Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Agency gets state ready to host national park meeting
Arkansas State Parks Director Grady Spann hopped down from his seat at a barheight table that had the agency’s logo etched in the center.
He then animatedly pointed to a tri-fold white board hanging just outside his office.
Different colors of dryerase ink were linked to the names of individual parks employees with a laundry list of tasks and ideas below them.
“We’ve been working on this since August,” Spann said, reading some of the assignments out loud. “This is just the surface. Everyone has their assigned areas that they’re working on and making sure those things are moving right along.”
This month, board members and staff from the National Association of State Park Directors — a nonprofit group, composed of the nation’s state and U.S. territory park directors, that works to promote and advance the state park systems of America — will descend on Arkansas to give their stamp of approval on preparations for the 2019 national conference.
The national conference, which will be held at the Embassy Suites in Rogers from Sept. 2-6, was last hosted by the state in 1968 in Hot Springs.
“That was 51 years ago,” Spann said in a recent interview. “Arkansas has changed a little bit since 1968. We’re really excited about showcasing the innovation and the development of our state parks. Arkansas really has become a tourist attraction for so many people. Our state parks system is very much respected across the nation.”
Each year, the conference is hosted by a different state and typically attracts about 300 attendees.
Spann said he knew early on after he took charge of the Parks Division of the state Department of Parks and Tourism three years ago that he wanted to throw Arkansas’ hat in the ring to get the conference. The highly competitive bidding process requires support from a state’s top brass, detailed plans with solid logistics and a rough draft of what a state’s park system has to offer its national counterparts.
“It’s not an easy job to put this conference on because my peers are going to be looking at what we do,” Spann said. “We are going to be in a fishbowl.”
GOVERNOR ONBOARD
Getting Gov. Asa Hutchinson onboard was a piece of cake, Spann said. Hutchinson quickly submitted a letter personally inviting the national organization to Arkansas.
“The Natural State has much to offer this conference and to share with the nation’s park directors. It would be an honor to have each of you experience our unique state
parks system, which is a critical part of our tourism industry and an essential element of the special quality of life we enjoy here in Arkansas,” Hutchinson said in the July 20, 2017, letter. “You will experience the important partnerships our parks share with attractions and resources at the local and federal levels as well as with the private sector.”
Hutchinson said in a recent email that he knows once the members “have spent a week here, we will have won their hearts.”
“This is an important opportunity for Arkansas to show the rest of the nation what we already know – that the Natural State is the natural choice for almost every outdoor activity,” Hutchinson said. “Every chance I get, I brag about the beauty of our state, which is on display in our 52 state parks. After the convention, we’ll have a lot of people returning to their states who will do our bragging for us.”
SEEKING INNOVATION
Spann’s eyes brightened as he slapped an 8-by-5.5-inch mock-up of the convention program on the table. The conference theme will be, “Honoring Tradition, Seeking Innovation.”
“This bridge right here,” Spann said, pointing to the cover photo of the 1934 masonry-arch Davies Bridge in Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton. “This was our first state park. Richard Davies used to be our state director. His grandfather was the first park superintendent at Petit Jean. We’re honoring that tradition, but we’re also seeking innovation.”
Richard Davies worked for the Department of Parks and Tourism for more than four decades, beginning in 1973. Davies eventually became head of the Parks Division and then was named department director in 1990. He retired in 2015.
Examples of the “innovation” part of the theme are bountiful in the state, Spann said.
Rogers was chosen as the conference spot because of its new walking and biking trails and Lake Fort Smith State Park, the state’s newest, is just a ride down the road.
“It’s just a phenomenal example of what a great state park should be,” Spann said. “Hobbs State Park up there is also a great example of how we are, through innovation, really working on the preservation and conservation of natural areas.”
Perhaps the most intriguing to park directors around the nation is Arkansas’ oneeighth percent conservation tax, Spann said. Only a handful of states have something like it.
The state’s voters passed Amendment 75 in 1996, authorizing the one-eighth percent state sales tax to maintain and improve the state’s natural heritage. The funds collected each year are doled out to departments like the Parks and Tourism Department and the Game and Fish Commission to use for things including updating parks, building new facilities or adding new programs.
On the last night of 2018’s conference, held in Sedona, Ariz., Spann invited everyone to Arkansas and gave them a lifetime pass of free entry to any Arkansas state parks.
NO ENTRY FEES
Spann laughed and said the group was shocked when he told it that all of the state parks in Arkansas have no entry fees, thanks to the conservation tax.
“The tax has really changed our lives,” Spann said. “It changed our ability in the way we can provide exceptional quality campsites, lodging, restaurants, everything you associate with the parks, we can do it very well.”
The National Association of State Parks Directors conference will cost around $170,000 to produce, Spann said. The costs are fully funded through the national association, which also charges the attendees a registration fee.
Vendor exhibit booths cost from $2,500 to $6,000 each and sponsorships go from a $5,000 bronze level to the top $20,000 platinum presenting sponsorship.
“You know what a yurt is?” Spann asked excitedly, referring to portable round tents. “They set those up in the conference area because they want those directors to experience what that yurt is all about. Our vendor space is really, really critical.”
It’s a great opportunity, Spann said, for Arkansas contractors to earn national business.
“A great example of that, is all these people building these mountain bike trails are all wanting to be vendors at this because, guess what? They want to build in all 50 states, not just Arkansas,” Spann said. “All 50 states’ major land managers are going to be there.”
Arizona Parks and Trails spokesman Neil Large said the 2018 conference was a game-changer for his state.
“The NASPD Conference brought nationwide attention to the Arizona State Parks System, our host city Sedona, and to top park professionals from across the country,” Large said. “It was a great opportunity to showcase the beauty and diversity of Arizona, while demonstrating the skills and dedication of the Arizona State Parks and Trails team.”
Spann said this year’s conference is a great opportunity for “every entry point into the state of Arkansas” to welcome leaders from every state in the nation and even from Canada.
“They’re either going to drive here or fly here, but they’re going to come through your town someway, somehow,” Spann said.
During her boss’s visit with a reporter, Parks planning specialist Kelly Farrell walked into the room to ask Spann a question. Grinning, he asked her to gauge his level of excitement about hosting the conference.
Farrell’s eyes dramatically widened, and she splayed her arms wide open.
“Yes, definitely excited,” Farrell said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to showcase Arkansas.”
Spann grinned.
“It’s going to be great,” he said. “It’s going to be just super great.”