May 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 6

P E RSP EC TIVES

a Message from nrPa's Leaders

If You Want to Go Far

don't know about you, but on occasion I fi nd myself feeling stuck in the " stuff " that surrounds me. Especially at the end of winter, a little bit of the blues can set in. At those times it's good to get shots of others'
enthusiasm-and to catch the energy of colleagues who are excited about a shared mission.

During the month of March and the first
week of April, I had the good fortune to
travel to Houston, Texas; Long Beach, California; Washington, D.C.-and, finally, New
Orleans.
In Texas and California I toured parks
and visited with the leadership of the Texas Recreation and Park Association and the
California Recreation and Park Society.
Both states are key to the future of American parks. Both have growing, diverse
populations. And both are navigating
enormous-and well-publicized-budget
challenges.
Such great challenges, in fact, that you
might expect the leaders of those organizations to show signs of stress or flagging optimism. Not so. Texas and California have
dynamic, enthusiastic leaders-people
who are meeting the daunting challenges
head-on, and making a difference in their
communities.
We talked about NRPA, about what the
Association is doing, and about what we
can do to help. I mentioned our new Premier
Agency membership model. If you haven't
heard details about it yet, you soon will. With
the Premier Package you will be able to sign
up all of your full-time employees for all the
benefits of NRPA, offering them full access
to continuing education webinars, the online
edition of Parks & Recreation, and numerous
discounts on products and services.
This new membership package comes
as a direct response to your requests and

feedback-especially your concerns that
younger professionals entering the field
be included. We heard you, and we acted.
We talked about advocacy. We have
been examining or messaging carefully,
and we will continue to tell the story-and
assert the value-of parks and rec. And as
long as I'm on the subject of NRPA's advocacy efforts, I have a question for you. Have
you completed your PRORAGIS profi le online so that your agency's data can be a part
of the first-ever national database for parks
and public lands? We have great plans for
that data. It will provide the foundation upon
which NRPA can create specific, numbersbased, messages about the impact of parks
in our nation. Not to mention the value of the
many social services you provide and the
millions of acres you steward.
In each of my conversations I came away
feeling positive and excited about our future.
I heard nothing but optimism about how we
can accomplish our mission, together.
My next stop was Washington, D.C.,
where the NRPA Legislative Forum was
held during the last week of March. (Six
years I have gone to D.C.-and not once
have I seen the cherry blossoms!)
I was involved in conversations with two
departments that we have not previously
had relationships with: the Department of
Justice and the Environmental Protection
Agency. Both saw the value of partnering with parks and rec. Both were excited
about the possibilities. And both invited us

Bob Johnson
Chair of the Board of Directors
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Parks & Recreation M A Y

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to continue the conversations.
I was part of the Kansas delegation led
by our executive director, Doug Vance. I
thought our message was well delivered
and, for the first time, well received.
I left Washington excited. We are making progress on the Hill; our voice is being
heard. In fact, our CEO Barbara Tulipane
was invited to testify before a Congressional committee in regard to the Land and
Water Conservation Fund. Kudos to Barbara and our Public Policy staff. Job well done!
March was busy, but I really enjoyed my
travels and the people I spent time with. I
enjoyed hearing about the issues, challenges, and successes agencies are having.
My second best experience was with
John Keisler of Long Beach, California. John
picked me up at the airport. He is a young,
energetic man. He told me of growing up in
parks and recreation. He told me about the
needs his community faced. He told me that
Long Beach Parks, Recreation, and Marina
was looking at its 10th straight budget cut.
Then John looked at me, smiled, and said,
" ...I think our best years are ahead of us. "
I have ended my remarks recently with
an old African saying: " If you want to go fast,
go alone. If you want to go far, go together. "
After a month on the road, I, like John,
believe that, if we face our challenges together, our best is yet to come.
P.S. My best experience? New Orleans
for the Final Four, with my wife, daughter,
and a lot of Jayhawk fans.

May 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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