Parks of the Future

Taking Root

Parks of the future are welcoming to all people, resilient to a changing climate and home to thriving ecosystems that support plants, animals and our quality of life. In 2022, that vision began to take root in the form of workforce innovations and reimagining park infrastructure and outreach.

In 2022 we focused our efforts on parks of the future by:

Parks California is based on a new and more sustainable model for public-private partnership. Within this model, ‘parks of the future’ take on multiple meanings. It also speaks to the opportunities for innovation in technological advancements in stewardship, as well as to reflections on historical learnings. It requires parks to be relevant and accessible for future generations.

Growing the Next Generation of Park Stewards

Parks can move with intention into the future with a talented and inclusive workforce, equipped to lead the care of our landscapes. In 2020, we invested in partnership models between State Park Districts and non-profits, community-based organizations, colleges, and Tribes that introduced a diverse cadre of young people into park stewardship career pathways they may never have considered. To date, four participants have leveraged their experience into full time positions with state parks!

4,500

miles of

trails

"The real value of these programs is that you might be speaking to the next superintendent of this park."

Jason Eaton

Park Maintenance Supervisor, California State Parks

Additionally in 2022, the program funded six projects with over $171,000 in total investments made to implement wildfire and climate resiliency workforce projects across state parks. One such project with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is captured in this story by famed author and photographer Pete McBride.

In 2022 we focused our efforts on parks of the future by:

Reimagining Park Infrastructure

& Outreach

After a wildfire destroyed over 97% of the facilities in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, we joined a partnership called ‘Reimaging Big Basin’, a project to solicit community involvement and provide technical expertise on rebuilding Big Basin as a model for 21st century parks: inclusive climate-ready and resilient. We staffed a planning specialist at the park to develop new tools for improved access and forest health. Working with local parks, statewide scientists and the Parks California Climate Fellow, we are integrating lessons learned from Big Basin into a suite of statewide tools.

'Reimagining Big Basin’ seeded a parntership with Exploring New Horizons (ENH) wherein 3,544 fifth and sixth grade outdoor education students were given an opportunity to provide input into the park’s reimagining. Students developed and completed their own curriculum and devised individual “plan your park” activities for the park.

Lower-Cost Coastal Overnight Accommodations Study.

At Silver Strand State Beach, we piloted a Lower-Cost Coastal Overnight Accommodations Study. The study prioritized underrepresented communities with limited access to experience overnight camping.

Working with over a dozen non-profits, we sought community input on overnight accommodation options such as cottages, trailers, hike and bike camping, and traditional campsites. Additionally, we organized an event featuring the overnight camping options presented in the survey so that participants had an opportunity to see the possibilities beyond a printed representation.

In 2022 we focused our efforts on parks of the future by:

Elevating Connectivity

To root parks in the 21st century, we're investing in park-appropriate technology that helps parks feel more welcoming to new generations and makes the benefits of parks more accessible. In 2022, collaborated in the development of Virtual Adventurer, an official mobile app of California State Parks, to help people explore parks through immersive augmented and virtual reality.

As we help build Parks of the Future, prioritizing partnerships will be key to connectivity. In the past year, we set the stage to launch an in-depth, comprehensive study on the value of California's Department of Parks and Recreation's relationships with the non-profit sector. We were honored to present important findings from that study as the keynote at the 2022 California League of Park Association’s annual conference.