What Happened?
This past May, the Bohemia Ecological Preserve just west of Santa Rosa, California, officially opened, offering local residents and tourists with an outdoor preserve experience not run by a government agency.
Unlike many other parks throughout the state, Bohemia Ecological Preserve is not operated by the California Department of Parks and Recreation or other governmental entity. Instead, the LandPaths nonprofit organization maintains the Sonoma County park, and several others countywide, providing visitors with guided tours, volunteer stewardship opportunities and seasonal events.
Why You Should Care
In light of the recent economic downturn, many local government budgets have been slashed leaving public parks with minimal resources and support. LandPaths, and other like-minded organizations, are stepping in to fill in service gaps and offer expertise to keep parks nationwide open and operational to the public.
The “people-powered” parks are designed to thrive under harsh economic conditions, with nonprofit volunteers maintaining the preserves at significantly lower costs than what states pay to support the land. Many local governments are turning to LandPaths and similar volunteer groups to take over park preservation until budgetary restrictions subside and more funding is available for outdoor projects.
How it Works
The goal of the “people-powered” parks is to encourage citizen volunteers to take a hands-on approach in experiencing and enjoying the natural beauty of their communities through stewardship and donations. LandPaths hosts public outings that bring volunteers into open spaces, farms and parks-in-development to rebuild resources.
The land has often been neglected due to insufficient funds, but can be replenished through nonprofit partnerships. Volunteers can participate in a number of stewardship programs such as non-native plant species removal, repairing old logging and ranch roads, and planting native plants to rebuild a damaged ecosystem.
LandPaths also offers the In Our Own Backyard program that collaborates with 17 schools to bring students face-to-face with the outdoors for educational exploration. The program offers themed field trips to introduce low-income or urban-based students to aspects of nature they do not have access to in their local community.
Future Moves
The City Parks Alliance is currently working with other nonprofit parks preservation groups to make long-term policy changes on the promotion and support of outdoor spaces in communities nationwide. The alliance encourages federal and state lawmakers to integrate urban parks into public policies on urban renewal, public land investment, economic development and healthy communities.
The alliance is working with municipalities to:
- Frame urban park preservation as vital to the sustainability of community infrastructure
- Create tax incentives for all nontraditional funding of parks to encourage support
- Integrate parks into policy debates regarding public health to encourage active lifestyles
Research
According to a study from the Project for Public Spaces, well-maintained open spaces are a vital component to urban development. Outsourcing developmental projects can enable continued growth without dipping into city budgets. Municipalities and local officials unable to support public spaces should consider working with nonprofit organizations to develop a preservation strategy to maintain the integrity of community land through nontraditional stewardship projects.