Feed Editor 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT NRPA's Parks and Recreation Weekly News Brief provides industry-specific news and information to leaders in the parks and recreation profession. Delivered weekly, the publication keeps professionals abreast of topics that impact the daily operation of their departments. http://www.multibriefs.com/briefs/nrpa/nrpaupdate.xml en From saving wild mountain rivers in China to measuring the Arctic's icy expanse, from protecting the lush forests of Africa to conducting a feisty online debate, our green heroes are informed by this simple notion: We can all make a difference. As they searched for glimmers of hope in the wreckage of the world economy earlier this year, politicians, economists and commentators used one phrase so repeatedly it became something of a mantra for our times: In crisis, opportunity. Nowhere does that maxim apply more than to the problem of climate change. The financial crisis only crippled a global system; climate change is hurting the globe itself. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2cdb4921a97 1 More than half of Americans are couch potatoes — people who routinely get less than 30 minutes a day of exercise. An amazing fact of modern life is that we don't have to move around to do anything. Researchers say 100 years ago, people got five times more exercise every day, just in the course of daily living. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e36970f97e 2 As obesity rates hit record levels, a new study finds that many adults don't recognize weight problems in their children. The consequences can be severe. The obesity alarm bells are ringing again. A new report out this week finds that more than two thirds of states have adult obesity rates above 25 percent — a striking increase since 1991, when no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent. Hardest hit: Mississippi, which weighed in at 33.8 percent, followed by Alabama and Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e1f54055cb 3 Interested in pursuing a career in parks and recreation?  Do you have a job announcement that you would like to advertise?Check out NRPA’s Career Center at www.nrpa.org/careers for more information! 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c3347bc6230e 4 Several years ago, Dr. David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand, set out to study the role of protein in recovery from hard exercise. He asked a group of male cyclists to ride intensely until their legs were aching and virtually all of their stored muscle fuel had been depleted. The cyclists then consumed bars and drinks that contained either mostly carbohydrates or both carbohydrates and protein. Then, over the next few days, they completed two sessions of hard intervals. One took place the following morning; the next, two days later. Dr. Rowlands found that the cyclists showed little benefit during the first interval session. But during the second, the men who ingested protein had an overall performance gain of more than 4 percent, compared with the men who took only carbohydrates, "which is huge, in competitive terms," Dr. Rowlands says. Other researchers’ earlier studies produced similar results. Dr. Rowlands says, "we received inquiries from female cyclists," asking to be part of any further research. So, almost as an afterthought, Dr. Rowlands and his colleagues repeated the entire experiment with experienced female riders. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e3d2d42d5d 5 The world's industrial emissions of climate-changing carbon dioxide held steady last year, as recession slowed production in rich countries while growth in China and India made up the difference, a leading monitoring agency recently reported. The Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency said last year was the first since 1992 that registered zero growth in carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, cement production and chemical industries — key sources of greenhouse gases. It did not take into account, however, measurements from deforestation, forest fires and the release of carbon from decomposing biomass, which could add up to 20 percent to global emissions. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e4033061c9 6 City park or city square? Seattleites have a choice of venues for seeing displays of public art this summer — the sylvan surroundings of Carkeek Park or the urban environs of Occidental Park. At Carkeek, the Center on Contemporary Art teamed up with Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Carkeek Park Advisory Council to install "Heaven and Earth II," a reprise of last year's outdoor art exhibit. Four artists from the 2009 show have returned this year, a couple of them providing the exhibit with its strongest entries. In "Orchard," "branch artist" Julie Lindell becomes a full-fledged "arborist." Three bare "trees" pieced together from bits of board energetically evoke "tree-ness" in the same way that a precocious child's drawing would. At the same time they look jerry-built, as if Lindell is acknowledging that no human hand can match nature's finesse and flow when it comes to devising "natural" shapes. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e348704320 7 The environment can influence our physical activities, especially when it comes to where people live. 'We are not just measuring physical activity, but we are linking it to a location using small activity monitors and global positioning system devices,' said Philip J. Troped. Troped, assistant professor of health and kinesiology at the Purdue University, said: 'A better understanding of how neighborhood environments influence people's behaviors could help us to get more people to be physically active and healthy.' For example, a better understanding of where physical activity occurs and the characteristics of those areas could be used to develop more tailored intervention programs or messages to encourage physical activity at those locations. 'Research has shown that there is a positive relationship between characteristics of neighborhood-built environments and physical activity.' 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e386318402 8 A new study aims to understand the effects of global warming on the world's largest trees — California's iconic redwoods and giant sequoias. The $2.5 million project, funded by Save the Redwoods League, is sending experts hundreds of feet up into the trees' canopies to take measurements of their girth, bark and even the number of cones they have. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e26a7c9f74 9 President Barack Obama is starting another committee to promote fitness and outdoor exercise. He recently issued an executive order forming the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. The order instructs the Department of Health & Human Services to "develop and coordinate a national program to enhance physical activity, fitness, sports participation and good nutrition." HHS will work with the departments of Agriculture and Education. The project will include finding ways to increase sports participation, such as providing information and guidance. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2ce65875aff 10 Since the horrific Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, the talk about going green to help save the environment seems ramped to new heights. Outdoors enthusiasts have a vested interest in clean water and pristine wildlife habitat. Going green is not the same thing as tree-hugging, and we can all improve our approach to the outdoors. Here are some simple suggestions that do not include trading in a pickup truck or SUV for a hybrid car. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e2b6a52770 11 Michigan's state parks system is beautiful, rustic and in need of help. While parks continue to offer camping, beaches, hiking and solitude, they desperately need $341 million in repairs, state officials say. A pair of Free Press reporters spent a month visiting 22 of Michigan's 100 state parks and found many urgently need upgrades to roads, showers, water and electrical systems. Empty entrance booths punctuate the need for more staff. Though there are problem areas, they're not disintegrating. Not at all. And unlike some states that shut down parks this year because of budget woes, all of Michigan's remain open despite six years of funding troubles. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2cdef805d63 12 Nutrition specialists are redesigning the cafeteria menus and adding to the curriculum for J.S. Clark Elementary, one of the few schools in the state chosen to participate in the Healthy U.S. Challenge grant. Monroe City Schools Food Nutrition Supervisor Stephanie Weaver said the district is one of only five in Louisiana chosen to receive the grant, which will provide $10,000 to the school for an increased focus on nutrition and exercise. J.S. Clark principal Christie Taylor said that while the menu selections will look similar to previous choices, the ingredients in the items will emphasize healthy eating. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e23c452836 13 Forests were ablaze recently in several locations throughout Colorado when Sen. Mark Udall called on federal officials to reveal whether fire-mitigation work is taking place as quickly as it should in places impacted by the mountain pine-beetle epidemic. "Many of our mountain communities have expressed concern about the removal of these dead trees and are asking for a timeline of the tree removal that will help protect their communities and create jobs during a time when many Coloradans are unemployed," Udall said. The senator sent a letter to the National Park Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, asking them to report on the status of $30 million the administration had promised earlier this year to help fund the removal of trees killed by the beetle in Colorado and Wyoming. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e325a8a860 14 For 15 years, Park Ranger Robert McGhee worked in Ocean Springs' Gulf Islands National Seashore, spending nearly a decade patrolling the area around Davis Bayou. And though his life was cut short by two criminals one Saturday in May 1990, a portion of the road he spent so much time on will always bear his name. A dedication ceremony will be held July 2, at the seashore's William M. Colmer Visitor Center auditorium off U.S. 90, officially renaming the portion of Hanley Road within the park the Robert McGhee Road. The gesture is apropos according to some who worked with McGhee. "There is certainly a connection because Bob patrolled Davis Bayou," said Gail Bishop, the seashore's chief of interpretation and education. "He was on that road section every day he worked at Gulf Island National Seashore." Like Bishop, much of McGhee's career was spent educating all who would listen about the seashore, which includes lands in Mississippi and Florida set aside as part of the National Park Service. 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c2e3ab4ced82 15 New Jersey's state budget agreement recently announced by legislators restores funding to a key redevelopment program benefiting southern New Jersey, but leaves many more programs wanting. Lawmakers from the region expressed hope that the $29.3 billion budget would pass, even though its list of cuts, as one lawmaker put it, "goes on and on." 6 Jul 2010 10:27:11 CDT http://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4c333ff5c6b03 16