Maryland Park Service Leadership Meeting Notes: January 8, 2025

 Maryland Park Service Leadership Meeting Notes From 

January 8, 2025

Virtual

Attendees: Angela Crenshaw, Rachel Temby, Jonas Williams, Kenneth Miller, Andrew Hangen, Mark Spurrier, Mary Ironside, Dana Paterra, and Sarah Milbourne

Deputy Director Rachel Temby opened the meeting at 09:03 am because Director Crenshaw had a dental emergency and had to join late.

Capacity Closure Notification Presentation by Anthony Burrows and Tim Hamilton

• Burrows and Hamilton presented a capacity closure notification system that they developed.
• Each park can have multiple sections for their multiple areas, if needed.
• The State Duty Officer (SDO) and Maryland Park Service (MPS) Leadership will have access to the site.
• It will be used for weather, maintenance, and capacity closures.
• We plan to dry run this with winter weather closures.
• Paterra will do a Doodle Poll for when MPS Leadership can meet to discuss its possible implementation and work on a dry run.

Director Update with Angela Crenshaw

• MPS Leadership will host a virtual Town Hall on the plan for the Great Maryland Outdoors Act (GMOA) PINs on January 16th from 11 am to 1 pm.
• More GMOA PINs have been approved and hopefully the hiring will begin soon. These will not roll out as planned due to budget issues and the approval timeline being longer than anticipated. If the Park Management Teams at Tuckahoe, Gunpowder Falls, Seneca Creek, and Southern Maryland Recreational Complex have not already done so please work on your de-complexing plans so they can be presented to MPS Leadership. Tuckahoe has a great plan that Paterra shared with MPS Leadership, it can be used as a model.
• I am continuing to work on the following classification issues with the Department of Budget and Management and Human Resources:
• The supervisory titles that were added to classifications. In the short term this will cause certain positions to be vacant longer than desired.
• Park Services Supervisor versus State Park Ranger Supervisor. In the short term we will have two different classifications for one job until this is resolved.
• The possibility of MPS hosting summer interns was discussed. Regional managers will gauge the interest of their teams.
• Another meeting with the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) was discussed.
• The process for Gwynns Falls State Park is well underway. A press release was published and the next steps are meetings with the focus groups, Stakeholder Advisory Committee, and continued coordination between the Project Partners. Gwynns Falls State Park will not become a part of Patapsco Valley or Gunpowder Falls State Parks.
• The day-use reservation request for proposals will be posted soon. It will apply to Greenbrier, Point Lookout, Newtowne Neck, Sandy Point and North Point State Parks as pilot parks.
• Conley, Crenshaw, and Milbourne’s White House visit on December 12th was discussed. Thank you to Milbourne for composing a wonderful article about our time in Washington D.C.
• Crenshaw’s goal for this year is hiring, hiring, hiring, and more hiring. I will need everyone’s help being on interview panels. Please apply for any positions that you are interested in.
• Reminders
• If someone has an attorney, do not speak with them, they should have their attorney contact our attorney. If you need legal advice, please move that request up your chain of command.
• If a case is in litigation, it cannot be discussed.
• We have access to some knowledgeable and helpful attorneys, please use them.

Deputy Director Update with Rachel Temby

• The Leadership Team wishes to express appreciation to all for holiday coverage and the multitude of innovative First Day Hike events this year, making this annual tradition appealing and accessible to visitors across Maryland.
• A brief update was provided from Monday’s Operations Team Meeting of Regional Managers. Topics discussed include Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) communications and procedures, winter weather operations and limited access, Natural Resources Police (NRP) response to agency vehicle accidents, personal equipment usage by Volunteers & Camp Hosts, bandwidth for summer internships, Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) program status, statewide geocaching policy, processing restitution checks and incident reporting, and the development of an operations tool kit and calendar for Regional Manager Team.
• Reporting procedures for weather-related closures were reviewed and discussed. As a reminder, in the case of a weather-influenced change in a park's operating status the procedure is as follows:

1. The park manager (or designee) alerts the Regional Manager, SDO, and Tim Hamilton of closure or operations changes.
2. The SDO then updates the Weather Event Status spreadsheet OR that region specific Regional Managers update that spreadsheet directly.
3. Tim Hamilton updates Facebook and X/Twitter.
4. The process is repeated for opening.

• Information and reminders were shared regarding the 2025 Legislative Session that starts today. Please review the email that was sent out and direct any questions or outreach through your Regional Manager to the unit legislative liaisons - Ken, Rachel, and Angie.
• Park Management teams are reminded to update Emergency Response Plans and Emergency Action Plans this month for 2025.
• Signing authority for land management documents was briefly discussed.

Program Planning with Jonas Williams

• A record 445 projects were submitted for review in 2024. An updated “how-to”/checklist for the Project Review/Project Information Form will be sent out soon.
• Our Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) General Permit for Sustainable, Single Track Trail building/maintenance was renewed. A special thanks to Dan Hudson and his work to keep us legal/permitted until the end of 2027!
• The Park Service Depredation permit lapsed in 2024. While work continues, renewing the permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, please discontinue depredation practices (egg addling, migratory bird removal).

    Key Projects

• Planning for a restoration project at Chapel Point State Park is going well. The project will involve collaboration between Parks, Wildlife, Forestry, and the Piscataway Nation.
• The Greenwell State Park Restoration project starts soon. The early focus is on removing and treating invasive trees. Several permits for later phases of the project are pending, but some work can begin soon.
• The 5 Million Trees planting plans for Spring 2025 are essentially finalized, with the Forest Service already receiving the trees. Before plantings begin at Sang Run, Greenwell, Newtowne Neck, Patuxent River, Patapsco, Chapel Point, Susquehanna, Fair Hill, and Bohemia River State Parks, the boundaries of the planting areas are being confirmed. The final acreages are to be determined, but they will likely total several hundred acres of newly planted forest.
• The Conservation Services Agreement with Preservation Maryland is being finalized, and the Historic Sites and Structures Inventory should be completed soon. 

    Interpretation

• First Day Hikes were a wild success this year with the decent weather. Thirty-nine "Ranger Guided” First Day Hikes were offered throughout the state, with 2,266 people hiking over 5,260 miles on January 1st. Nearly 3,000 visitors completed “self-guided” hikes (with 2400 at Seneca Creek alone!). AllTrails tracked a 44% increase in trail page views related to MD First Day Hikes and a 170% increase in the number of people hiking the listed trails! Thank you to all staff who led hikes and devised creative ways to help visitors enjoy January 1st in parks!

Administration with Kenneth Miller

• All visitation numbers must be entered into the Google Sheet before 5pm on January 15th. After that time, the document will be locked, and no more edits can be made without special permission.
• The budget projection and actual spreadsheets need to be updated before January 21st, so headquarters staff can prepare for their mid-year budget meeting with Finance and Administrative Services. As a reminder, the fiscal month of December does not close until January 15th.
• Performance Planning and Evaluation Program (PEP) forms are due to Barb Knisely before January 30th. Review the guidelines provided in Barb’s email sent January 2nd to ensure all PEPs are properly submitted.
• Remember to sign up for spring training which includes the Park Service Town Halls, which is required for all employees, and refresher classes for any Emergency Medical Responders (EMRs).
• Training Division is hosting OSHA 10 and OSHA 30. OSHA  is recommended for Park Technicians and Leads to provide a better understanding of work site safety so individuals can provide daily direction/oversight that is in compliance with MOSH. OSHA 30 is more in-depth and recommended for the Park Maintenance Program Supervisors.
• Assigning emergency essential status to employees was discussed.

Regional Reports

North Central Region Report with Andrew Hangen

• The cabin project and the Mauldin Mountain project at Elk Neck State Park are going to the Board of Public Works today.
• Geocaching- We should be using the process developed in coordination with the MD Geocaching Society to issue permits to our visitors.
• Hunting recap meetings are being scheduled for the Central and Southern regions. All new hunting or trapping programs need to be approved by the director (per COMAR).

South Central Region Report with Mark Spurrier

• NRP response to state owned vehicle accidents will depend on the location. If outside of an DNR facility, they will call the local jurisdiction to respond. Staff should still call DNR Communication Center to request an officer for reports and NRP should dispatch the appropriate unit.
• The McKelden area of Patapsco Valley State Park well issues continue.

Southern Region Report with Mary Ironside

• Local history enthusiasts request for Camp Stanton archeological discovery will have to go through the internal review process.
• Questions/concerns/Issues involving elected officials should be forwarded to the appropriate regional manager before responding.
• Out-of-service training is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Eastern Region Report with Dana Paterra

• Parks in the East continue to dig out of the winter storm that dumped more than 10” of snow in some locations. Some locations remain closed due to consistent subfreezing temperatures and gale force winds.
• Tuckahoe recently received a request from arborists to climb trees in old growth forests on Wye Island. After some research and discussion, the request was respectfully denied. Maryland Forest Service supported this decision and offered the following resources from COMAR: 
• https://dsd.maryland.gov/regulations/Pages/08.01.07.09.aspx (Chesapeake Forest Lands),
• https://dsd.maryland.gov/regulations/Pages/08.07.01.13.aspx (State Forests) and
• https://dsd.maryland.gov/regulations/Pages/08.07.06.13.aspx (State Parks).

Western Region Report with Sarah Milbourne

• State Park aviaries are currently in Phase II of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) response and have been prepped for the anticipated move to Phase III, the highest level of restrictions. Regional managers forwarded a recent email from Wildlife & Heritage Service (WHS) with detailed guidance on responding to HPAI-related issues. Please take a moment to review this information for clarity and recommended actions. It’s important to note that the virus impacts all parks, as it is likely HPAI will be present, and dead or sick birds may appear in park areas.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:55 pm.