Tag: StateParks

When Ron Walker was first offered the job of National Park Service (NPS) Director in 1973, he turned it down.

A former chief advance man to President Nixon, Walker had traveled across the country and around the globe, making sure everything was in place before a presidential visit. He had no experience with national parks and wasn’t sure why he was offered the role.

He was told to sleep on it before making a final decision. As he talked the opportunity over with his family, he recalled his time in the military, which taught him that you don’t say “no” to the President of the United States.

He accepted the job the next morning.

Over the next two years, Walker guided the NPS through a tumultuous time that saw 14 new park areas added to its mandate, including the first two national preserves.

According to Phil Gaines, professor of practice at Clemson University and retired director of South Carolina’s state parks, Walker is a legend in the parks and conservation field for several reasons.

“Ron Walker is one of the best examples of leading under fire that you can find,” Gaines said. “He’s also known for identifying and then developing staff from throughout the NPS system that had the potential to become great leaders.”

The Ron Walker Leadership Development program at Clemson University is designed in a similar way. The program brings together new and emerging leaders from state and national parks to strengthen their critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Participants spend four days at Clemson University, working as a group to discuss challenging park management issues and how to use research to inform their decision-making process.

Clemson faculty at the Institute for Parks developed the program to build transformative and effective leaders that are ready to fill leadership roles that are becoming vacant at unprecedented rates in parks systems across the country due to an aging workforce.

The United States Office of Personnel Management’s strategic plan estimates that 30 percent of the federal workforce reached retirement age in 2018. The Department of the Interior (which houses the National Park Service) is planning for 33.6 percent of their staff to reach retirement age by 2023.

Many of those starting to look towards retirement are in leadership positions, creating a possible leadership vacuum for the National Park Service.

The leadership development program is intended to fill those gaps, says Bob Powell, director of the Institute for Parks.

“Parks are facing increasingly complex challenges, and up-and-coming leaders need a wide range of skills to develop sustainable solutions,” Powell said. “When a participant leaves this program, we want them to return to their host park ready to apply approaches they’ve learned to challenges they’re currently facing and prepare for issues they are likely to face in the future.”

The first group of park leaders completed the leadership development program in October and are already seeing an impact on how they approach key issues on the job.

Priscilla Geigis, deputy commissioner for conservation and resource stewardship at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, says that the program discussions have helped her look at issues a different way.

“I now want to find opportunities to use technology more regularly to gather information to help make informed decisions,” Geigis said. “I also want to collaborate with universities to not only see issues with a different lens but to also back up decisions with credible research.”

Matt Whitlow, an Outdoor Recreation Planner with the National Park Service, said that he found the discussions with researchers and practitioners in the parks field beneficial.

“Being immersed in multiple days of conversations with researchers and practitioners representing multiple levels of government agencies and learning how research is being conducted in different parks and park settings was one of the greatest benefits of the program,” Whitlow said.

Since completing the program, Whitlow has been reviewing and interpreting the laws, regulations and policies associated with his core responsibilities to ensure the work he does is rooted in both fidelity to the law and serves the long-term public interest.

Planning is currently underway for the second class of park leaders, who will attend the program at Clemson University in October 2020.

Geigis says one of the most valuable lessons she took away from the week was the need for park leaders to navigate change in a way that ensures parks can stay relevant while maintaining the park system’s core values.

“Being part of a rich legacy of park professionals is an honor, privilege and responsibility,” Geigis said. “I was impressed to meet with key leaders in the profession and hear them share their stories and offer advice about both navigating challenges and recognizing and seizing opportunities.”

Dr. Ryan Sharp, associate professor in the park management and conservation program at Kansas State University, was recently honored with the Benton H. Box Award by the Clemson University Institute for Parks in recognition of his academic and instructional leadership in the environmental field.

The institute presents the annual awards program, which is named for George B. Hartzog Jr., the seventh director of the National Park Service, to showcase leading figures in the field of conservation. Specific awards were named after visionary leaders that Hartzog respected and admired. Award recipients are following in Hartzog’s footsteps by making significant contributions to the management of parks and preservation of our natural, historical, and cultural heritage.

The Benton H. Box Award recognizes academic professionals that exemplify Dr. Box’s distinguished career as an educator and administrator. Dr. Sharp shared this year’s award with Stephen C. Trombulak, Professor Emeritus of biology and biosphere studies at Middlebury College, for leadership in preserving our natural environment and inspiring in students the quest for knowledge and the development of an environmental ethic.

Matt Brownlee, associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at Clemson University, presented the award to Dr. Sharp at a ceremony on October 22. According to Dr. Brownlee, Dr. Sharp’s focus on finding solutions to complicated and multi-faceted management research problems in American parks, coupled with his ability to connect with park managers, is unmatched.

“I’ve had the great privilege of collaborating on a number of different research endeavors with Dr. Sharp, working in parks from Alaska to Georgia,” he says. “His ability to translate complicated academic theory and research approaches into pragmatic solutions is unrivalled in the research community.”

Dr. Sharp obtained his PhD in natural resources, recreation & tourism from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, his M.Ed. from Georgia College in outdoor recreation, and a BS in education from the State University of New York at Cortland. He was also part of the inaugural group of fellows for the George Wright Society’s Park Break program (now offered as a partnership between the Society and Institute for Parks), which brings a diverse set of graduate students to national parks for a week-long service-based learning experience. He’s since become an active champion for the program, helping to plan, fund, and administer severalpark break excursions. He was also designated an Institute for Parks scholar in April 2019 in recognition of his long history of working in park science.

Throughout his teaching career, Dr. Sharp has always found ways to get his students out into the field, to provide hands-on experiences and opportunities to connect with park professionals. He also includes a service component in his field courses, in hopes of instilling the value of contributing to their communities. Dr. Sharp’s students at Kansas State University have participated in projects across the U.S., such as Grand Canyon National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, and Cumberland Island National Seashore.

“Ryan needs parks and, respectfully, parks need Ryan,” continues Brownlee. “We are lucky to have him in this world.”

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The Clemson University Institute for Parks (CUIP) provides research, education, training, and outreach that enhances the management of the world’s parks and protected areas. It accomplishes this by providing park and protected area managers with innovative research to support science-based decision-making; and by developing current and future leaders in the park movement by providing interdisciplinary and transformative education and training programs. The Institute currently consists of 35 Fellows and 8 Scholars, including Dr. Sharp, working on park-related research.

Visit the CUIP website for more information about the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Environmental Awards program and its recipients.

Research on First Day Hike Participants Examines Hiker Motivations

Kristen Grissom enjoys the peacefulness that comes with long walks in remote places. An avid hiker, she can often be found on the trails several days a week after work and on weekends.

“I enjoy the freedom of it and the feeling of satisfaction after spending a day in the woods and conquering a difficult trail,” Kristen says. “My family does not enjoy hiking though, so I go on my own or with friends, if possible.”

Kristen is among 45 million Americans aged six and older that went hiking last year, with per capita participation increasing steadily over the past decade. Day hiking is consistently ranked as one of the most popular recreation activities in the United States for adults and children, making it an important marketing and management consideration for local, state, and national parks. However, although we know people enjoy the act of hiking, we know less about why they choose to hike, particularly among different sociodemographic groups.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and Clemson University recently conducted a research project to find out who hikes, why, and how those motivations might vary among different groups of people. Results were recently published in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration.

“Most of the research we have seen to date has focused on the environmental impacts of hikers and visitor use management along trails,” says Sarah Wilcer, interpretive park ranger at Grand Teton National Park, who led this research project while earning her master’s degree at Clemson University. “Few studies have focused specifically on the motivations of hikers – what gets them out, how they decide where to go, and who they prefer to hike with, even though these are important resource management and marketing considerations for park leaders.”

The study focused on First Day Hikes on January 1, 2016, in three state park systems that were among the top 10 in terms of the total number of first day hikers in 2016: Georgia, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. Before they started their hike, adult park visitors were asked to complete a questionnaire that asked if it was their first hike or first experience at a park site, the size of their group and who they were with, and why they chose that specific hike. Respondents were also asked to provide their zip code to gauge the distance travelled to the park.

In all, the study sampled a total of 114 first day hikes, with group sizes ranging from 2 people to more than 300 participants on the most crowded hikes, and about two-thirds of the hikes taken were classified as “easy” by hike leaders. About 60% of respondents were participants on their first-ever First Day Hike, though almost all of them had already been on other hiking experiences. The majority of respondents also identified as Caucasian and were highly educated.

Overall findings demonstrated that different groups of people do, in fact, hike for different reasons. First time hikers, for example, were more likely to hike to try something new, while older participants were more likely to hike for exercise. Groups with children wanted to spend time together. The most popular reason, however, was to enjoy time in nature.

Other motivations included the uniqueness of the day and hike location. For example, female hikers were more likely than male hikers to be motivated to hike by the First Day Hike event, and close hikes were also preferred destinations for those coming to celebrate the New Year. Hikers choosing moderate or strenuous hikes further from home, however, were more likely to be motivated by trying something new.

“Our results show that different groups of hikers are seeking different types of recreation experiences, which provides valuable insight to park managers creating trails or marketing opportunities,” says Lincoln Larson, Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University. “If managers know who is using their trails and how far they are traveling to reach them, they can influence use patterns or create new trails with hikers’ needs in mind.”

The group is considering future research to build on the study results. “The study’s findings demonstrate that park managers can market and manage day hikes as a way to improve health, strengthen social bonds, connect with nature, and learn and experience new things in novel settings, but there’s much more we can learn about underrepresented groups,” said Jeff Hallo, Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator for Clemson University’s Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management department. “This research serves as a base we can build on to explore and contrast motivations of other groups, including those who may not have been on a hike yet, but would consider it.” Faculty at Clemson University are currently seeking graduate students – both in their online and on-campus M.S. and Ph.D. programs – to study and explore these topics and other current issues in park management.