June 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 12

PUBLISHER'S LET TER
PRESIDENT AND CEO

Changing Gears for the Trail Ahead

Barbara Tulipane, CAE

The month of June marks the traditional start of summer and begins the busiest time of the
year for active recreation, vacation travel and all manner of outdoor pursuits in parks. And
make no mistake - outdoor recreation is critical to America's economic and physical health.

Gina Mullins-Cohen

This month's issue profiles one of the hardiest forms of outdoor recreation: mountain
biking. The popularity of mountain biking in parks is growing by leaps and bounds, and
so are the real and potential conflicts between mountain bikers and public land managers.
Senior Editor Danielle Taylor digs into where the tires meet the trail in her story about the
causes of conflicts and the creative solutions that park
managers, trail builders and mountain-biking volunteers have devised to enable this high-energy form of
recreation to coexist with other types of park uses in
an environmentally responsible manner.
NRPA's renewed focus on urban parks was the catalyst for an exciting roundtable titled " The Role of
Parks in Shaping Successful Cities, " recently hosted
by NRPA and the American Planning Association
(APA). Planning and parks directors from nine major cities gave team presentations and were joined by
invited guests from national urban interest organizations in a day of discussions on three topic areas of
focus, introduced by national expert keynote speakers: 1) the role of parks in stimulating economic development and revitalization, 2) the role of parks in planning for health outcomes and 3)
the role of parks in providing green infrastructure solutions to stormwater management.
Award-winning blogger and author Dena Levitz gives an overview of the presentations,
roundtable discussions and key takeaways from the day in her recap starting on page 54.
This roundtable served as the kickoff of a larger urban parks campaign to be launched by
APA and NRPA. Parks & Recreation Magazine will track the progress of this initiative and
provide cutting-edge information to NRPA members.
June also marks a number of national special events promoting outdoor recreation, including Great Outdoors Month, National Trails Day (June 7), the Great American Backyard
Campout (June 28) and other events - all leading into July's Parks and Recreation Month.
And remember, during Parks and Recreation Month and all summer long, " Out is In! "

GINA MULLINS-COHEN
Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Publishing

Parks & Recreation

| J U N E 2 0 1 4 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING,
COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLISHING
gcohen@nrpa.org
SENIOR EDITOR

Danielle Taylor
dtaylor@nrpa.org
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Samantha Bartram
sbartram@nrpa.org
PUBLICATION DESIGN

Creative By Design
www.creativebydesign.net
SENIOR MANAGER OF
ADVERTISING

Dana Storm
703.858.2174
dstorm@nrpa.org
(ISSN 0031-2215) is published monthly
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June 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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