Parks

This week Let's Travel! celebrates the free and open access US Americans and visitors from around the world have who visit any of the park-sites in the Continental US, and particularly in the New York region and what they have to offer all of us. We will hear from several park experts as they fill us in on all the details. Who knows, you might even discover some great parks for yourself for this July 4th weekend!








Guests

---

David Barna, Director of Communications & Public Affairs
National Park Service


David Barna is the director of communications and public affairs for the National Park Service (since 1995). The NPS manages the 391 units of the National Park System, including national parks, battlefields, seashores, parkways, historic sites, recreation areas, and monuments.

During his 33 years of Federal service he has been the director of public affairs for the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Mines; science advisor to the Assistant Secretary of the Interior; and manager of environmental research for the Dept. of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Unusual assignments include serving as the trek leader on two news media expeditions across Antarctica to the South Pole, dredging manganese crusts from the Pacific seafloor in the Marshall Islands, and living on Midway Atoll in the Pacific for a year.

He served as the president of the jury for an international film festival in Italy, and is a judge for the national engineering excellence awards. He also recently retired as a Navy reserve Commander and Gulf War veteran. He is a registered professional Geologist, he holds a BS degree in geology and a Master's degree in environmental planning from Virginia Tech.


Click here for an colorful, informative pamphlet on the National Parks Service.







Maria Burks, Manager and superintendent of Manhattan Sites
National Parks of New York Harbor


Maria Burks, a manager for the National Park Service, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Anthropology. She has worked for the National Park Service since 1973. She joined the Service at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, where she served as a park ranger, giving tours and managing special events during the Bicentennial.

After a transfer to Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Francisco in 1983, Ms. Burks served as the Bay District Ranger, managing such diverse resources as a regional visitor center and Alcatraz Island, home of the famous penitentiary.

In 1989 she was named Superintendent of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, a Civil War park, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Subsequently, Ms. Burks served for two years as Special Assistant to the Director in Washington, working on a number of internal reform and reorganization projects.

In 1995 she became Superintendent of Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, overseeing over 43,000 acres of ocean and bay beaches, historic lighthouses, salt marshes, kettle ponds and remnants of centuries of human habitation.

Each of Ms. Burks' assignments has had varied responsibilities. These have included developing and presenting many types of public programming, directing protection programs for threatened endangered species, and designing multi-year communications and marketing strategies. She has traveled to Russia several times to work with Russian conservationists on joint efforts in Russian and U.S. National Parks.

In June of 2004 she became the Acting Commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor, and in July of 2005 was officially designated to this position as a Senior Executive Service member. In this role she coordinates the work of four national park superintendents across a broad range of funding and programmatic endeavors to maximize efficiencies and generate additional support. The four national parks include Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, Governors Island National Monument, Manhattan Sites and Gateway National Recreation Area, all on or near New York Harbor. In February of 2007, she was also named superintendent of Manhattan Sites, a unit of the National Parks of New York Harbor consisting of six sites in and around Manhattan.



About the National Parks of New York Harbor

The National Parks of New York Harbor consists of 10 national parks, and one affiliated site, in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. With 23 unique destinations, these National Parks include nearly 27,000 acres and welcome more than 12 million visitors each year. Six of the 10 national parks are located in Manhattan: African Burial Ground National Monument, General Grant National Memorial, Hamilton Grange National Memorial, Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, Castle Clinton National Monument, Federal Hall National Memorial, and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, an affiliated site. St. Paul's Church National Historic Site is located in Westchester County, NY. The other parks are the Gateway National Recreation Area, located in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Sandy Hook, NJ, the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, and Governors Island National Monument.


For more information, visit www.nps.gov/npnh








David D. Williams, Executive Director
Carl Schurz Park Association


David D. Williams has been the Executive Director of the Carl Schurz Park Association for the past two years, having served as President of the Board for seven years prior. Previous hats worn include President of the Dylan Group, LLC, a Manhattan full-service marketing and communications agency serving the publishing and nonprofit industries. And a lengthy career in magazine publishing and marketing in New York City.

He has been an Upper East Side resident for over 30 years.



About the Carl Schurz Park Association

Carl Schurz Park Association is the oldest private fundraising Parks organization in New York City. Founded in the early 1970s, the Association cut its teeth in the Parks arena through critical fundraising initiatives to save the Carl Schurz Park playgrounds from precipitous decline during the financial crises early in the decade.

Now, with over 1500 community members, the Association has a $350,000 annual budget that funds capital projects and programs to restore, maintain and enhance Carl Schurz Park, a 15 acre waterfront Park running from East 84th Street to East 90th Street, hard by the East River.

Association-sponsored events include a series of world-class open-air concerts and films, an extensive array of children's events, the Halloween Howl -- a holiday tradition that draws over 300 costumed dogs to compete for prizes, a Holiday Tree Lighting and the Gracie Square Art Show, generally considered one of the highest quality outdoor art shows in the Northeast.

The Association, a 501 (c) 3, attracts legions of volunteers who work on its committees, from gardening to in-park events and overall Park improvement. In 2006 the Park dog run -- about to undergo a $170,000 renovation -- was chosen one of the top ten dog parks by Dog Fancy Magazine.


The Association's website is www.carlschurzparknyc.org