Do you have a goose issue in your park, too much poo, too much noise, scaring the kiddos? Take a look at how the City of Cupertino is going to try and handle their overabundance of geese in City Parks.
“Cupertino lets dogs loose to fix goose problem at parks” by Matt Wilson
by Kathleen Benedict, Chair of Parks and Recreation PPN
Over the years our municipality has taken out outdoor fitness courses or seen them severely underutilized. Could it be because of our weather here in Colorado? Perhaps, but maybe this new effort to design attractive and unique fitness solutions specific to outdoor parks will reopen opportunities to provide this sort of service in our parks. I am particularly intrigued by the City Art Gym information posted in this article.
‘Fitness parks’ catch on in cities
by Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY, December 14, 2012
HORIZONS: On the move with Fitness Zones
Trust for Public Lands, February 12, 2012
With the 2012 Annual Meeting in the Southwest this month, we wanted to highlight a project from the region, Mather Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
Landscape architects and designers are constantly faced with the challenge of designing safe and attractive play areas. One particularly important aspect is the need for shade and weather protection. The importance of adding shade to playgrounds has come to the forefront as daycare owners and playground designers realize the importance of sun protection, especially for children who are particularly susceptible to the sun’s damaging effects.
Climbing into the arms of a sweet smelling southern magnolia tree, splashing in the miniature waterfalls of a limestone lined creek, and sifting through a playground of pea gravel in search of ancient sea fossils are a few of my treasured memories of enjoying the freedom to explore the natural world that surrounded me as a child.
Due to shifting societal priorities, children today have fewer opportunities to engage in these types of open-ended activities than their parents did just a generation ago. In his 2005 book, “Last Child in the Woods”, Richard Louv draws on decades of research from various disciplines and summarizes that, due to this trend, kids in the U.S. are suffering from what he terms “nature-deficit disorder.”