What's New

Conference Registration and Housing Now Open
Now is the time to book your hotel and to register for the California & Pacific Southwest Recreation & Park Training Conference, March 3-6, 2009 in Santa Clara, California. Click on the Conference link above to see all the details on the annual conference.

Looking for new insights into creating community?  Need to check out the latest data on childrens' health?  Check out the November version of trendSCAN.

California State Parks - Office of Grants and Local Services - Releases Draft Guidelines for Prop 84 Grants
With the passage of AB 31, California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services (OGALS), is holding nine public hearings throughout California in December 2008 to gather comments on the development of user-friendly guidelines that meet the program's legislative intent (Assembly Bill 31 (DeLeon) Chaper 623. Statues of 2008). The ninepublic meetings will be held at:  Sacramento - Dec. 4th; Redding - Dec. 5th; Bakersfield - Dec. 9th; Los Angeles - Dec. 10th; Rancho Cucamonga - Dec. 11th; Solana Beach - Dec. 12th; Oakland - Dec. 16th; Salinas - Dec. 17th; and Fresno - Dec. 18th. Click here for specific locations and meeting times. There is no cost to attend the public hearings and RSVPs are not required. Copy of the draft guidelines and applications are now availalbe on the State Parks website, www.parks.ca.gov/grants .

NRPA Funding Opportunity: ACHIEVE Healthy Communities Demonstration Sites
During the week of December 1, 2008, NRPA will invite public park and recreation agencies to submit applications to become an ACHIEVE Healthy Communities demonstration site. NRPA, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), plans to award $30,000 each to 10 public park and recreation agencies to:

1. Build or strengthen a local coalition of community stakeholders/partners
2. Develop a community action plan to address chronic disease risk factors such as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use at the policy, systems, and environmental change levels.

Applicants will be asked to submit an application, a proposal addressing the criteria for selection, and three letters of support from community partners. Applications will be due Friday January 9, 2009. Click here for more information.

Budget Cut Ideas From Across The Nation Offered By NRPA
During the October 2008 NRPA Congress & Exposition, the buzz in the air centered on ‘budget cuts' and how to cope with and manage them. Less than three weeks later, on Election Day many communities across the country voted on bond measures that further affected budgets for parks and recreation facilities. NRPA asked its members to share how they are dealing with budget cuts and any new changes from recent bond measure voting results.  Click here to see the results.

Is it possible that there are opportunities for parks and recreation in a down-turned economy?  Can today's families be more or as connected as families of yesteryear?  This information and other economic and household pattern shifts in the October version of trendSCAN.

CPRS Legislative Scorecard Grades California Legislators
The actions of California’s State Legislature do impact the delivery of local and state park and recreation services and programs as well as the protection of parks, open space, natural habitat, and trails. During each legislative session, our state elected leaders determine the fate of bills that can have major implications – positive or negative – on the long-term condition of the state, regional, and local parks, open space, and recreation systems. See how legislators make the grade in regards to CPRS' legislative priorities, click here.

Interested in knowing how the City of Philadelphia puts on a value on its parks?  And, of course, everybody needs to know what makes today's 18 year olds think the way they do.  Check out the September trendSCAN.

Ecolandscape Trade Show
February 7, 2009
Click here to learn more www.ecolandscape.org

Want to know "who's" doing "what" in the outdoors or interested in what demographic guru, Peter Francese, predicts for the future?
Check out the August 2008 version of trendSCAN

Park & Recreation Videos Available On YouTube
As introduced at the Pacific Southwest Training Conference, CPRS has recently prepared videos which describe various ways in which parks and recreation are essential to communities. The first of these videos follows. We ask that you cut and paste the message (in red below) and email it to your email lists.  By doing so, you can help fellow park and recreation professionals spread the word about different ways in which parks and recreation are essential to communities.  The kinds of people who might be interested in the message include: friends, co-workers, public officials (city council members, county supervisors, state legislators, congressional representatives), local media and park users.

This message from the California Park & Recreation Society (CPRS) provides interesting insight into how park and recreation programs can give hope and direction to inner-city youth.  Please pass it on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC02m7D4Cvc

CPRS Legislative Committee Meeting
The next Conference Call will be December 8, 2008, 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Dial-in Number: 712/432-3900. Participant Access Code is: 3766298. If you prefer, you may also continue to gather at the 11 or so call sites that we have set up as well.
Click here to download the Agenda
Click here to download 2009 Draft Legislative Priorities
Click here to download the Legislative Committee Meeting Schedule

Don't see something that was on the CPRS home page before. Click here to view past Whats New items.