well. I hope
to have many more conversations with her about her priorities and ours, and how we can
mutually achieve our goals. I'll bring you updates of our collective progress.

BAR BAR A T ULIPAN E, C AE
President & CEO
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July 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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