00:00:05:06 - 00:00:34:20
Unknown
So, you know, one thing about community access and community engagement. We learned some pretty huge lessons from the COVID pandemic. And it's not that we didn't already know that the public enjoyed coming to Cuyahoga Valley National Park. What COVID taught us is they really need to come to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and we provide a vital

00:00:34:20 - 00:01:03:12
Unknown
service to the public in being able to be outside, being able to enrich their emotional well-being, their, you know, sort of just enrich their souls and let them escape those stresses of everyday life in their homes and their cities and their communities, as well as, you know, feeling safe in an

00:01:03:12 - 00:01:26:13
Unknown
environment of high risk of exposure to COVID. And we had record setting visitation. We were valued by the ever greater numbers of people and more communities that we had been reaching as well. You know, so that's an interesting point.

00:01:26:13 - 00:01:46:10
Unknown
And I know you run in national circles with the National Park Service. I do too, with the network of friends groups. One of the things that I find so interesting is that nationally we're well known. We are well thought of as an urban national park, a park that has higher visitation, and we're known for our creative

00:01:46:10 - 00:02:03:03
Unknown
programing and our creative connections. And sometimes I find that we're better known nationally than we are locally. I still have people locally that say there's a national park in Ohio? Where is it that you work? And yet in my national circles, people really look up to Cuyahoga Valley National Park as a leader.

00:02:03:11 - 00:02:17:00
Unknown
Can you talk a little bit about that and how the park and park partners can really live into the potential that we have as a national leader in servicing urban communities? That's been a piece of fuel for me.

00:02:17:08 - 00:02:32:14
Unknown
That has been something that has motivated me—another piece of the motivation for me—to take this position because it's really kind of a point of pride almost is that I want, as we enter our 50th year and beyond,

00:02:32:15 - 00:03:02:22
Unknown
I want the local community, the local communities between Canton, Akron, Cleveland, Mentor, you know, all of Northeast Ohio to understand, to know and value their national park in this region. We were born from a movement that brought the National Park Service to city centers or urban higher populations around the country, and we need to make good on

00:03:02:22 - 00:03:18:12
Unknown
that. You know, we really need to bring national park experiences to this population center. And you know, one of my favorite things to do now and then is to walk through the parking lot to the visitor center.

00:03:18:19 - 00:03:39:06
Unknown
And it's fascinates me how many out of state cars there are, and we are attracting people from around the country, and our staff that work in the visitor center and work in the Trail Mix stores say that people from out of state just gush about this park, just gush about how beautiful it is

00:03:39:06 - 00:03:52:21
Unknown
and how much there is to do, how wonderful a vacation they can have because they can enjoy the urban, you know, resources here in both Akron and Cleveland, as well as a national park experience, and that's pretty unique around the country.

00:03:53:12 - 00:04:11:01
Unknown
Again, I think locally we don't appreciate that as much as people nationally do. And I also say, kudos to your staff, our staff who are so creative in their programing and have developed so many ways to engage the public that are unique and different from some other national parks.