{"id":27541,"date":"2019-05-17T14:14:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-17T18:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=27541"},"modified":"2019-05-17T14:15:42","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T18:15:42","slug":"maryland-park-service-announced-as-finalist-for-the-2019-national-gold-medal-awards-in-parks-and-recreation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2019\/05\/17\/maryland-park-service-announced-as-finalist-for-the-2019-national-gold-medal-awards-in-parks-and-recreation\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Park Service Named Finalist for the 2019 National Gold Medal Awards in Parks and Recreation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland Competes for Prestigious Honor<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/12\/Parks-Collage.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-19416\" src=\"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/12\/Parks-Collage-218x300.png\" alt=\"Collage of rangers embedded in Parks crest\" width=\"350\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/12\/Parks-Collage-218x300.png 218w, https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/12\/Parks-Collage.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a>The<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aapra.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (AAPRA), in partnership with the<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrpa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Recreation and Park Association<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (NRPA), is pleased to announce the <a href=\"http:\/\/dnr.maryland.gov\/publiclands\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maryland Park Service<\/a> as a finalist for the 2019 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Founded in 1965, the Gold Medal Awards program honors communities in the U.S. that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation through long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development, and agency recognition. Applications are separated into seven classes, with five classes based on population, one class for armed forces recreation, and one class for state park systems awarded on odd numbered years.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Maryland Park Service is a finalist in the State Parks category. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Maryland\u2019s State Park system, one of the oldest in the nation, encompasses 75 parks, protecting 140,000 acres of the state\u2019s most significant natural, cultural, and historical resources for the enjoyment of more than 14 million visitors annually.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Agencies are judged on their ability to address the needs of those they serve through the collective energies of community members, staff, and elected officials. The Maryland Park Service joins three other finalists in their class that will compete for grand honors this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe are thrilled to be in the running for the Gold Medal,\u201d said Maryland Park Service Superintendent Nita Settina. \u201cTo be considered one of the best state park agencies in the country is a great honor. We hope this recognition encourages even more people to connect with the beauty and serenity Maryland State Parks offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">A panel of five park and recreation professionals reviews and judges all application materials. Judges are chosen for their considerable experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both the local and national levels. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This year\u2019s finalists will compete for Grand Plaque Award honors this summer, and the seven Grand Plaque recipients will be announced live during the NRPA General Session at the 2019 NRPA Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, Sept. 24\u201326, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>For more information on the Gold Medal Awards, visit<\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nrpa.org\/goldmedal\"> <b>www.nrpa.org\/goldmedal<\/b><\/a><b> or<\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aapra.org\/\"> <b>www.aapra.org<\/b><\/a><b>. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maryland Competes for Prestigious Honor The American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), is pleased to announce the Maryland Park Service as a finalist for the 2019 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Founded in 1965, the Gold Medal<a href=\"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2019\/05\/17\/maryland-park-service-announced-as-finalist-for-the-2019-national-gold-medal-awards-in-parks-and-recreation\/\">&nbsp;&nbsp;Read the Rest&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,12],"tags":[3006],"class_list":["post-27541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-parks","tag-nita-settina"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27541"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27547,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27541\/revisions\/27547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}