November 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 27

put from partners across the region. During the most
recent South Atlantic Conservation Blueprint revision,
we added a new cultural resource indicator to
highlight areas where highly socially vulnerable communities
(tinyurl.com/3rbsv5sa) would benefit from
the development of a new park.
This equitable access to potential parks indicator was
inspired by data from the Duke Nicholas Institute that
shows where people across the Southeast lack park access
within a 0.5-mile, 5-mile and 10-mile radius. Its
analysis found that across the Southeastern United
States, about 40.5 million people live more than a 0.5
mile from a park. That lack of access can be tied to
many injustices beyond lack of recreation space. Parks
and public green spaces provide myriad ecosystem
services - such as reducing heat islands and energy
burdens, reducing risk of flooding, and improving air
quality - and also have been linked to improvements
in physical and mental health.
Through our collaborative review process, our staff
convened a group of experts to determine the best
way to incorporate the Duke data into the 2021 South
Atlantic Conservation Blueprint. In an attempt to
apply the data more equitably across the landscape,
we prioritized park access within census blocks that
are within the 90th percentile of social vulnerability,
according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). Social
vulnerability refers to the potential negative effects on
communities caused by external stresses on human
health. Such stresses include natural or human-caused
disasters, or disease outbreaks. The SVI incorporates
a range of demographic data to determine an overall
vulnerability score. In our first version of this indicator,
we applied the Duke data to the highly socially
vulnerable communities to emphasize the importance
of developing parks in these areas.
While we recognize that the first version of this
indicator is far from perfect, our staff is excited to
think more intersectionally about the way we do
conservation in the Southeast and already plan to
expand this indicator to the wider Southeast Conservation
Blueprint in 2022. The SECAS vision is a
connected network of lands and waters that supports
thriving fish and wildlife populations and improved
quality of life for people. We believe a collaborative,
landscape-scale approach is our best chance to make
that vision a reality.
We believe a collaborative, landscapescale
approach is our best chance to
make that vision a reality.
Share Feedback
To learn more about the Atlantic Conservation Blueprint
and the Southeast Conservation Blueprint and to access
the data, please visit our website at secassoutheast.org.
If you're interested in using a blueprint for an upcoming
grant proposal, planning effort or project, please feel
free to reach out to me directly at alexandria_lamle@
fws.gov. And, if you find that the blueprint doesn't meet
your needs, please share that as well - that crucial
feedback drives improvements to the blueprint, so we
can collectively design and achieve a conservation future
that truly benefits all.
Alex Lamle is Blueprint User Support Specialist for Southeast
Conservation Adaptation Strategy (alexandria_lamle@fws.gov).
21_2110_ParksnRec_NOV Mod: September 20, 2021 5:29 PM
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November 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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