NAI Blog

In February I was at the Region 4 Workshop in Dorset, Ontario, with 100+ members of National Association for Interpretation (NAI). We all went on an outing to Algonquin Provincial Park one day.  That evening we planned to attempt to hear the eastern wolves howl.  About 100 of us stood quietly in the still of a northwoods night, waiting as a naturalist gave a short howl. The first and second howl brought no response. The woods was quiet. We waited for them to answer. Following the third howl a chorus of wolves erupted from the dark landscape. It was chilling and beautiful. I heard wild wolves howl in Canada, a first in my life and an unforgettable experience. It is the call of the wild, symbolic of wilderness.

Earlier that day we watched two wolves feeding on a moose carcass about 300 yards away from the Visitor Center at the park. We took turns at spotting scopes to watch  ravens and wolves move around the roadkill moose. It had been flown by helicopter to this safe location for people to watch it be recycled. Seeing the wolves in daytime and hearing them at night were two different, but equally wonderful experiences.

“This is our very first regional workshop in Canada.” said Rick Stronks, Chief of Interpretation at Algonquin. He served as Chair of the Region 4 Workshop in Dorset, Ontario, Canada. He and the local committee put on a great event. More than 100 attended with 60+ coming north across the border from Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Many made the trip on a very comfortable chartered bus. Region 4 leadership and the workshop committee really thought through the barriers to making this first regional workshop happen in Canada and removed most of them. The tough economy kept attendance lower than it might be in some years, but those in attendance were not disappointed.

At Algonquin we all toured their logging museum with a living history guide, which was great. Other offsite sessions had members cross-country skiing, dogsledding, visiting museums and other parks. The keynote speakers were excellent and concurrent sessions were diverse and useful. Region 4 always puts on a great workshop, but they broke new ice with this one. They took us to Canada and we enjoyed how similar it is to the U.S. and how different.

Julie Champion, Region 4 Director, and other leaders affirmed plans to take the workshop to Ontario one of every four years in a regular rotation with Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Crossing the border between nations has become more of an ordeal due to the 9/11 event and resulting security changes, but crossing borders has never been more important. Sharing ideas with colleagues around the world is enriching and reminds us that political borders are the creations of people. Ecosystems, challenges, stories and cultures in North America are shared across international boundaries. It was a great week with friends and colleagues – and we heard the wild wolves howl. Unforgettable!

-Tim Merriman

I’ve personally been involved with NAI or one of the two parent organizations, AIN or WIA for 34 years. I could have bought a life membership for $500 long ago, but did not do that at the time. It really would have been a bargain at that price. Membership was only $35 back then but 34 years of average costs of $50 a year mean that I paid a lot more for membership the way I approached it. I would encourage any of you who think you want to stay involved for life to make the commitment sooner, not later.

NAI’s new Enos Mills Fund is an opportunity for members to contribute to the long term sustainability of the association while becoming a life member. Life membership is one of the steps in this long term investment in NAI and the profession. In December of 2008 about 30 National Association for Interpretation (NAI) members bought life memberships, some on the three-year payment plan. They took advantage of the chance to do that before the prices went from $1,250 to $1,500 for Life Membership on January 1, 2009. Over the years 227 members have made this commitment to become Life Members of the association.

We recently rolled the Life Membership into the Enos Mills Fund. What that means simply is that any unrestricted donation you make to NAI above your annual membership cost will be tracked in a cumulative fund in your name. When that fund reaches the current cost of a Life Membership ($1500), you have that status of being a Life Member and an Enos Mills Trailblazer donor. You can vary the amounts of extra donations to what you can afford to do, but they will eventually add up to a Life Membership if you make the effort.

Life Member funds and all unrestricted donations to the Enos Mills Fund are designed to create stability for NAI. The Enos Mills fund helps protect NAI much the way a savings account protects a family during difficult times and we certainly know what that feels like now as individuals and as organizations.

Our professional family in NAI like most of our personal families has annual financial obligations that membership income only partially covers. Extra contributions and the earned income from store sales, training courses, speaking fees, and other endeavors make up the difference in what member fees do not cover. Membership income covers only about 40% of  the costs of providing services to members. 

Bradley Block, former Region V Director and Chief of Interpretation at the National Park Service site, Jewel Cave National Monument, is now chair of the Enos Mills Development Committee. He will be working with President Jim Covel, myself and other staff to grow this unrestricted fund for NAI over the next few years and we appreciate his dedication and support very much. If you have questions about what level of giving is common with members, please feel free to contact Bradley directly at (605) 673-8330.  He has worked for an academic museum of natural history, rural county conservation board, one of the largest state parks in the country, and currently one of the longest caves in the world.  He has networked with an assortment of professionals in the field of interpretation and is familiar with the history of how members have responded to fundraising efforts over the years.

If you are a member, we appreciate your involvement in this professional network very much. If you are not, please think about joining us. If you are a donor to the Enos Mills Fund, thanks for your extra effort. We wish a special thanks to our many Life Members. We  hope others you will consider this “NAI for Life” option. If you have donated to the Enos Mills fund, check to see if your gift is properly recognized  here. If you wish to donate click here. Please contact me with any questions you have at any time. 

-Tim Merriman

More than 140 NAI members showed up at Barkley Resort Lodge near Cadiz, Kentucky, in mid-February for NAI’s Region 3 Workshop. I flew in from Colorado and joined them for the event and met many old friends and made a lot of new ones. The presentations were great and on varied topics. The field trips were fun and the networking was wonderful. Concurrent sessions covered a wide range of topics.

I especially enjoyed a presentation by Michael Kirschman of Mecklenburg County, NC, on “What are they Worth? The True Value of Nature Preserves.” He assessed the varied values of county preserves in economic terms using respected practices.

He pointed out that air and water quality are important local issues. He used City Green Software to determine that trees within the county nature preserves remove 458,325 lbs of air pollution per year. He found studies that indicate “air pollution reduction benefit valued at $1.30/tree/year. That’s a total value of $2,210,000 per year in air quality value per year. Their nature preserve budget is only slightly less than that so the trees create a local benefit equal to or greater than the cost of management and interpreting the preserves to people.

Michael showed aerial photographs that demonstrated how Mecklenburg County and Charlotte have grown and will have developed 97% of the counties lands by 2030. What they preserve now is all that will be available in the future.

He went on to talk about Dr. John Crompton’s “proximity effect” that points out that homes next to nature preserves have greater value just due to proximity. Olmstead proved that with Central Park in New York City in 1850. The increased value of land around Mecklenburg County due to proximity to nature preserves has increased annual tax revenues by more than one million dollars.

I cannot begin to relate the power of his presentation in this brief blog but it was very compelling because he uses data to show the incredible economic value of open space in his home county. This is the language of county managers, commissioners and councils. Interpreters who can learn to do what Michael has done so convincingly can make an argument for parks and open space that really has a chance of working in political circles. The total environmental, economic and social value he estimated for Mecklenburg county nature preserves amounts to more than 12 million dollars per year in that one county as a conservative estimate.

I once read that each elephant in Kenya has $40,000 in economic value to Kenya. It’s a great statistic and you can imagine how influential that argument is in getting political officials to value preserves to capture tourist dollars. But that’s in Kenya. Michael is applying this approach in North Carolina. It can be done in any community and could help local officials understand the incredible economic value of open space in terms that matter to them.

Just as we have to know our audience to be effective as interpreters, we need to understand the point of view of administrators and political officials who control our operating budgets. Translating the value of public lands and historic sites into economic terms could help them value your program.

If you have not been to a regional workshop this year, in recent years or ever, take a look at the NAI website for those coming up soon and think about attending one. You will find them to be great programming and fellowship. What have you attended lately that inspired you? Comments are always welcome.

- Tim Merriman