The National Recreation and Park Association lists a seventeen-page roster by state of names of licensed, certified, and registered professionals and technicians in the field of parks and recreation in this article. (JD)

This article points out the need for higher standards and a more structured system for the registration and certification of students in the field of parks and recreation. (JD)

Describes Cheney's successful use of volunteers in parks and recreation programs. They raised funds, worked for park maintenance and improvement, and organized sports programs and special events. Reports survey results from Washington communities on voluntary efforts of fraternal and social organizations, businesses, and senior and youth groups.…

A nontraditional public workshop for respondents to a survey and other community members was conducted to explore state park-related issues important to a Massachusetts community. This paper discusses the workshop format, summarizes some of the major findings, and discusses some of the benefits and challenges of conducting such workshops. (LZ)

This study compares teachers' and children's perceptions of various natural settings (river, pond, or marsh; deep woods; interpretive paths; county parks; open fields; urban nature; and school site settings). Sets of photographs were used to assess preference and comfort level during interviews with classroom teachers and children. (LZ)

Explores the intrapersonal hypothesis of solitude using survey research methodologies. Objectives were to develop procedures for measuring the solitude achieved during single wilderness experiences; and to identify those factors influencing the amount or level of solitude obtained, and to compare these with factors influencing crowd perceptions.…

This address given to the Division of Interpretation, Yellowstone National Park, Interpretive Training, June 1993, examines successes and failures in interpretive programs for adults and children in light of Tilden's principles. (LZ)

The "Success Garden" in central Harlem, New York, is an outdoor learning center sponsored by city agencies and civic organizations. School children helped clear the ground and design and build the park. Offers tips for starting a school garden. (MLF)

Discusses the increasing crime rate in America's park and wilderness areas. Provides statistics and facts from six popular recreational areas. (LZ)

Using discovery stations offers solutions for increasing attendance at park interpretive programs. Compact, portable stations can be used in playgrounds, special events, trailheads, picnic areas, campgrounds, nursing homes, and scouts and day camps. Describes a case in which stations were used 85 times and reached 4,927 visitors between July 1996…

This review of literature focuses on the need to balance work and leisure rather than choosing one over the other, noting that the American work ethic extols work rather than leisure. After discussing the role of work and leisure, the paper examines leisure education's role in understanding the relationship between the two. (SM)

Employed the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale among a sample of undergraduate students in the United States. Analysis revealed a supportive and sympathetic attitude towards the environment. Students expressed the importance of environmental issues and lacked awareness. (SAH)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching beliefs of non-formal environmental educators who work in state and local parks. Findings reveal that teaching beliefs are much more complex than purported in the literature. Three broad insights are offered: including roles and responsibilities of the non-formal environmental educator,…

Auditory forms of nonpersonal communication have rarely been evaluated in informal settings like parks and museums. This study evaluated the effect of an interpretive audio tour on visitor knowledge and social behavior at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. A cross-sectional pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design compared the responses of audio…

Most often associated with international development programs, local nonformal education, which is practiced in cultural (museums), historical (memorials, battlefields), natural (parks), and commercial (craft, home improvement clinics) settings, has received little substantive attention in the United States. In response, this case study explored…