The Ferguson Group Blog

The Future of National Parks

Now here’s an idea worth repeating: educate future adults about some of the things the federal government makes possible in American life.  The National Park Service (NPS) is doing just that.  The agency recently launched a state-of-the-art education initiative just for kids. NPS has created a web portal where teachers can search for lesson plans and plan for field trips.  To really grab their student’s attention, teachers can now use the latest distance technology learning programs to enable their students to interact, in real time, with park rangers in world class national parks thousands of miles away.  Students can directly ask the park rangers questions and see the nation’s great parks in a way that makes them feel like they are there.  This program seems destined to nurture a future generation of adults with an increased level of appreciation for our great American park system.    

 

Click here to see the NPS website for teachers.

Park Directors, Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!

It’s on...

Parks and Rec Directors, you know how difficult it can be to find resources to make your parks the best they can be.  Well, Coca Cola’s Take it to the Park grant program opened this month with the “America’s Favorite Park” grant.  Designed to motivate up to 3 million Americans to their local parks and beaches this summer, this program will make awards of $100,000, $50,000 and $25,000 to the 3 parks with the most votes. 

Voters can get 1 vote for naming their favorite park, 5 votes per day for checking in at their favorite park online and up to 20 votes per day by logging in 20 minutes through the Map my Fitness app. 

Add this link to your local website now, and maybe you will be America’s Next Favorite Park.

 

Is My Park Better Than Your Park?

After packing up bikes, sandwiches, drinks, a picnic blanket, a football, a frisbee, and my kids, I headed out to our neighborhood park over the weekend.  While it’s inevitably fun to be outside with family and friends within my own community, I’ve often wondered to myself, “what are other people like me, in other communities, availing themselves of in other parts of the country?”  Well, if you’ve ever had that thought – wonder no more! 

As part of the “fun” of this weekend’s outing, I brought some reading material, and came across a highly informative survey put together by the National Trust for Public Lands that I found worth sharing.    The TPL compiled an interactive list entitled Park Score, in which it rated the nation’s 50 largest cities and their park systems.  The survey is so interactive that I was able to directly compare park systems in the cities of my choice, and even explore the geography of each city as it related to parks.  I would highly recommend this tool to anyone seeking to build upon their own park system, or of course for those looking to locate to a city with a robust park system. 

It was not lost on me that most of our nation’s most popular cities to live, work and play in are also those found on the list, proving once again the link between a healthy park system and a healthy local economy.  For those interested in the survey, visit Park Score.   

America is Your Park

On June 6, Coca-Cola will kick-off its America Is Your Park program, which awards hundreds of thousands of dollars in recreation grants.  Park and recreation agencies will not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Coca-Cola will provide a preview of the program, prior to the official launch, during a 30-minute webinar and Q&A session on Wednesday, May 22 at 12 p.m. ET. The webinar will cover ways you and your community can get involved this year. Visit this site to register for the webinar and then to attend the webinar on Wednesday, simply use the same link, enter your email address and press “log-in."

Oak Ridge, TN Sees Progress on Two Fronts

The City of Oak Ridge was the focus of congressional hearings in the House and Senate on May 16th. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) and Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) presided over a hearing of the House Nuclear Clean Up Caucus featuring representatives from the U.S. Department of Energy and a major Department of Energy Contractor (UCOR).  They discussed the status of the clean up efforts related to the World War II nuclear weapons program and high-level energy research and development programs in Oak Ridge.  Much progress has been made because of the Recovery Act.  Additional work remains and the schedule for clean up, remediation, and deindustrialization is being adjusted because of the sequester.  

In the Senate, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee considered and approved S. 507, legislation that would authorize the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a bill sponsored by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).  The park will commemorate and celebrate the role that Oak Ridge, TN, Los Alamos, NM, and Hanford WA played in World War II.  Clean up of the nuclear weapons process will expedite the City's work in expanding its industrial and commercial base and further solidify the region as a national center of advanced energy research and production and advanced manufacturing techniques.  The Manhattan Project legislation will support tourism and recreation, attracting visitors from around the world.  Several WWII workers still live in Oak Ridge and enacting this legislation will enable the U.S. Parks Service to incorporate their stories into the work of the park.  

 

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Senate Passes Online Sales Tax Bill; House to Decide Its Fate

Now that the Senate has passed the Marketplace Fairness Act (MFA), the bill is on its way to the House, where it could face some tough criticism.   Read More…

Bill Invests in Next Generation

This week the American Dream Accounts Act will make its way back to the Senate.  The bill aims to authorize money to encourage the development of an online platform that can be used to provide underprivileged students with a savings account capability and college readiness tools.  Read More…

Immigration Bill Confronts Hundreds of Amendments

On Thursday May 9^th, the controversial immigration bill will make its way to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it is set to confront some 300 amendments filed by both Democrats and Republicans.  Supporters hope the bill can withstand the approaching storm, and have faith that the Gang of Eight will do everything they can to get the bill passed.  Read More…

Debate Begins on Vitter’s Water Resources Bill

This week the Senate began debate on the newest Water Resources Development Act, a bill which has not been passed since 1997.  The Administration, environmental groups, and congressional appropriators all have criticisms about the current wording of the bill, but agree the country is in need of a water infrastructure bill.  Read More…

Lawmakers Plan to Start Drafting Farm Bill Next Week

After three years of work, the Senate Agriculture Committee will finally begin drafting the new farm bill next week; estimated to cost $500 billion.  The House unofficially plans to start writing its version of the bill on May 15.  The farm bill will cover spending for things ranging from food stamps to global food aid and biofuel development.  Read More…

Studying Bike Crashes Can Help to Minimize Them

A recent article in The Atlantic Cities highlights a new study conducted by the City of Minneapolis.  The study was a “comprehensive crash analysis” of bikes.  It looked through approximately 3,000 bike accidents involving cars between the years 2000 and 2010.  The three main factors that led to bike crashes were lack of infrastructure, driver awareness, and rider behavior. Bicyclists played a role in 59 percent of recorded bike and car collisions.  Bicyclists were most likely to fail to yield and disregard a traffic signal.  Drivers contributed to 64 percent of accidents.  (The numbers add to a number greater than a hundred percent because there are accidents where both the driver and the bicyclist are at fault.)  Drivers were most likely to fail to yield or to be distracted while driving.

These accidents show that there is a need to improve bicycling infrastructure in cities.  Dedicated bike lanes can lower bike related injuries by half.  Even more impressive is that protected bike lanes (bike lanes that are physically separated by a divider from the street) can lower injury risks by 90 percent.  Minneapolis intends to improve its bicycle infrastructure.  It plans to add 183 miles of bikeway soon and to bring all of the city’s residents within a half mile of a bike lane by 2020.  Adding bicycle infrastructure has another benefit—it makes bicycling safer by encouraging more riders.  From 2000 to 2010, though the number of trips on bicycles increased, the number of accidents stayed constant.  Proper urban bicycle infrastructure can make all the difference in the safety of a city’s bicyclists.

CPR for our Parks

Congress may be in recess, but we’re continuing to seek cosponsors for the Community Parks Revitalization Act (CPR) (S. 3583) introduced by Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC), which is a companion measure to the Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act (URLC) (H.R. 709), introduced by Representative Albio Sires (D-NJ). Once enacted into law,  the bill will authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide matching grant funding to local park and recreation agencies, including special park districts, through three grant programs:

 

• Rehabilitation and Construction grants consisting of matching capital grants to rebuild, remodel, expand, or develop existing or new recreational areas or facilities.
•  Innovation and Recreation Program grants consisting of matching grants to cover the costs of delivering innovative recreation programs or services, with a particular focus on increasing access to recreation opportunities for returning veterans, military families, and at-risk youth.
• Recovery Action Program grants consisting of matching grants to cover the costs of developing plans for sustaining projects that received funding through this legislation.

 

Because the introduction of this bill comes at the close of the legislative session it is unlikely to pass in the current session, but cosponsors now are important for building support needed when the legislation is re-introduced in 113^th Congress. Please contact your U.S. Senators to request that they cosponsor S. 3583 or contact TFG for assistance.

And, knowing of your interest in parks, you won’t want to miss this blog post from Stacey Pine, Vice President of Government Affairs at the National Recreation and Park Association.  Stacey does a great job of explaining how the Affordable Care Act impacts park and recreation programs that depend on seasonal workers for success.

 

Parks take Center Stage in Primetime and on the Hill

Last Thursday, September 20, @parksandrecnbc tweets were all buzzing about the season premiere. In the episode main character Leslie Knobe made her first trip to Washington as a newly-elected member of the City Council to advocate for a Department of Interior grant for her hometown park project. Between the show continuously referring to “Leslie” and talking about federal support for parks and recreation to the familiar locations filmed and the “inside the beltway” humor, it was almost spooky for me. Coincidently, however, that same day U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) introduced a bill, the Community Parks Revitalization Act (S. 3583), which would provide matching, federal competitive grants, to be implemented by HUD, to local parks and recreation agencies for the construction of new, and to rehabilitate existing, outdoor and indoor recreational resources in metropolitan areas. It also allows for planning and programming aimed at improving the delivery of recreation services, increasing access for military families and disabled veterans, and engaging at-risk youth. And, there is a waiver at the Secretary’s discretion for a percentage to be awarded to areas not in MSAs, so rural communities are included. Follow these links to the Senator’s announcement and a copy of the bill.

CPR Act: A Lifesaver for Our Parks

This month U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) plans to introduce legislation, entitled the Community Parks Revitalization (CPR) Act, that would provide matching, federal competitive grants through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to local parks and recreation agencies for the construction of new, and to rehabilitate existing, outdoor and indoor recreational resources in metropolitan areas. It also allows for planning and programming aimed at improving the delivery of recreation services, increasing access for military families and disabled veterans, and engaging at-risk youth. There is a waiver at the Secretary’s discretion for a percentage to be awarded to areas not in MSAs, so rural communities are included. The bill simply gives the Secretary authority to use discretionary dollars for these purposes, so there is no budget impact. The CPR Act is a tool for helping to build stronger communities, create jobs, enhance a state’s economy, protect the health and well-being of the public,  conserve natural resources, and contribute to a higher quality of life for hard-working Americans and their families.

Senator Hagan’s office is seeking original cosponsors. Please contact your U.S. Senators amd ask that they sign on. You may also contact me directly at [email protected] or 202-255-5760, or your TFG client manager, for assistance.