Outdoor recreation is not immune from the growing trend of technology. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all a part of recreation for many people.

A new digital platform, Campstake, is focusing on the digital side of recreation. Brandon Painter, co-founder of Campstake, joins the Park Leaders Show to talk about how the digital side of outdoor recreation can benefit parks.

If you are reading this in email, CLICK HERE to listen to this episode.

The team at Campstake hosts one of the fastest growing Twitter Chats focused on outdoor recreation. #CampChat takes place every Tuesday at 9 PM EST.

You can find out more about Campstake on their website, or by  visiting them on Twitter or Facebook. You can also contact Brandon Painter directly at brandon (at) campstake.com.

If you have ever worked a night shift in a park, you have experienced the beauty of night sky. Away from lights, campfires, and digital screens, a night sky is one of the true wonders of many parks.

Not many people get to experience a truly wondrous night sky, but Chad Moore looks at night skies for a living. Chad is the Program Manager for the National Park Service Night Sky Team.

Even if you are not with the National Park Service, the work of the Night Sky Team has great value for your park. Parks have an opportunity, perhaps even an obligation, to protect night skies.

Chad and I will talk about his work with night skies, why the National Park Service has a night sky team, and how individual parks can improve their night skies.

After talking with Chad I considered what have been my most memorable night skies. The two that come to mind are the overwhelming stars at Natural Bridges in Utah. With so many stars, a night sky is anything but dark. I also thought about the first time I saw the northern lights on a camping trip in north central Oregon. And finally, I recall a surprising encounter with nocturnal wildlife. Walking to an outhouse at night while camping at Canyonlands National Park I turned on my headlamp and found a kangaroo rat bouncing right in front of me.

Where was your most memorable night sky? Let’s talk about it. Reach out on Twitter or Facebook, comment on the website or send an email and let me know your night sky story.

Chad Moore preparing for a night sky

If you are interested in night skies, you may enjoy the book The End of Night by Paul Bogard.

You can find the Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative on Facebook.

You can discover great articles about night skies here.

A common theme from the People of Parks Project has been a frustration with communication between leadership, admin staff, and staff in the field. When I hear the same thing come up often I know we need to lean into it a little bit more.

I know this isn't a problem I could properly address on my own, so I called in the help of some friends. Joining me for a special panel discussion episode of the Park Leaders Show are: Ray Bivens- Director of Delaware State Parks, Eric Watilo- Region Manager with Washington State Parks, and Sarah Milbourne-  Park Manager with Maryland State Parks.

Each member of this panel was selected to give the panel three layers of park management to offer insight on how to improve communication. Ray, Eric, and Sarah have also been previous guests on the Park Leaders Show, so I understood they would each offer valuable ideas for you and your park.

You can help shape future episodes of the Park Leaders Show by participating in the People of Parks Project. By answering a couple of short questions, you can help me understand what subjects will be most valuable to offer on the Park Leaders Show.

When I was young my father always had pigeons as pets. I spent plenty of time around his feathered friends. Perhaps that is where my interest in the passenger pigeon came from.

I used to imagine what it must have been like to see the sky go dark when a flock of passenger pigeons flew overhead. When I saw Ben Novak's TEDx Talk about bringing the passenger pigeon back from extinction, I know I had to talk to him.

Ben Novak grew up exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The connection he made with the park when he was young led to his current work to revive the passenger pigeon.

Ben's story is a wonderful story about building a connection to parks. By exploring his favorite National Park he fell in love with what was around him. Consider the impact it may have twenty years from now when you help a kid connect to the park.

Perhaps my favorite thing about Ben is that he chose himself to do this work. He raised his hand and declared he would be the one to devote his life to bringing a beautiful bird back to our parks and forests. Most people who do great work do not wait to be picked. They just stand up and do the work.

If you are interested in Ben's work you can find out more at Revive and Restore and follow The Great Comeback on Facebook.

How to Bring Passenger Pigeons All the Way Back: Ben Novak at TEDxDeExtinction (click to watch on YouTube)