Latest news with #TrustForPublicLand
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
St. Pete ranks No. 1 in Florida, No. 14 nationally for parks
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — As a testament to the city's ongoing dedication to parkland preservation, St. Petersburg is once again receiving national recognition by ranking No. 1 in Florida and No. 14 in the nation in the 2025 ParkScore index by the Trust for Public Land. The ParkScore index is an assessment of the 100 largest U.S. cities based on criteria such as park access, acreage, amenities, equity, and investment. St. Pete earned especially high marks in equity and investment, receiving a score of 78 out of 100 in both categories. 'This recognition reflects our long-standing commitment to building an inclusive and vibrant parks system that supports wellness, sustainability, and community,' said Mike Jefferis, Community Enrichment Administrator. 'Our parks are more than just green spaces, they are vital community hubs that offer something for everyone, from outdoor fitness to family-friendly events to places that provide a connection to nature.' Notably, 75% of the city's residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, highlighting the city's Parks and Recreation Department's tireless efforts to create accessible, community-centered green spaces for the general public. In this year's rankings, St. Pete outperformed several cities traditionally known for their outdoor lifestyle, including Austin, San Diego, and Atlanta. This recognition reflects the city's deep investment in the health, happiness, and well-being of its residents, and solidifies St. Pete as a leader in parks and recreation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
San Francisco's parks rank 6th best in the U.S.
The Brief A national nonprofit has ranked San Francisco's park system as the 6th best in the U.S. San Francisco received high marks for access and investment. Washington D.C.'s park system came in first place in the ranking. SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco's park system has been ranked as one of the best in the country. What we know The city ranked sixth on a national index moving up one spot from last year. According to a study by the Trust For Public Land, investments and access to parks are major factors contributing to San Francisco's high ranking. Other Bay Area cities in the 'Top 50' were Fremont at number 38, San Jose at 41 and Oakland at 44. Dig deeper The ParkScore Index compares park systems across the country's 100 most populated cities in the U.S. San Francisco received 80.2 points out of 100 based on five categories including; acreage, acreage, access, investment, amenities and equity. The city scored perfect scores in the categories of access and investment. Access looks at the percentage of a city's residents that live within a walkable half-mile of a park. Investment looks at the relative financial health of a city's park system, which is essential to ensuring the park system is maintained at a high level, according to the index. Washington D.C.'s park system came in first place, with Irvine, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota rounding out the top three in the rankings. For a more detailed look at some of the data on San Francisco's parks, check out the ParkServe map. For more on the ParkScore methodology, click here. Trust For Public Land is a nonprofit focused on creating park space and ensuring everyone has access to a park space within a 10-minute walk from their home.
Fast Company
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
Trump wants to defund national parks—but they have overwhelming bipartisan support
Early this month, the Trump administration proposed cutting more than $1.2 billion dollars of funding for the National Park Service. Meanwhile, new polling found that public parks are beloved by almost all Americans—making them among the least polarized third spaces remaining in the U.S. According to a national study conducted by YouGov and published this week by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land, 89% of adults in a major U.S. city visited a public park in the last year, including 92% of 2024 Trump voters and 90% of Harris voters. The study results come at the same time that the president and congressional Republicans are trying to pass a budget that would severely restrict national park staffing and maintenance. That means local parks might play an even greater role in shaping and strengthening communities in the years to come. National Parks face potential devastating budget cuts On May 2, the Trump administration released its 2026 budget plan. The document includes a proposal to cut millions of dollars of funding to national park sites, especially targeting smaller sites like national monuments and shorelines. 'The National Park Service (NPS) responsibilities include a large number of sites that are not 'National Parks,' in the traditionally understood sense, many of which receive small numbers of mostly local visitors, and are better categorized and managed as State-level parks,' the budget reads. It adds that there's 'an urgent need' to transfer certain properties to state-level management and 'streamline staffing,' though the budget doesn't allocate any additional funding to states for this purpose. Specifically, the budget recommends eliminating $900 million dedicated to the operation of national parks, $73 million to park construction funding, $77 million to recreation and preservation funding, and $197 million to the Historic Preservation Fund. Theresa Pierno, the National Parks Conservation Association president and CEO, called this 'the most extreme, unrealistic and destructive NPS budget a president has ever proposed in the agency's 109-year history' in a press release at the time. Congress still needs to approve a version of the budget, which is currently stalled amid Republican infighting over its contents. In the meantime, the NPS has already taken several recent blows: In February, the Department of the Interior, in conjunction with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, laid off 1,000 probationary employees, including park rangers. Another 700 workers took buyouts at the time. Early this month, the department announced plans to cut another 1,500 NPS staff members. As a result of understaffing, multiple parks, like the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado, have been forced to cut hours and close visitors centers, which is especially problematic given that visitors to national parks hit an all-time high last year. All the while, the Trump administration has put public lands themselves at risk by fast-tracking drilling, mining, and logging initiatives in just the first few months of his presidency. Why public parks matter across party lines Trust for Public Land's new report finds that the majority of Americans have positive associations with their public parks, regardless of political affiliation. The study shows that 79% of U.S. adults report having a park where they feel comfortable and want to visit regularly. In addition, 65% of adults report having a positive conversation in a park with a stranger over the last year, and 70% support keeping schoolyards open for the community after-hours. For those looking to live somewhere with better access to public outdoor space, the report also includes rankings of the nation's best big-city park systems. This year, Washington, D.C., came in first, followed by Irvine, California; Minneapolis; and Cincinnati. Perhaps most notably among the results, both Trump 2024 and Harris 2024 voters agree that they would pay more in taxes to improve the quality of local conservation lands, natural areas, and neighborhood parks—including 58% of Trump voters and 85% of Harris voters. 'Access to the outdoors is one of the things that we all resonate around,' says Trust for Public Land president and CEO Carrie Besnette Hauser. 'It doesn't matter whether a community leans red or blue.' In last year's election cycle, Hauser notes, TPL supported 23 ballot measures around parks, public lands, and access to nature—all of which were passed. That included several measures in ultraconservative counties in Florida and Georgia, where constituents approved projects to protect wildlife, improve water quality, and reduce damage from floods. Given the broader trends uncovered both by voting results and by polling, Hauser says the Trump administration's proposed budget cuts to the NPS and nationally managed public lands run 'completely counter to what people want,' adding, 'Any proposal to continue to undercut [public lands] will actually be a disservice to the American people, because they just don't support that notion. It would be counter to any polling, any expression of interest around people's interest in protecting these places, conserving these places, and having access to these places.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
OSU buys over 3,000 acres of research forest northwest of Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon State University, in partnership with the Trust For Public Land (TPL), has officially acquired 3,110 acres for a new research forest just north of Portland for conservation and recreation purposes. According to TPL, the forest area is found within the proximity of Forest Park in the Tualatin Mountains, contains 40 miles of protected trails, as well as over 20 miles of creeks. TripAdvisor names 3 Oregon hotels among best in the US in 2025 The land – which TPL and OSU refer to as the Tualatin Mountain Forest – will be managed by the College of Forestry at OSU and serve as 'living outdoor classrooms' for students and 'living laboratories' for OSU, as well as other institutions to research forest resilience, habitat restoration, timber production and wildfire risk reduction. Eventually, OSU intends to also open use of the Tualatin Mountain Forest to the public for outdoor recreation and explore partnerships with K-12 schools for nature-based education programs. 'The Tualatin Mountain Forest will offer incredible opportunities for educational programming, public access, and the co-identification of research and management priorities with Tribes, including the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, on whose ancestral lands the forest is located,' said Tom DeLuca, dean of the OSU's College of Forestry. East Portland's new Parklane Park bursts to life He added, 'We're so thankful to our partners who helped establish the Tualatin Mountain Forest as an OSU Research Forest. This forest gives us the rare chance to research and demonstrate new and different approaches to active management, and to showcase how timber harvest, research and access to nature-based recreation and education can beautifully support our economies, urban communities and our understanding of forest ecosystems.' Along with TPL and OSU, the partnership coalition also includes Metro, Oregon Department of Forestry and other local community organizations. But OSU is the primary owner of the acreage. With the acquisition of the Tualatin Mountain Forest, the College of Forestry now manages 10 research forests across Oregon, totaling more than 18,000 acres. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
