National Park Service Announces First Program Office in Arkansas, Located at U of A
Rivers and Trails office will be in Vol Walker Hall
Monday, October 22, 2012
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Rivers, Trails, and Conservation
Assistance Program of the National Park Service is establishing its
first office in the state of Arkansas. It will be located alongside the
Fay Jones School of Architecture in Vol Walker Hall, currently under
renovation, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
The
program, commonly called “Rivers and Trails,” is the community
assistance arm of the National Park Service. It supports community-led
natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation projects. The
Rivers and Trails program does not fund projects; it provides technical
and professional assistance for communities to help them conserve
rivers, preserve open space and develop trails and greenways. The
program offers strategic planning, partnership development, trail and
water planning, project guidance, funding strategies, public engagement,
meeting facilitation, marketing assistance, open space conservation and
greenway plans.
Guy Headland, outdoor recreation planner, will
be responsible for projects in Arkansas, southern Missouri and southern
Kansas. He will operate from an office provided by the Fay Jones School
of Architecture, the administrative offices of which are currently
located in the E.J. Ball building near the downtown square. Headland’s
office will move into Vol Walker Hall once renovations on that building
are completed in fall 2013.
Headland’s position is funded by the National Park Service.
The
Rivers and Trails program office was previously located in St. Louis.
Terry Eastin of Fayetteville worked with the office on a trail project
in Little Rock, in her capacity as co-owner of Eastin Outdoors Inc., a
company that plans, designs and builds trails. Eastin began talking with
National Park Service officials three years ago about relocating the
office to Fayetteville. Eastin also presented the idea of housing the
office at the University of Arkansas, and worked with Jeff Shannon, dean
of the Fay Jones School, who strongly supported the concept and helped
see it to fruition.
“It’s wonderful to have such a tremendous
advocate for natural and cultural sustainability as NPS on campus, and a
relationship between the Fay Jones School and Rivers and Trails is a
natural,” Shannon said.
Eastin said Headland’s presence will be
good for university students, giving landscape architecture students,
for instance, access to his expertise for presentations, project reviews
and possible internships. Headland may also be able to connect students
to community projects for design studios and research.
“It’s a huge benefit to the university, the students and the community,” Eastin said.
Headland
also can begin interacting with local groups, such as the Illinois
River Watershed Partnership, the Northwest Arkansas Bicycle Coalition,
the Fayetteville Natural Heritage Association, as well as city officials
in the region.
“The city of Fayetteville, and all of Northwest
Arkansas, is pleased to welcome the National Park Service Rivers,
Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program to the city of Fayetteville
and the University of Arkansas,” said Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
“This signature program is the community service arm of the National
Park Service. Projects like the Razorback Greenway, our Fayetteville
trails system, and other river-related conservation projects will be
greatly enhanced by having a Rivers and Trails office in our town.
Conserving natural resources and building a signature trail system for
the citizens of Fayetteville is a key priority for our city.”
Richard
Davies, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Parks and
Tourism, praised the move. “To have a Rivers and Trails office
co-located within the Fay Jones School of Architecture is a perfect fit.
It will give all of us in Arkansas another resource to help keep us The
Natural State,” he said.
Guy Headland is the former owner of
Headland Landscape Architecture in Springfield, Mo., and is a registered
landscape architect in Missouri and an inactive license holder in
Arkansas. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration from
Mississippi State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from
Louisiana State University.
Headland is also a LEED-accredited
professional, the only landscape architect in southwest Missouri with
that designation. His 11 years of experience include park and recreation
master planning, trails design, campus master planning, streetscape
design, and site design for schools, medical/dental clinics,
entertainment venues and retail centers.
The National Park
Service was his inspiration for studying landscape architecture in the
hopes of promoting recreational opportunities for the broader public
with a focus on good design and conservation principles.
More information about the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program is available at:
http://www.nps.gov/ncrc/programs/rtca/index.htm
Contacts:
Jeff Shannon, dean
Fay Jones School of Architecture
479-575-2702,
jshannon@uark.edu
Michelle Parks, director of communications
Fay Jones School of Architecture
479-575-4704,
mparks17@uark.edu
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