Perspectives: the two most boring words? Strategic planning is necessary for success.

Like most people, I used to think the words strategic planning" were among the two most boring in the English language.

Then, something happened to change my mind. While serving in the environmental and health department of an association representing the paper and forest product industries, a virtual bombshell hit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had unexpectedly discovered traces of dioxin in rivers downstream from paper mills in Maine. Further studies revealed that dioxin was present in the effluent coming from these mills and that it was being produced inadvertently in the mills as part of the paper bleaching process.

Some may recall that dioxin is considered one of the most toxic chemicals known. It was the active ingredient used in the defoliant Agent Orange during the Vietnam War and was blamed for many of the serious postwar illnesses.

Paper and forest product company executives were in a panic. Luckily, significant economic tremors of this magnitude never occurred. The reason was that industry leaders immediately came together to develop an extensive strategic plan. It included a comprehensive set of tactics to counter the expected government and public response. It also included a technology plan with a huge commitment of funds to find and fix the problem. A public panic was avoided and the industry continued to prosper. Happily, we know of no such crisis facing the field of parks and recreation.

We know, however, that the field is facing several significant challenges. For example, the conflict in Iraq and the preference of the current Administration is making less funding available for domestic spending in general and for parks and recreation in particular.

We know that funding for parks and recreation at the local level is increasingly threatened by the need to fund other municipal services like police, fire and education.

We know that a significant number of park and recreation professionals are retiring at the same time that the number of young professionals coming into the field is seemingly declining.

How can your association help with these challenges? What is the overall strategy and what are the specific objectives and tactics necessary to assure that the field thrives in the face of these challenges?

These are the questions being faced this summer by NRPA's Strategic Planning Committee, which is a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees. The group, chaired by President-elect Tom Farrell, director of the Park and Recreation District in Brunswick, Maine, is preparing a proposed plan that will be presented to the Board during the Annual Congress in Seattle, Wash., in October. A draft will be circulated to all branches and regional councils prior to the October meeting, and comments will be solicited.

In the meantime, you may have some thoughts on the major challenges facing parks and recreation and on the strategies to deal with them. Some of these challenges might be happening only in your community now, but may soon spread. Send us these ideas so that we can start a discussion in the magazine. Strategic planning truly isn't boring after all.

John Thorner

NRPA Executive Director