NACPRO News

July 7, 2026

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OC Parks, California  - Parks with Purpose Brings Nature into the Classroom

OC Parks' Parks with Purpose program is helping bridge the "nature gap" by bringing outdoor education directly into fourth-grade classrooms at no cost. Designed for students in underserved communities, the free 10-week curriculum combines hands-on activities, interactive videos, and classroom materials to introduce topics such as archaeology, paleontology, California history, geology, watersheds, conservation, and pollution.

Aligned with California's fourth-grade learning standards, the program makes it easy for teachers to incorporate environmental education into the school day while fostering an appreciation for parks and responsible stewardship. Each participating classroom receives a complete kit with all lesson materials, engaging video content featuring OC Parks staff, and branded items for students, making it a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the natural world.

Tap into our collective experience. Send your question to [email protected] with some background and we will include it in the next NACPRO News.

Simplify waiver signing, even seconds before your program starts
Courtesy of Jotform

Collecting liability waivers for community programs can be a logistical headache. Paper forms get lost. Parents forget. Sifting through paper records in an emergency wastes precious time.

With Jotform's waiver forms, you can

• Let participants or guardians sign waivers online or at a kiosk on site
• Send automated reminders to minimize day-of drama
• Store completed waivers securely in the cloud for easy retrieval
• Quickly digitize an existing paper form or adapt a ready-made template.

Try Jotform's free recreation waiver forms: https://link.jotform.com/zrb2oINFjO

Growing the Great Rivers Greenway
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business +

MISSOURI - Each segment of the Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) in metro St. Louis, Mo., holds a story. Established via a public vote in November 2000 and funded through a sales tax levied across St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County, growing the Greenway is a cooperative endeavor among 100+ municipalities and institutions. In any given budget year, the organization advances 25-30 projects in the listening, planning, design, and construction phases.

“The greenways do a really good job of letting you ‘make a day of it,’” Klues says. “Instead of just going to a destination, you might be more likely to happen upon a shop or find that hole-in-the-wall restaurant. When those things are all threaded together, you explore your city differently than you might otherwise.”

Learn more:
https://content.prbplus.com/prb-july-2026?ref=prbplus.com#page12

Existential Infrastructure
Courtesy of Parks and Recreation Business +

By Clement Lau

CALIFORNIA - Extreme heat is one of the most immediate and unequal climate risks facing Los Angeles County. The County’s Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) has shown that communities most exposed to extreme heat are often those with limited tree canopy, fewer parks, and a higher concentration of heat-absorbing surfaces. These same communities frequently lack access to safe, welcoming places to cool down. As temperatures rise and heat waves become more frequent, the need for practical, place-based solutions has become increasingly urgent.

The LA County Heat Action Plan (CHAP), responds to this challenge with a coordinated framework focused on three goals: cooling outdoor spaces, creating heat-resilient indoor environments, and expanding heat-safety communications and programs. While the plan spans multiple sectors, parks and recreation systems are deeply embedded in its strategies and actions. Importantly, the CHAP builds on a broader foundation of county efforts, including the Community Forest Management Plan, the Parks Needs Assessment, Parks Needs Assessment Plus, and the Our County Sustainability Plan, which together help guide where and how investments are made.

Learn more:
https://content.prbplus.com/prb-july-2026?ref=prbplus.com#page28

The American for Park and Recreation Foundation Scholarships Open on July 1, 2026 for all four NRPA Schools

The American Parks & Recreation Foundation (Foundation), philanthropic partner of the American Academy for Park & Recreation Administration (Academy), is sponsoring two (2) scholarships to cover the tuition for two (2) first-year students to attend the National Recreation & Park Association’s Supervisors Management School, Revenue Development & Management School, Directors School, and Park and Recreation Maintenance Management School. (total of eight scholarships)

The scholarship for Directors School is the “Pottsie” Leadership Development Scholarship, which honors the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration’s former Executive Director, John C. Potts.

Nominations for all four schools close July 31, 2026.

Application process:https://aapra.org/Foundation/Foundation-Scholarships

Apply:  https://aapra.submittable.com/submit

Questions? E-mail: [email protected]

Learn more about the NRPA schools at:  https://learning.nrpa.org/

More Living Shorelines Could Come to States Bordering Chesapeake Bay
Courtesy of Inside Climate News

By Avril Silva

Virginia and several of its neighbors are looking to invest federal dollars in living shoreline development. A living shoreline is a method of shoreline stabilization using natural materials like plants, sand and even oyster shells to protect against erosion. Outside of acting as a barrier against storm surges by storing floodwater, living shorelines can also attract wildlife to the area, filter runoff and act as carbon sinks, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Living shorelines are not designed to replace stormwater management systems and will not be able to prevent flooding on their own, but they “can at least store some of that stormwater, coastal flooding water, coming in and slow some of the waves coming in,” said Donna Bilkovic, the assistant director of the Center for Coastal Resources Management at the College of William & Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The institute has been designing living shoreline projects in Virginia for nearly four decades.

Learn more:
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01072026/chesapeake-bay-living-shoreline-projects/

Dangerous by Design
Courtesy of Smart Growth America

After decades of preventable deaths, insufficient policy change, and broken promises, our streets are still dangerous by design. Dangerous by Design 2026 ranks all 50 states and the largest 101 metro areas by pedestrian fatality rates. Every one of them is too dangerous for people walking.

For a sobering look at how the rankings compare overall, note that the first time we ranked metro areas in the 2009 version of Dangerous by Design, no metro area had a pedestrian fatality rate higher than 3.52. This year’s top 14 most dangerous metro areas have a higher rate than that and the top fatality rate of 5.5 in Memphis, TN is far more deadly than that now.

Learn more:
https://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/signature-reports/dangerous-by-design/

NACo County Grassroots Advocacy Hub

NACo has launched a new County Grassroots Advocacy Hub — a one-stop destination for county leaders to access tools, resources and action alerts to effectively engage in federal advocacy. Use the hub to find template letters, track NACo's priority campaigns and mobilize your community around the issues that matter most to counties.

Learn more:
https://www.naco.org/page/county-grassroots-advocacy-hub

NRPA Agency Performance Review

Recognizing the wants and needs of the residents they serve, park and recreation professionals are keenly aware of the necessary balance between providing vital services and working within the confines of budgetary restrictions. Maintaining accurate knowledge of current assets and planning for future needs are critical for every park and recreation agency. To assist individual agencies in evaluating their programs and making critical decisions that will benefit their communities, NRPA collects annual nationwide data on characteristics of agencies, including types of programs offered, size of population served, budget and staffing.

Learn more:
https://www.nrpa.org/publications-research/research-papers/agency-performance-review/

2026 Greater & Greener Experiences from Austin, TX
Courtesy of City Parks Alliance

In addition to dozens of interactive workshops and tours throughout the city, attendees heard from noteworthy speakers, including Eric Klinenberg and Maryam Banikarim at our Keynote; Norma García-Gonzalez, Heather Lubov, and Daniel Rice at our Plenary; and Mayors Kirk Watson of Austin, Mattie Parker of Fort Worth, and Knox White of Greenville, SC at our Mayors Forum.

Watch:
https://cityparksalliance.org/greater-greener/past-conferences/greater-greener-2026-austin-texas/

Interior Releases First-Ever Interagency Recreation Visitation Report and Announces Nationwide Pilot Projects to Improve Recreation-Use Modeling
Courtesy of SORP

The Department of the Interior today announced the release of the Interagency Recreation Visitation Data Report, the first unified compilation of recreation visitation estimates across all federal land and water management agencies, as directed by the EXPLORE Act. The landmark report provides a comprehensive, standardized view of how millions of people experience outdoor recreation across hundreds of millions of acres of federally managed public lands and waters.

Learn more:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-releases-first-ever-interagency-recreation-visitation-report-and-announces

Trust for Public Land Highlights the Role of Parks in Telling the Full American Story

With the United States approaching its 250th birthday celebrations, Trust for Public Land (TPL) released a report and national poll that underscore the important role of parks and public land in shaping community identity, preserving history and fostering national pride.

“At a moment when our country faces division, parks and public lands remain a unifying force—places where people and communities come together, history is remembered and our shared story is made tangible,” said Dr. Carrie Besnette Hauser, the president and CEO of TPL. “As we reflect on America’s 250th anniversary, these spaces remind us of who we are and who we can become.”

The new polling also reflects a growing public desire for parks to do more in telling community stories. Three in four Americans say they want expanded interpretation—such as signage, events and interactive experiences—that bring local history and culture to life.

Read more:
https://recmanagement.com/articles/155904/trust-public-land-highlights-role-parks-telling-full-american-story

Annual ‘Best Bike City’ Rankings Yields Small Town Surprises
Courtesy of Streetsblog

By Ren Zaro Fitzgerald

Three communities this year achieved a perfect score, each with less than 2,500 residents. Car-free Mackinac Island, Mich.; Old Orchard, Penn.; and Crested Butte, Col. all earned a maximum score of 100. Big cities struggle to implement basic bike infrastructure, but these tiny jurisdictions are showing what’s possible.

A total 555 jurisdictions have bike networks suitable for everyday riders, indicated by a score of 50 or higher. That number more than doubles last year’s count of 234.

Learn more:
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2026/06/26/annual-best-bike-city-rankings-yields-small-town-surprises

Congress begins reauthorization process for Great American Outdoors Act
Courtesy of NACo

By Zeke Lee and Andrew Nober

Congress starts reauthorization process for bills for program to address federal deferred maintenance. On June 24, the House Natural Resources Committee advanced legislation to reauthorize the Great American Outdoors Act (P.L. 116-52). After amendments, the legislation mirrors the bill approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 17. Bipartisan, bicameral legislation to extend authorization for the Legacy Restoration Fund now awaits a vote before both chambers of Congress. Among other changes, the legislation would codify surcharges for foreign visitors to National Park System units that already charge visitor fees.

Learn more:
https://www.naco.org/news/congress-begins-reauthorization-process-great-american-outdoors-act

Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Technical Assistance
Courtesy of City Parks Alliance

Wednesday, July 22 from 1:00-2:00 pm ET - OPEN TO ALL

Build a strong application for Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) grant funding. Bring more parks and recreational spaces to communities in your city that need it most with funding from the ORLP federal grant program.

We are pleased to partner with the National Park Service, National Recreation and Park Association, and National League of Cities to present this webinar designed to help you prepare a strong, competitive application.

Learn more:
https://cityparksalliancenpc.my.site.com/s/event/a0ba60000035NVJAA2/outdoor-recreation-legacy-partnership-orlp-grant-technical-assistance

Explore our CPSI CEU-Eligible Sessions
Courtesy of PlayCore

PlayCore is proud to support CPSI professionals with CEU-eligible sessions that meet NRPA's updated recertification requirements. Taught by Playground Maintenance, Risk, and Safety Subject Matter Experts, our courses align with the required core competencies. Gain a deeper understanding of how accessible site amenities contribute to inclusive outdoor spaces, along with practical insights for planning, design, and implementation.

• Free with code COMMUNITY
• 0.8 total CEUs
• On-Demand Sessions, On Your Schedule!

Learn more:
https://education.playcore.com/cpsi

2027 Park and Recreation Maintenance Management School
Courtesy of NRPA

January 24-29, 2027 – Wheeling, WV

Registration is now open for the 2027 Park and Recreation Maintenance Management School. This two-year professional development program equips park and recreation maintenance professionals with practical skills in leadership, financial management, safety, maintenance planning, contract management, athletic field maintenance and more. Connect with peers from across the country while gaining tools you can immediately apply to your agency. Scholarships available.

Learn more:
https://learning.nrpa.org/MMS

NEW - Assistant Director of Parks
Town of Addison, Texas
$106,061 - $159,091 Annually
Application Deadline: Jul 20, 2026

Director of Park Planning
MetroParks of Butler County
Hamilton, Ohio
$79,050 - $94,860 Annually
Application Deadline: Aug 3, 2026

Business Operations Division Manager
Sarasota County Government
Sarasota, Florida
$84,822 - $105,000 Annually
Application Deadline: Open until filled

For more information:
https://nacpro.mcjobboard.net/jobs

Got a vacancy to fill?
NACPRO will post your vacancy on our website and email a copy to our mailing list of over 1100 parks and recreation professionals for a fee of $125 for NACPRO members and $250 for non-members.