E-mail dennis_vasquez@nps.gov Natural Resource Training Manager; Albright Employee Development Center; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
A new era in the professional development of NPS natural resource managers began in May 1996 with the inaugural session of the "Fundamentals for Natural Resources Managers" training program. The six-week long program was held at the Albright Training Center at Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, with field trips to Lake Mead National Recreation Area and Flagstaff, Arizona. Twenty-three resource managers took part in the program.
The need for such a training program had been identified in a number of recent reports including the Vail Agenda (1992) and the Strategic Plan for Improving the Natural Resource Program of the National Park Service (1995). Dozens of individuals were involved in the development of the syllabus for the training course.
The fundamentals course is designed to enhance the academic training of new employees in professional natural resource management positions with knowledge specific to the management of natural resource programs in the National Park Service. Graduates of the course will be able to apply laws, policies, agency expertise, public input, and research information into park resource management operations. Two major themes ran through the course: (1) an ecosystem approach to management; and (2) planning and implementing a resource management program to include natural resource, cultural resource, and social science considerations.
In a year when funds for training were scarce throughout the Park Service, the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA), the National Park Foundation, and the Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate joined to provide the financial support to conduct this foundational piece in the training strategy for natural resource managers. Regional directors of NPCA participated and added a valuable component to the class.
Class participants left the program with more knowledge, more tools, a larger network of contacts, and a deeper sense of commitment to the stewardship mission of the National Park Service. In a letter signed by all graduates of the first "fundamentals" class, participants committed themselves to taking an integrated approach to resource management, cultivating partnerships, endorsing a strong science program, advocating career pathways for resource managers to achieve high-level positions within our agency, and taking an active role in the leadership of the National Park Service.
Other articles in the "Meeting Demands" chapter:
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