Connecting People to Wild Places Through Local Parks

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 local parks leads to a connection in state and national parks. Sarah will give you new ideas on how to connect people who don't usually visit parks to build a connection to nature. You can find the Park Leaders Show on iTunes and Stitcher Radio.