10. PRSR 01-09-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 8 Keeping Up January 2002 The Sometimes Forgotten Park Amenity �0 ` by Terry Schultz, Director of Natural Resources, City of Burnsville ocThese are issues we all struggle with. Take on Ecosystem Based Approach As resource managers the demands are Take a holistic approach to managing many and the resources few. your natural resources. Natural systems are Global The solution begins with awareness, interconnected and cannot be managed as which hopefully transcends into a few basic isolated systems. It's going to be tough to warming, dead zones in actions. Following are some hints that you save the pristine wetland, if you eliminate the Gulf of Mexico, should consider when contemplating how the pristine prairie that surrounds it. to manage your natural resources: invasive plants and killer bees. Monitor What You Have What's next? Take Inventory of the Natural Y There are plenty of tools to help you We have seen the industrial age, (at Resources You Have. assess the health of your natural resources. least those of us a little longer in tooth), the Before you know what to preserve Most agencies have staff to monitor the information age, and now the dawning of and/or restore,you must figure our what ball fields, tennis courts and garbage collec- the environmental age. But don't panic, this you have. Surprisingly few agencies actually Lion. Do you have someone in charge of is the age we have been waiting for! know what natural resources they have, monitoring the natural resources in your The reality is that as human beings we or what they should be trying to protect. organization? are changing things faster than our natural There are a number of agencies and grant systems can assimilate them. In the process programs out there that can help you our Capitalize on the Environmental Age we are accumulating a significant amount in this regard.Ask for help if you don't There is growing public support for of"environmental debt." We get the water know where to start.There are a number of environmental programs and the protection off the ball fields as quick as we can and professionals in this association that would and preservation of our natural resources. destroy the wetland in the process. We fer- be happy to offer advice. If you don't have the resources in your orga- tilize the ball fields and no one wants to nization, have you asked for them? Have swim in the beach down the road. Take an Integrated Resource you taken the time to educate your citizens As parks and recreation professionals Management Approach about what they can do to help protect your This is a simple mind-set change. natural resources? Have you enlisted your we must embrace the challenges of this envi- ronmemal age. Make natural resource considerations part residents in partnerships that can help you As managers of parks we inherit ball of your decision making paradigm. Start monitor your natural resources and expand fields, trails,dog parks, golf courses and yes, thinking about how your programs, prac- your financial resources? even that parking lot that paved over a little aces, and facilities might impact, or better In closing, I submit to you that we yet,support the resources in your parks. ought to be just as concerned about the parr of paradise. But let us not forget a very g j important amenity that Mother Nature pro- For me, this also means a balanced nations growing environmental debt as we vided us.The one that rarely shows up in approach. It's not always about the resources are the national debt. the capital plan—our natural resources. and it's not always about development. We Are you doing your part to manage this I am referring to amenities like the oak must balance the cultural and economic critical park amenity?If not, it's time to savanna that frames the picnic shelter at the considerations with ecological ones. pay up! top of the hill, the great pan-fish lake that gives you a reason for the fishing dock,and iritt the woodland that supports the wildlife that inspired mom and son to go for a walk. Yes, like it or not, many of us have been FLOORS entrusted as stewards of the vast majority 'of our community's natural resources. In p Floor Safety Burnsville for instance, two thirds of our to any slippery floors" 1,800 acres of park land are in a natural state. It's a significant amenity that can ca ( 3) 571 -1769 easily be taken for granted. Often the deg- W W W.surestop.COm radation of these resources occurs in such ways, that it is overlooked until Seri- 141/4#Or. problems roblems surface. • So how e does one when you can't the natural up areas of the parks when you can't keep up INDUSTRY EXPERTS r' IVV with the garbage and graffiti?