James Slade grew up in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Now, he is on the front line in Africa working as Operations Manager and ranger with the Zimbabwe International Anti-Poaching Foundation.

James will give us an inside look at what it is like to be an anti-poaching ranger, and what the poaching situation is like in Zimbabwe. 

Although in a management role, James spends as much time as possible shoulder to shoulder. This leadership trait will allow managers to get to know field staff better and get a feel for the pulse of what is happening in the field. 

James also speaks about the impact of his time at the World Ranger Congress.  Rangers gathered together helps build a brotherhood, or sisterhood, and recharge and reinspire us to keep working on the important work we do. 

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Robert Ingram, Cheif of Visitor Protection and Law Enforcement for Washington State Parks, joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss bike patrol in parks. 

Cheif Ingram was the driving force behind Washington State Parks bike patrol program. In this interview, he will share how the bike program was formed, how the agency chose the bikes and the decision to keep training in house. 

Washington State Parks used three of their own rangers, trained by the International Police Mountain Bike Association, to help maintain the bike program and train ranger on bike skills. 

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The National Park Service is faced with a $12 billion deferred maintenance backlog.  How did we get here and what can we do about it?

John Garder from the National Parks Conservation Association joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss how the maintenance backlog grew so large and what we can do about it. 

The maintenance backlog in the National Park Service is a reflection of what is happening with most park system throughout the United States. The discussion on the impact of a maintenance backlog is relevant for any park and any park system that struggles with deferred maintenance. 

To find out more about the deferred maintenance backlog, please visit NPCA.org. 

You can connect to Park Leaders on Twitter and Facebook. 

One of the things I learned at the World Ranger Congress is that parks all over the world have the same problems. 

Teemu Laine and Vesa-Matti Hillberg, both park rangers from Finland, join the Park Leaders Show to share their experience at the World Ranger Congress and what they have learned as park rangers. 

This is the first episode of the show where "Reindeer herders" were mentioned as a problem for a park ranger. Even when the details are different, most of the problems we face are similar. This is why it is valuable for park professionals to be exposed to other rangers from around the country and world. 

You can find out more about Finland National Parks HERE. 

Brent Leisure, Director of Texas State Parks, returns for another episode of the Park Leaders Show. 

This episode is short enough it could have easily been included on the first episode with Director Leisure. This conversation is a separate episode because it needs to be a separate conversation. 

We need to support parks at all levels. City and County Parks are an important gateway for exposure to greenspace and the outdoors. For most of us, our first encounters with the outdoors are with an urban park. Parks enhance neighborhoods and lead people to visit larger State and National Parks. 

The experience of visiting a National Park lead us to support our local parks as well. All parks are connected. It is a natural progression to begin with your local park and then move up to something bigger and perhaps more adventurous. 

Director Leisure explains what Texas State Parks is doing to work with local communities and local parks. 

In this episode, Director Leisure recommends the books Sand County Almanac and Leadership on the Line. 

Texas is big. If you haven't been to Texas you have seen it on a map. No matter how you look at the state, it is big.

The enormous geographic size creates a challenge when it comes to communicating to staff if they are spread across the state. Brent Leisure, Director of Texas State Parks

Brent Leisure, Director of Texas Parks and Wildlife, joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss how to communicate when parks and staff are spread out. Communicating with a large staff in difficult. It becomes more delicate when the large staff is spread out in such a large state.

Director Leisure also discusses the challenge of inviting more diverse users to parks. 

It is not enough to open the gates and say everyone is welcome to come. You have to reach out. Texas State Parks has implemented programs to engage a diverse population. They make an effort to attract urban visitors, visitors with little outdoor experience, visitors from diverse racial backgrounds. The lands and water the state has set aside are places where all demographics can  come together to share experiences.

Joseph Mayambo wants you to know about the National Parks of Gabon. Joseph wants everyone to know about Gabon National Parks. 

Gabon has one of the newest National Park Systems in the world.  The World Ranger Congress was a perfect place for Rangers from Gabon to interact and exchange ideas with other Rangers from around the world. Joseph Mayambo and his comrades from Gabon State Parks  spread a message of hope and enthusiasm about their parks. 

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Joseph Mayambo discusses the challenges and opportunities of having such a young National Park Service. 

Adrian Fernandez has an influence on young up and coming leaders in the National Park Service. Adrian is the Manager of the ProRanger Program at Temple University. 

The ProRanger Program offers a unique opportunity to 12 candidates each year to gain park ranger experience before they become a ranger. In the classroom, they learn the knowledge they need to know, but the program gets them valued experience in the parks as well. 

Each summer, the students work as an intern in a National Park. Internships at parks where they get to learn all aspects of park operations. They get experience in urban and rural parks. When their experience with the ProRanger program is complete, they are not only ready to be a park ranger, they are ready to step up as a leader. 

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Adrian discusses the ProRanger Program. We also hear from Brennan McAuley. 

Brennan McAuley is a student in the ProRanger program. Brennan shares his experience in the program and gives us an inside look to being a student working towards becoming a Park Ranger. 

Students in the program keep a blog to share their experience. You can find it here.  You can follow Brennan on Instagram at brennan_proranger. 

Historic means something entirely different in the United Kingdom than it does in the United States. Historic in the states is still fairly new compared to some of the historic buildings and landscapes found in the United Kingdom. 

Historic Landscape management in the United Kingdom can help parks in other countries understand how to manage landscape with historical significance. 

Janine Conner is a park ranger with the National Trust in the United Kingdom. She works at Tyntesfield, where she cares for a historic landscape.

In this episode of The Park Leaders Show, Janine talks about historic landscape management. Janine also discusses her shadow assignment at Bryce Canyon National Park, her impression of park rangers in the United States, and her experience at the World Ranger Congress. 

At the World Ranger Congress, Ravis Henry gave a program about the Navajo culture. Rangers from around the world took in his stories and songs about his culture and experience as a ranger. 

Ravis has a story that is unique, even among park rangers. Ravis is a ranger at Canyon De Shelly National Monument. Canyo De Shelly is within the Navajo Nation and Ravis grew up in the park. 

Ravis joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss the World Ranger Congress, his unique way to tell stories, growing up where he works, and how parks can try to connect to local tribes. 

Are we facing a dangerous conservation crisis? When the Director of US Fish & Wildlife Service says we are facing a conservation crisis, you can believe we have a problem. An article in Field & Stream discussed a speech Director Dan Ashe gave about three issues we are facing in parks and conservation that are moving us towards a crisis. 

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Director Ashen discusses the problems that are moving parks and conservation agencies towards irrelevancy. 

We talk about diversity, young people in the outdoors, disruptive innovations in parks and conservation and the partnership between US Fish & Wildlife and the National Park Service that led to delisting the Island Fox as an endangered species.

Daisy Martinez founded Trash Free Earth so her neighborhood park would look better. The idea spread and Trash Free Earth now hosts regular cleanups where a diverse collection of volunteers come together to make  a park look beautiful. 

Trash Free Earth has created a patch challenge. People who accomplish all five elements of the challenge receive an exclusive patch. 

If a park hosts a cleanup, it will reinforce the idea that the park is responsible for cleaning up. If a community organization organizes and hosts a cleanup, it will spread the idea that the community is responsible for keeping their parks clean. 

You can Follow Trash Free Earth on Twitter and Facebook.

Shelton Johnson returns to the Park Leaders Show for episode 101. If you missed part 1 of his interview, you can listen to it here.

In this episode, Shelton talks about the importance of telling stories. Shelton's Buffalo Soldiers program at Yosemite National Park has brought a story back to life that the world nearly forgot.

Shelton also discusses making meaningful connections with people.

"The surest way to change the future is to change today." - Shelton Johnson

Shelton is the author of the novel Gloryland. 

Being a park ranger is not usually a job that puts you in the spotlight. But every once in a while, a story gets discovered that needs to be shared with the world. That is what happened to Yosemite National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. 

When he began telling the story of the Buffalo Soldiers experience in Yosemite, people began to notice. The story of theBuffalo Soldiers led to a pivotal role in Ken Burns' film series about the National Parks. Shelton got to meet Oprah. Shelton got to meet President Obama. Eventually, Shelton got to meet Jody Maberry, host of the Park Leaders Show. No big deal, I know, but it did lead to this interview on the Park Leaders Show. 

Shelton discusses the path that lead him from inner city Detroit to being a park ranger in a wilderness park. He also explains why access to the outdoors is a civil rights issue. 

Shelton Johnson has also written a novel about Buffalo Soldiers called Gloryland.

If you have Amazon Prime, you can watch the Ken Burns' National Parks film for free. Just click here.

Our parks and Disney World share many commonalities. Often, people save money and vacation time to visit both places. When guests hold a place in such high regard, what obligation do we have to them?

Jeff Noel joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss how to create excellence.

Jeff Noel spent 30 years at Disney World. The last 15 years at Disney, he taught at the Disney Institue. Over 15 years, Jeff spoke to over 1 Million people about how the Disney Way. 

If you want to make a park excellence, there are three area to focus;

1. People
2. Physical resources
3. Processes

Jeff recommends making everyone a VIP - Very Individual Person, even if you can only give them attention for 30 seconds. 

You can find out more about Jeff Noel on his website, Twitter, or Facebook. 

Recently, at the World Ranger Congress, a group of female delegates gathered to discuss issues woman face. This led me to consider how the female ranger experience is different than the male ranger experience, especially when it comes to leadership.

When it comes to women's leadership, Ann Vertel is someone you want to know. Ann is a 20 year Naval officer, Motivational Psychologist, and leadership expert who helps individuals and organizations develop confident women leaders. 

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Ann talks about being a leader in a male-dominated profession, the importance of working with a woman mentor, and the importance of developing women leaders. Ann also talks about handling sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, and other issues women might face in the workplace. 

To find the resources Ann has created for this show, Click Here. 

Ann Vertel's website - www.annvertel.com
Ann Vertel on Twitter - @AnnVertel
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Gary Ananian is the founder of the Kern River Conservancy. He is a volunteer who pours his own time and money into protecting a river he loves. 

Vandalism and trash got so bad on the Kern River that Gary started camping elsewhere. The lure of the river brought him back, but he was again faced with trash and vandalism. When he discovered there was not a single conservation group dedicated to protecting the Kern River, he founded a group to begin to clean up the river. 

The Kern River was designated as a Leave No Trace Hot Spot and Gary worked with Sam Ovett and Jenna Hanger. Together, they helped transform the Kern River and work with the public and land management agencies to give the river a promising future. 

Gary explains how volunteers can work with and educate the public in a way uniformed staff can not. 

Through his work on the Kern River, Gary has shown one person can have an impact. 

After a backpacking trip to Glacier National Park, I passed through the Yaak Valley. I was intrigued by the beauty of the valley. It just felt different than most other places I had visited. 

Shortly after my short visit to the Yaak Valley, I discovered a book called The Book of Yaak by Rick Bass. I began devouring Rick Bass' books, and I returned to the Yaak. 

Over the years, I hiked many miles and spent many nights in the Yaak Valley. And read many Rick Bass books. Rick used his words to bring awareness to the Yaak Valley and the issues this unique place in Montana faced. 

In this episode of The Park Leaders Show, Rick Bass talks about the Yaak Valley, the importance of parks, and the biggest issues facing parks today. 

Here are some of Rick Bass' books you will enjoy;

The Lost Grizzlies

The Ninemile Wolves

The Wild Marsh

Rick Bass recommends The Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock. Rick Bass gave us a list of suggested books people in parks should read. Check out the Suggested Reading List from Rick Bass. 

Even in an urban setting, there is wilderness all around. Birds, bugs, plants are not just getting by, but thriving living in a city. 

Most people never notice. Most people quickly move from one place to another without looking up or down to see the life around them. Or, wildlife is so common it goes unnoticed. When was the last time you thought about a pigeon? Or a snail? So much life in a city goes unseen. 

Nathanael Johnson not only noticed the urban wilderness around him, he wrote a book about it. Unseen City takes a look at the majesty of pigeons, the discreet charm of snails and other wonders of the urban wilderness. 

Unseen City combines great writing, deep research with the curiosity of Johnson's young daughter, Josephine. The curiosity of Josephine helps us all learn more about the wildlife around us but usually goes unseen. 

This is a book is a must for any park bookstore in an urban area. 

Armando Quintero spent 22 years with the National Park Service. Now, Armando is the Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at The University of California, Merced. 

When Armando left his career as parks, he knew his background would allow him to be an advocate for parks from the outside. 

Experience from the inside and the outside of parks has given Armando a unique perspective of our parks and their place in our society. Armando discusses the importance of adaptive leadership in parks. 

Armando recommends The Forest Ranger by Herbert Kaufman. 

Matt Carroll did not follow a typical path to becoming a Superintendent with the National Park Service. 

During a full career with the Air Force, Matt picked up all the skills he would need to be a Park Superintendent; management, budgets, leadership, operations and more. He also volunteered with the National Park Service for many years before he retired from the Air Force. 

Typically, by the time a ranger becomes a superintendent, he or she has been immersed in the culture of the park service for years. Matt came in from the outside to the role of Superintendent of Greenbelt Park and Baltimore-Washington Parkway. 

Shortly after joining the Greenbelt Parkway, Matt developed a list of 2016 Superintendent Priorities. Matt posted the priorities at Park Headquarters so park staff, volunteers, and visitors could see them. 

Here are the 2016 Superintendent Priorities for the Greenbelt Park and Baltimore-Washington Parkway;

1. Improve Visitor Experience, Customer Support & Partnerships
2. Institute Sound Business Practices
3. Foster a Culture of Safety in Daily Operations
4. Ensure Good Stewardship of Park Resources and Facilities
5. Develop and Support a Professional Workforce

Sam Ovett and Jenna Hanger are living a life that will make you jealous. It makes me jealous. Sam and Jenna are Traveling Trainers for Leave No Trace. They travel the western United States teaching the principals of Leave No Trace to students, communities, volunteers, and government agencies.

As Traveling Trainers, they visit some of our most beautiful places and spend over 250 nights per year camping. Spending so much time together worked out well for Sam and Jenna. They are engaged to be married and plan on launching their own business later this year.

One interesting aspect of being a traveling trainer is the Leave No Trace Hot Spot program. This unique program focuses on areas that have been negatively impacted by recreational use. Traveling Trainers work with the community and stakeholders of a Hot Spot to help recover and protect the area for future generations.

You can follow Sam & Jenna on Instagram  to keep up to date on their adventures.

Brandon Kramer joins the Park Leaders Show to talk about the new documentary film, City of Trees. 

City of Trees follows Washington Parks and People as the organization uses a grant to plant trees in parks Washington DC.  The story plays out with struggle and triumph as the organization as you get to know people who are hired to plant trees.

During the film, you will learn about a community, learn about the men who are hired to plant trees, and learn about the organization trying to make it all work. 

Click here for opportunities to see the National Broadcast of City of Trees. PBS will be broadcasting City of Trees on April 19th. 

Many park agencies face budget struggles. Michigan State Parks faced the issues head-on by exploring new ways to add value to what parks offer.

Ron Olson, Chief of Michigan State Parks, joins the Park Leaders Show to explain the innovative ideas Michigan explored and implemented to survive budget cuts and offer more to park visitors. 

In this episode, Mr. Olson will explain the programs and services Michigan State Parks offered to guests to enhance recreational opportunities and increase funding. 

Here is an article from 2009 that outlines some of the challenges Michigan State Parks faced when Ron Olson become Chief. 

Caroline Blizzard is the Director of the Deep Creek Lake State Park Discovery Center. Caroline has created a successful education program about monarch butterflies. 

In this episode, you will learn how an education program in a park in Maryland has had an impact on the local community as well as a community in Mexico. 

Caroline will also share tips on how you can create a powerful educational program at your park. 

Private sector involvement in public parks is an issue most people are not indifferent on. Usually, people either see it as a solution to many of the problems parks face, or they are against any private involvement. You may not realize how involved the private sector is already involved in parks. 

John joins the Park Leaders Show to discuss the benefit of private sector involvement in parks. 

John Koeberer is the president of the California Parks Company. The California Parks Company has a presence in parks throughout California, providing services ranging from concessions, wedding services, and campground operations. 

John explains how private sector involvement can help parks with better marketing and business expertise. Better business operation will ensure parks do not become irrelevant. 

You can find Park Leaders on Facebook here. 

On this episode of the Park Leaders Show, John Griffith shares the story of creating the Bioblitz Dance with the encouragement and support of Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro. 

John explains the reason for the Bioblitz Dance and the steps of the Bioblitz Dance. 

John Griffith challenges you and your park to do a Bioblitz Dance. If you do a Bioblitz Dance and let us know you are doing the dance because of the show, we will send you Park Leaders stickers for everyone who participates in the dance. You just have to let us know by letting us know on Facebook or include Bioblitz Dance and Park Leaders in the title of your video on YouTube.

You can find the Bioblitz Tutorial Here. 

Fort McHenry National Monument is one of Steve Clark's favorite National Parks. It is not for the obvious reasons either. It is because of baseball.

Steve got his connection to the outdoors through baseball. Of course, the national anthem is sung before every baseball game. The Star Spangled Banner was birthed at Fort McHenry.

Steve's story is an example of how many people are connected to parks in different ways to different parks for different reasons. Now, Steve is the Superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania, including the Flight 93 Memorial. 

In this episode of the Park Leaders Show, Steve talks about his career in the National Park Service and the delicate balance of interpreting the story of Flight 93. 

In recent episodes of the Park Leaders Show, both Alan Spears and Jon Jarvis mentioned the Greening Youth Foundation. When two people I respect both mention the same organization, I know I have to look deeper. 

Angelou Ezeilo joins the Park Leaders Show to share her story and explain the work of Greening Youth Foundation. Greening Youth Foundation has had tremendous success engaging underrepresented youth and diverse youth to nature. 

Greening Youth Foundation connects parks to diverse workers who are newly introduced to potential careers in conservation and outdoor recreation. Angelou points out that parks and organizations can longer say there are not diverse people interested in conservation and recreation jobs. Any park or organization can connect with Greening Youth Foundation to find candidates.