Finding trailblazers at home: advocates for parks and recreation are in your own neighborhood, ready for action.

Almost everyone has been struggling with budget cuts, less government support and an increased public demand for more service. All of this comes at a time when the public's awareness of the value of parks and recreation to combat health issues is at an all-time high, making it necessary for agencies to do more with less.

At NRPA's National Legislative Forum on Parks and Recreation in February, it became apparent that regardless of what side of the political aisle you sit on, parks and recreation are important assets to any rural or urban community. More than 400 delegates from 48 states represented the association, and took our message to House and Senate legislators who are faced with difficult domestic budget cuts in light of international events. Exit reports from our delegates were encouraging and positive, but reveal that follow-up will be vital to keeping the needs of parks and recreation on each congressperson's list of things to protect and provide.

NRPA members in each state need to organize a state-wide effort to write or call their legislators about the importance of parks and recreation. Letters and calls from park and recreation professionals, citizens and supporters can be extremely powerful, and carry more weight with legislators than you may think.

To be successful, professionals will have to forge partnerships with citizens and advocates in their communities. We have seen how successful these citizen-professional partnerships can be in our own association, and we need more citizen involvement now than ever before.

Many citizens are involved in multiple groups and associations that touch local officials in various ways. If we could expand our reach into these groups, awareness and support for parks and recreation would soar. I wonder what could be accomplished if we involve our users, as well as our agency, or council leaders in our quest to build a larger voice for parks and recreation.

There is a new column in Parks & Recreation magazine called Trailblazers. It recognizes those individuals that have helped parks and recreation grow to where it is today. NRPA also has many dedicated, highly skilled and well-informed citizens and professionals that are trailblazers in their own way. If every park and recreation entity within the country sought out their local trailblazers, and worked with them to emphasize the needs of their community to local and state officials, this would carry to the national level as well. It needs to be done, and I think we can do it.

Afterall, it starts in parks.