Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Minutes of 2019 Annual Meeting (May 20 and 22, 2020 via Zoom)

Attendees:

• Kelley Bricker - University of Utah
• Laura Brown - University of Connecticut
• Peter Butler - West Virginia University
• Peter Fix - University of Alaska, Fairbanks (chair);
• Rachel Garcia - University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Dorothy Ibes - College of William and Mary
• Shan Jiang - West Virginia University
• Lincoln Larsen – North Carolina State University
• Enette Larsen-Meyer - University of Wyoming
• Kristi Lekies - Ohio State University
• Stella Liu - South Dakota State University
• Eric Norlund - USDA - NIFA
• Don Rakow - Cornell University
• Sohyun Park - University of Connecticut
• Kathy Scholl - University of Northern Iowa
• Taylor Stein - University of Florida
• Keith Tidball – Cornell University
• Matthew Wilson - Administrative Representative

 Wednesday, May 20 2020 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST

2:00:      Welcome & meeting charge

• Note regarding information needed for annual report

2:05:      Introductions (note, we will need to keep < 1 minute, can extend past 2:15 if needed)

2:15:      Review of NE 1962 history and goals

2:30:      Individual presentations – presentations by researchers on work related to NE 1962 proposal

• Presentations were given by the following individuals:
  • Sohyun Park and Laura Brown, University of Connecticut, Experience with and Exposure to Trail Environments: Influences on Family and Community Resilience
  • Shan Jiang, West Virginia University, Playground Trees and the Impacts on Children's Play Behaviors
  • Don Rakow, Cornell University, and Dorothy Ibes, College of William and Mary, Barriers to Engagement with Parks and Nature Sites by Youth of Color
  • Peter Butler, West Virginia University, Community Development and Public Space in Rural West Virginia
  • Kristi Lekies, The Benefits of Nature: Understanding Impacts Across the Life Span and Among At-Risk Populations
  • Stella Liu, South Dakota State, Impacts of Nature-Based Recreation and Tourism in Rural Communities

4:00:      Wrap up. 

Friday, May 22 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST

1:00:      Continue with presentations

• Presentations were given by the following individuals:
  • Lincoln Larson, Park Use During Coronavirus
  • Peter Fix, Managing BLM Sites for Recreation
  • Kathy Scholl, Nature and Environmental Learning Centers’ Education Experiences During Covid-19

1:30:      Potential collaborative activities:

• Research related to Covid-19, parks, and green space
• Best park management practices/park managers’ survey
• State responses
• Benefits of outdoor recreation
• Impacts on public gardens and landscapes
• Rural tourism
• Connecting with federal agencies such as the Forest Service, National Park Service, and BLM
• Potential funding from
  • USDA-NIFA Planning Grant
  • USDA-AFRI Bioenergy
  • Natural Resources and Environment workshop awards
  • NSF Division of Behavioral Sciences
  • Relating our work to EFNEP program

2:05:      Wrap up

• Lincoln Larson and Sohyun Park will be co-chairs for the upcoming year

2:30:      Adjourn meeting

2:30:      “The Transformative Power of Parks” editors meeting to discuss strategy to finalize book

2018/19 Accomplishments (By Project Objective)

Objective 1: Demonstrate and expand the evidence for the role of park and outdoor recreation services in promoting

physical activity and associated preventative health benefits, particularly among youth, as well as constraints to this activity

• Don Rakow conducted a series of interviews with community youth leaders in cities in Upstate New York and Virginia focused on barriers to greater use of parks and other green spaces by young people of color in those metropolises. Using NVivo software, they have analyzed the transcripts of those interviews and arrived at a list of the primary barriers.
• Stella Liu completed a collaborative research project with South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks (SDGFP), titled “Public Survey reading South Dakota State Parks.” (July 2018-May 2019). The impact of the project is to emphasize the benefits of being outdoors and visiting state parks for enhancing quality of life but also to assist managers in developing more competitive marketing strategies to attract and recruit new park users. The final technical report was submitted which would be applied to assist the agency to further understand the public experience and behavior of using (or not using) state parks for outdoor recreation and health benefits in South Dakota.
• Shan Jiang conducted a study aimed to examine the impacts of trees and greenery of urban outdoor playgrounds on children’s play behaviors and outdoor play time in the United States. The findings highlighted the important roles of playgrounds’ design characteristics in shaping children’s play behaviors and called attention to the thermal comfort of children during play.
• Taylor Stein assisted in the long-term Florida National Scenic Trail Visitor Assessment and used its data to highlight the various ways FNST visitors found out about the Trail and the role of social and traditional marketing methods. Through presentations and workshops, accurate visitation data were provided to the US Forest Service to assist in managing use along the 1000 mile Florida National Scenic Trail. 
• Kristi Lekies began conducting a literature review of research articles documenting impacts of programs and interventions for at-risk youth such as wilderness therapy, equine therapy, and community gardens. Analysis for common themes is underway.
• Peter Fix developed a project to assess health benefits associated with greenspace in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, one of the fasted growing areas of Alaska. A key feature of the project is to identify non-users to assess their constraints, specifically if there are actions greenspace managers could take to increase the community-realized health benefits. Fix is also working with two graduate students to conduct meta-analysis on self-reported health outcome data from over 20 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recreation areas. The meta-analysis will provide insight into management actions that might increase the realization of health-related benefits. Fix initiated two projects to assess the self-perceived health benefits of recreation on BLM lands: one at the Logandale Trail in Nevada system and the other in Kingman, AZ.

Objective 2: Demonstrate and expand the evidence for the role of park and outdoor recreation services in promoting

environmental literacy among youth, and document the long-term influences of early lifespan connections with nature.

• Stella Liu worked on data collection. Interviewed South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks (e.g. Outdoor Campus) education programmers and outreach specialists to further understand the importance of outdoor recreation programs in urban communities and partnership and programming efforts for community needs. Applied ecological model to explain and further understand various social structures affect an individual’s behavior especially in the context of outdoor recreation. Preparing peer-reviewed publication with a graduate assistant. The impacts of the progress are to make connections with professionals and programmers in promoting outdoor recreation and investigate their current trends and challenges in partnership and program as well as the impacts of their service to the community for potential solutions and opportunities.
• Kristie Leikes worked on two projects related to this objective: Project 1: "Understanding Long-Term Participation in Youth Development Programs" examines impacts of participation in an outdoor adventure recreation program for urban youth. Data collection is currently ongoing and consists of interviews with adolescents as well as past participants now in their late 20's and early 30's. Topics cover connection to nature, comfort in outdoor settings, outdoor recreation activities, peer and adult relationships, and impacts of the program on education and career choices, mental and physical health, and environmental stewardship. Project 2: "Determining the Gaps in Youth Water Education in the North Central Region." A survey was conducted with Agricultural and Natural Resource Extension Educators and community partners about youth water education programs, barriers to programming, ages of youth served, and resources needed. The study was conducted in collaboration with Extension faculty and educators in the North Central region. Analysis has been completed and a journal article is under development.

Objective 3: Demonstrate and expand the evidence for the role of park and outdoor recreation services in promoting

community vibrancy and resilience.

• Stella Liu began preparing a research project proposal for NIFA grants (e.g. Rural Development or Environment and Natural Resources Economics program etc.). Seeking potential collaborators for future collaboration, including extension offices, interdisciplinary researchers, community partners, federal/state agencies etc.
• Taylor Stein found that there is a need to build the capacity for counties to use the Extension Service to expand their ecotourism capacity. Interviews with tourism professionals show that they have a desire to take advantage of the nature-based tourism market, but they have a naïve understanding of what that demand is and how to promote it. Although research for the ecotourism extension needs assessment ended in 2018. Products were continued to be provided to Pinellas County, which included an Ecotourism Extension Agent job description. Research for the TART Trails in northern Michigan also concluded in 2019. A final report is in progress, but three summaries of results and a presentation to northern Michigan stakeholders was conducted.
• The Fix research group completed a series of community focus groups in Amarillo, TX to assess the community’s vision for the transition of the Cross Bar ranch from helium storage to a recreation area.
• Fix initiated two projects to assess community stakeholders (e.g., local residents, business owners, elected officials) perceptions of how Bureau of Land Management Lands contribute to community resilience and vibrancy: one project is in Logandale, Nevada and the other in the Kingman, AZ area.
• The Butler research group created transdisciplinary teams in planning and design projects primarily focused on communities on the Monongahela National Forest. The group worked with community stakeholders, the US National Forest Service to support the One USDA. Butler also worked with the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority and the National Coal Heritage Area.

Training, professional development, and information dissemination

Objective 1: Preventive health benefits

• Scholl, K. (October, 2018). Restoring one’s Capacity to Process Information with Nature Exposure. Invited Panelist for the University of Iowa Business Leadership Network: Building and Retaining a Productive Workforce. Iowa Lakes Community College. Spirit Lake, IA.
• Graduate student R. Bryant Wright finalized his thesis related to a meta-analysis of visitors’ self-reported health benefits at over 20 Bureau of Land Management recreation areas.
• Peter Fix provided input to the Bureau of Land Management with regards to developing training workshops related to Outcomes Focused Management (OFM). OFM seeks to identify outcomes desired by recreationists, including health benefits, and select management actions that enhance visitors’ ability to attain those outcomes.

Objective 2: Environmental literacy and connections with nature

• Hura, V., & Lekies, K. (2019, October). Developing urban youth through outdoor adventure recreation.  Poster presentation at the My Brothers Keeper Ohio Statewide Convening, Columbus, OH.
• O’Farrell, P.**, & Liu, H.-L. (April 2019). Outdoor education partnership in urban communities: A case study in South Dakota. The 2019 National Environment and Recreation Research Symposium, Annapolis, MD.

Objective 3: Community vibrancy and resilience

• Peter Fix provided input to the Bureau of Land Management with regards to developing training sessions related to Outcomes Focused Management (OFM). OFM seeks to identify outcomes desired by the community, e.g., local residents, the business sector, elected officials, and select management actions that enhance those outcomes.
• Butler, P. M. I., Arbogast, D. W., Eades, D. C., Faulkes, E., Dougherty, M. J. (2018). Transdisciplinary Participative Approach to Tourism and Community Planning (pp. 271). CELA 2018 Transforming the Discussion. http://cela.lar.vt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Volume-1_Abstracts.pdf
• Butler, P. M. I. (Author & Presenter), Arbogast, D. W. (Author), Faulkes, E. (Author), Engaged Scholarship Consortium, "Trans-disciplinary Collaborations and Partnerships in Rural Development-Communities of the Monongahela National Forest," ESC, Denver, CO, USA. (October 8, 2019).
• Liu, H.-L. & Benz, E.* (February 2019). We serve the public: South Dakota Statewide Outdoor Recreation Providers. The 2019 Academy of Leisure Sciences, Greenville, SC.
• Xu & Liu (October 18, 2018). The impacts of community tourism development through special event. 2018 South Dakota Parks and Recreation Association Conference. Brookings, SD.
• Stein’s project resulted in a variety of publications and presentations made to the Florida National Scenic Trail Coalition. These training and professional development initiatives resulted in helping managers alter the way they manage their outdoor recreation sites. Research to better understand how the Extension Service shows that extension agents need to learn the fundamentals of ecotourism business development and how to build partnerships with related stakeholders. A presentation at an IFAS IST was made in December, and more workshops will continue. The FNST Coalition continues to look to expand the users of the trail, so we will continue to use our research through training and professional development workshops to provide them with valid and reliable use data to market and promote.  The Florida National Scenic Trail Coalition was the most effective dissemination of results for research related to the FNST. However, results are also presented in conferences and symposia to managers in Florida, throughout the US and World. Meetings with Aquatic Preserve managers and presentations to stakeholders in Michigan regarding the benefits of recreational trails have also been effective means to disseminate research to communities of interest.

Objective 1: preventive health benefits

• Scholl, K., & Betrabet-Gulwadi, G. (2018). Connecting Ecotherapy and Well-being. In Leal Filho W., Wall T., Azul A., Brandli L., Ozuyar P. (eds) Good Health and Well-being. Encyclopedia of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_74-1
• Scholl, K. & Betrabet-Gulwadi, G. (2018). College Campus Landscapes within a Learning Ecosystem. Planning for Higher Education Journal, 46 (2), 1-15.
• Maghlakelidze, M., Jiang, S., Song, Y., & Li, D. (Accepted). Playground trees’ impacts on children’s play behaviors and well-being. Landscape Architecture Journal.
• Bryant Wright, M.S., 2019. Title of thesis: Planning for positive outcomes: Testing methods for measuring outdoor recreation preferences on public lands. Unpublished Masters’ Thesis, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
• Liu, H.-L., Mehlhaf, J. & Gray. J. (2019). Public perceptions of parks and recreation services. Journal of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism in Public Health, 3, 17-26.

 Objective 2: environmental literacy and connections with nature

 n/a

 Objective 3: Community vibrancy and resilience

• Casey, T. T., Garcia, R. A., & Fix, P. J. (2019). Amarillo, TX BLM Field Office Outcomes-Focused Management (OFM) Recreation Focus Group Study, 2018. Project report for the BLM Amarillo Field Office. BLM PLRRP Report #9. Grand Junction, Colorado: Colorado Mesa University, Natural Resource Center, Department of Social and Behavioral Science.
• Lopez Gutierrez, B.; Almeyda Zambrano, A.M.; Mulder, G.; Ols, C.; Dirzo, R.; Almeyda Zambrano, S.L; Quispe Gil, C.A.; Cruz Diaz, J.C.; Alvarez, D.; Valdelomar Leon, V.; Vallareal, E.; Sanchez Espinosa, A.; Quiros, A. Stein, T.V.; Lewis, K.; and Broadbent, E.N. 2019. Ecotourism: The ‘human shield’ for wildlife conservation in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. Journal of Ecotourism, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2019.1686006.
• Paudyal, R.; Stein, T.V., Birenddra, KC; and Adams, D.C. Effects of weather factors on recreation participation in humid subtropical region: A time series model. Submitted to International Journal of Biometeorology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-019-01715-z
• Fedler, T.; Stein, T.V. and Prince, F. 2019. Estimating Recreational Use of Florida’s Aquatic Preserves. Final Report. School of Forest Resources and Conservation. University of Florida. Gainesville, FL. 23 pp.
• Eades, D. C., Butler, P. M. I., Arbogast, D. W., Faulkes, E. (2019). Transdisciplinary University Engagement for Sustainable Tourism Planning. Innovative and Promising Practices in Sustainable Tourism (vol. 1, pp. 38-57). Nanaimo, BC: Vancouver Island University Press. https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/16675
• Liu, H.-L. & O’Farrell, P. (2019). Comparison analysis: State park use and demographics. South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks, Pierre, SD.
• Liu, H.-L., Foss, K. & O’Farrell, P. (2018). Public Survey reading South Dakota State Parks. South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks, Pierre, SD.