Park Leaders Show : Park Ranger | National Park | State Park | Leadership

For several summers, with the help of a group of tremendous volunteers, I ran a summer concert series at a park I worked at. We delighted park visitors with between six and nine concerts each summer. Concerts are a great way to bring new visitors to the park, provide more to regular visitors, and bridge a connection between the park and the community. Hosting the concert series, I got to meet many great musicians. Often, they would eat dinner with my family and spend the night at our house. One musician, Dana Lyons, caught my attention because of his devotion to parks and wild places. Dana Lyons is best known for his song Cows With Guns, but his heart is found in songs with a message. In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Dana and I talk about how to put on a great concert in a park, but we also go much deeper than that. The song, Cows with Guns, was so popular, Dana is still best know today for the song. But it is a small piece of a large, beautiful body of work. How do you handle yourself, and your care

Jack Hartt is deliberate about the experience people have at Deception Pass State Park. He feels a park experience should feel "Park-Like". Most parks have trees and trails, but it is the experience of the park that brings people back year after year. In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Jack Hartt verbally walks us through a park and, area by area, explains what it takes to make a park look and feel like a park. Whether it is park entrance, restrooms, or park signs, Jack Hartt explains how parks that care can deliver an experience to delight park visitors. Jack Hartt is now on Twitter. Visit him here and say Hello. To learn more about Jack Hartt's background, listen to episode 6 of the Park Leaders Show. Jack is the author of five books, including A Day in the Park with Ranger Jack.

Jeff Goins returns to the Park Leaders Show to discuss his new book, The Art of Work. The Art of Work is a proven path to discovering what you were meant to do. It is about finding your calling and being who you were meant to be. The book is wonderful. In my opinion, the best work Jeff Goins has done so far. But I admit, I have a personal connection to this book. I was fortunate enough to have my story, the story of becoming a park ranger and then walking away to something else, is part of this book. In this interview, Jeff and I talk about how the story of a park ranger fit into the bigger story of a book about finding your calling. On the surface, you may think a story about becoming a park ranger is about finding a dream job and a calling. It is bigger than that. Being a park ranger is piece of a full life that led me towards work I was meant to do, including Park Leaders. The story is told beautifully by Jeff Goins and I want you to read it. Believe me, this is a great book. You don't want to miss the off

As a young leader, one of the best ways to build yourself is to learn from established leaders. Someone has already made the mistakes you are going to make, wrestled with the decisions you struggle with, and found the success you are looking for. Bob Krumenaker is one of those established leaders you should get to know.  Bob has over 30 years with the National Park Service and currently serves as the Superintendent of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Bob shares his path through the National Park Service and many of the lessons he has learned. Bob is one of the key members of the Association of National Park Rangers working on the 2016 World Ranger Congress, which will be in Estes Park, Colorado. Bob recently served a temporary assignment as the superintendent of Everglades National Park. He shares the challenges and opportunity of leaving your home park to serve at a different park on a temporary assignment. Temporary assignments can be a tremendous opportunity for

Outdoor recreation is not immune from the growing trend of technology. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all a part of recreation for many people. A new digital platform, Campstake, is focusing on the digital side of recreation. Brandon Painter, co-founder of Campstake, joins the Park Leaders Show to talk about how the digital side of outdoor recreation can benefit parks. If you are reading this in email, CLICK HERE to listen to this episode. The team at Campstake hosts one of the fastest growing Twitter Chats focused on outdoor recreation. #CampChat takes place every Tuesday at 9 PM EST. You can find out more about Campstake on their website, or by  visiting them on Twitter or Facebook. You can also contact Brandon Painter directly at brandon (at) campstake.com.

If you have ever worked a night shift in a park, you have experienced the beauty of night sky. Away from lights, campfires, and digital screens, a night sky is one of the true wonders of many parks. Not many people get to experience a truly wondrous night sky, but Chad Moore looks at night skies for a living. Chad is the Program Manager for the National Park Service Night Sky Team. Even if you are not with the National Park Service, the work of the Night Sky Team has great value for your park. Parks have an opportunity, perhaps even an obligation, to protect night skies. Chad and I will talk about his work with night skies, why the National Park Service has a night sky team, and how individual parks can improve their night skies. After talking with Chad I considered what have been my most memorable night skies. The two that come to mind are the overwhelming stars at Natural Bridges in Utah. With so many stars, a night sky is anything but dark. I also thought about the first time I saw the northern lights on a

A common theme from the People of Parks Project has been a frustration with communication between leadership, admin staff, and staff in the field. When I hear the same thing come up often I know we need to lean into it a little bit more. I know this isn't a problem I could properly address on my own, so I called in the help of some friends. Joining me for a special panel discussion episode of the Park Leaders Show are: Ray Bivens- Director of Delaware State Parks, Eric Watilo- Region Manager with Washington State Parks, and Sarah Milbourne-  Park Manager with Maryland State Parks. Each member of this panel was selected to give the panel three layers of park management to offer insight on how to improve communication. Ray, Eric, and Sarah have also been previous guests on the Park Leaders Show, so I understood they would each offer valuable ideas for you and your park. You can help shape future episodes of the Park Leaders Show by participating in the People of Parks Project. By answering a couple of short que

When I was young my father always had pigeons as pets. I spent plenty of time around his feathered friends. Perhaps that is where my interest in the passenger pigeon came from. I used to imagine what it must have been like to see the sky go dark when a flock of passenger pigeons flew overhead. When I saw Ben Novak's TEDx Talk about bringing the passenger pigeon back from extinction, I know I had to talk to him. Ben Novak grew up exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The connection he made with the park when he was young led to his current work to revive the passenger pigeon. Ben's story is a wonderful story about building a connection to parks. By exploring his favorite National Park he fell in love with what was around him. Consider the impact it may have twenty years from now when you help a kid connect to the park. Perhaps my favorite thing about Ben is that he chose himself to do this work. He raised his hand and declared he would be the one to devote his life to bringing a beautiful bird back to ou

Jeff Goins has made his living with the support of a tribe.  The loyal following to his popular blog led to a successful self published book, You Are a Writer. Now, Jeff is make a living as a writer. His success has come from building a tribe. Jeff even teaches other writers how to build a tribe in his course Tribe Writers. Jeff Goins joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss how a park can use the tribe concept to build a following of supporters. The idea of a tribe is essential a conversational way of marketing. It allows supporters of your park to be a part of the park, even when they are not at the park. Jeff has an unexpected connection to parks. As an 18 year old he had a summer job at a park in Illinois. He shares about his experience working in a park and the lessons he learned that have stuck with him to this day. Through his stories, he highlights how you can turn a simple task like "get me a spade" into a learning opportunity. You will enjoy these books by Jeff Goins: The In-Between and Wrecked. If yo

Park Rangers are great storytellers. Sean Smith, former National Park Ranger, used the storytelling gift to write a series of thrillers with a park ranger as the hero. In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Sean talks about how his time as a ranger led to writing Unleashing Colter's Hell and Lost Cause. Sean tells us why he wrote these stories, and where the inspiration for the main character came from. Sean also explains how to transition from being a good story teller to being a good writer. I would be delighted if more rangers wrote. Whether it be books, or blogs, it would be good to see more rangers writing. I know there are some great ranger books out there, and a few ranger blogs. But we need more. Although no longer a ranger, Sean is a strong supporter of parks and recently gave a TEDx talk about why we should protect national parks. This Ted talk is how I discovered Sean. You can connect with Sean on his blog, Twitter, or Facebook Do you have a favorite park ranger book, or ranger blog? If so, reac

Phil Gaines, Director of South Carolina State Parks, returns to the Park Leaders Show to follow up on his first interview. In this second interview, Phil talks about the Ultimate Outside program. The Ultimate Outsider program turns visitors into insiders by getting them into all 47 State Parks in South Carolina. Phil Gaines knows once people get out to explore parks, they will make a connection. It is through connections that parks remain relevant in the lives of the citizens of the state. When a citizen has a connection to a park, they will protect it, promote it, and continue to visit. Phil also offers advice on how to keep your focus and remember why you work in parks, when times are tough or you work with a park manager you do not get along with. Just like connecting visitors to our parks, you need to reconnect with the reason why you work for parks. Get outside, do more of the parts of the job you love. As Phil says, "If you get paid in sunsets, and you are not taking in those sunsets, you are not gettin

When I began my career as a park ranger at Riverside State Park, Jack Hartt would often tell me how lucky he was to the park manager. He convinced me Riverside was the best park in Washington State. I believed him. I followed his lead and proclaimed there was not a better park in the state. Then, Jack became the manager of Deception Pass State Park. He began preaching that Deception Pass was the best park in the state. I almost felt insulted. Riverside was the best park, clearly. And Jack Hartt could no longer be trusted, I thought. Now, after talking to Phil Gaines, I understand what happened. Phil Gaines is the Director of South Carolina State Parks. Phil believes your park is the most important park. Phil explains how you become connected to your park by living and working, surrounded by the beauty. You become passionate about what is around you and believe your park is indeed the most important park. Phil may serve as a Director, but his heart is still in the field. He visits each State Park in South Caro

When you think of City Parks, what comes to mind? I imagine you don't think of 29,000 acres and 5,000 individual properties in a single City Park System. That is how much property New York city Parks is responsible for. In an environment that makes me think of skyscrapers and concrete, NYC Parks account for 14% of the city. Managing that much property surrounded by so many people is no easy task. Sarah Aucoin, Director of Urban Rangers with NYC Parks Sarah Aucoin is the Director of Urban Rangers for NYC Parks. She is responsible for the team of rangers who patrol and protect the 29,000 acres of parks throughout the city. In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Sarah Aucoin discusses how she keeps her team unified with the challenge of having a big team spread out. Sarah also discusses how NYC Parks connects parks to citizens to foster an interest in nature. Urban parks and green space are important to generate interest in nature that will translate to care for bigger parks. Quite often, a connection to lo

December 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of John Muir. Muir passed away on December 24th, 1914. His last fight was to save the Hetch Hetchy valley. If you are not familiar with John Muir and the Hetch Hetchy Valley, I am going to spoil the story for you. The valley is under water. Flooded behind a dam to create a water reservoir for San Francisco. The Hetch Hetchy was reported to be as beautiful as Yosemite Valley. When speaking of Hetch Hetchy, John Muir said it was “a grand landscape garden. One of nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples.” Now, a century after the death of Jon Muir, the fight for Hetch Hetchy is going to come alive again. Robert Hanna is going to pick up the torch Muir carried to save the valley. Hanna reminds me of the water behind the dam. He is gentle, but can apply so much pressure he can move a mountain. Robert Hanna has shown once before what can happen when he applies pressure. California was going to solve budget problems by closing 70 state parks. Hanna ste

As a leader you have a responsibility to continue to get better. There is one area in particular though, where I think you need to improve and you may not have considered it. If you are a leader, you need to write great email. Email? Isn’t Park Leaders about parks? Yes, of course Park Leaders is about parks, but it is also about leadership. And if you are going to be a leader and have an impact, you need to get better at email. In fact, you need to write great email. Once you write great email, you are going to notice you are getting more done. You are going to notice you are getting better responses to the emails you send. And you are going to notice you do not need to spend as much time with email. It is easier than you think to write great email. You can write great email by focusing on three areas: Subject Line, Opening Sentence, and White Space. Subject Line: Consider the subject line as important as a headline for a newspaper. Inboxes get filled up quick. The first thing someone does when they open thei

Have you heard anyone suggest our country should bring back the Civilian Conservation Corps? I have. And I agree, it would be a good thing for our country. But the Conservation Corps never went away. It just looks different. Mary Ellen Sprenkel, President and CEO of The Corps Network, joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss the work of the Corps Programs. The Corps Network is the national voice and advocate for the Corps Programs across the country. In this episode, Mary Ellen explains the important work done by Corps Programs and the impact they have on youth. She also discusses the benefit of the projects done by the Corps. The Corps Network is the tie that holds the Corps Programs together from all the states together. The organization provides training, communication, and centralized leadership. They also offer an annual conference in Washington D.C. You can learn more about the conference here. If you are interested in the work of the original Civilian Conservation Corps, former Park Leaders Show guest, J

Park signs are an important piece of park management. Typically, a visitor interacts with signs more often than they do with park staff. The words on signs create an identity for the park. How many parks take the time to review signs to consider the identity they create through signs? For this episode, Mike Kim joins the Park Leaders Show to review park signs to talk about how to create great park signs. Mike Kim is a marketing consultant, professional copywriter, and brand strategist. He is also a Chief Marketing Officer for a multi-million dollar private company in the New York City area. In most parks, consideration is given to placement of signs and amount of signs, but how often do we consider the words we put on signs? Mike reviews three park signs and discuses, from a marketing perspective, the impact and perception of each signs. Along the way, he offers advice on how to create great signs. After reviewing park signs, we move to discuss other writing that can impact a park visitor. Mike also offers ti

This episode of the Park Leaders Show is a part two of sorts. My interview with Kelli English was so wonderful and long that I broke it into two parts. The first part of our conversation was about interpretation and storytelling. You can find it here. With the second half of our interview, Kelli talks about growing up in the south side of Chicago and how she ended up telling stories as an interpreter in Yellowstone National Park. She also discusses the different perspective she has being an African American interpreter. She is aware of the stories told in parks that can connect different communities to parks. Stories that are not mainstream can have a tremendous impact on the people who hear them. Communities of color are interested in hearing the same stories other visitors are interested in hearing, but they also want to hear stories about their history when it is present in the park. Kelli shares stories that may open your eyes to why parks have not always been open and welcoming to all people. Discriminat

Kelli English is the Chief of Interpretation for four National Park Units in the Bay Area of California, including John Muir National Historic Site. She has spent her career as a park ranger interpreting stories to park visitors. Now, she interprets to interpreters. She admits, even though her job leans towards administration, she still finds opportunities to tell a story to park visitors. Kelli grew up on the south side of Chicago and ended up telling stories in Yellowstone National Park. Her stellar interpretation earned accolades in 2005 when she was awarded the 2005 Outstanding New Interpreter award from the National Association of Interpretation. In this interview, Kelli discusses how to infuse your personality into the stories of your park and where to begin gathering stories if you are new to a park. Kelli also examines the differences in interpreting a wilderness park, like Yellowstone, compared to a historical park. It is through interpretation that we help visitors find a connection with the park. W

David Flores may not be who you would expect to pour his talent and research into outdoor recreation and conservation. Typically, someone who devotes their career to parks, recreation, or conservation grew up playing and exploring in the outdoors. David Flores did not recreation in parks and forests when he was a kid. Yet, he is now a research social scientist with the US Forest Service. How did that happen? As he graduated with a PHD, Flores was connected to the Forest Service through the Presidential Management Fellowship Program. Working for the Forest Service allowed David to continue to focus on research, and he found that appealing. Now, Flores realizes the power of spending time outdoors and the connection people have with the land. His research is focused on human dimension issues related to the land, such as urban planning, climate change, rural life, and ecological change. As part of his research, David meets people who make a living on the land and listens to their stories. In this interview, David