Maryland Park Service Leadership Meeting Notes
From November 12, 2025
Virtual
Attendees: Angela Crenshaw, Rachel Temby, Jonas Williams, Kenneth Miller, Andrew Hangen, Mark Spurrier, Mary Ironside, Dana Paterra, and Sarah Milbourne
Director Angela Crenshaw opened the meeting at 8:01 am.
Director Update with Angela Crenshaw
Hiring Freeze Exemptions - I sent an email with the most up-to-update information about hiring, if there are any questions please move them up your chain of command.
Agreements - All Maryland Park Service (MPS) agreements are being shared with Departmental Leadership.
Title Changes for Rangers - The agreed upon language was sent to the Park Service and any additional questions should be moved through your chain of command.
2026 Park Openings - Meetings will be set up in December to discuss the hiring, maintenance and planning needs for 2026 park openings including Savage Highlands, Wills Mountain, Catoctin Furnace, Holly Beach Farm Natural Resources Management Area (NRMA), Wetipquin Creek State Parks and Freedman’s State Historical Park.
Bilingual Program Coding Error - There was a coding error for Point Lookout and Greenbrier State Parks when the bilingual team was paid. These parks will get all of their funds back including benefits and overtime. This will take some time to implement. Miller will check with St Clair on the process.
We are working on an event to honor Ranger Erik Ledbetter on Earth Day of 2026. Spurrier noted that Field Staff need to be included in the planning.
The status of Monthly Leadership Meetings was discussed.
Fall Manager’s Meeting - We reviewed the agenda and discussed the plans for next week’s meeting.
When working with the Office of the Attorney General please copy Assistant Secretary Peditto on all communications.
Deputy Director Update with Rachel Temby
A note on the efforts of MPS teammates - the amount of project and partner work going on is astounding! It is clear from weekly reports and project meetings that despite staffing shortfalls in many operations, teammates are rolling up their sleeves, learning new skills, and leaning into each other to get the job done. Rangers picking up more maintenance tasks, managers covering administrative duties, maintenance staff performing operations, folks from around the region supporting parks sustaining losses - it takes a village, and each and every person and contribution is appreciated!
A few additional updates and key takeaways from this month's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Leadership Team meeting were shared:
Google chat (G-chat) conversations are showing up in the Public Information Act (PIA) and document discovery processes at other state agencies. Please make teams aware that G-chat messages do NOT always expire after 24 hours and are treated the same as email and text messages from state devices. Be sure to keep these messages professional.
With the introduction of some new staff at the State House, reporting processes are changing a bit - decision memoranda may be requested from the Office of the Secretary to aid the new Deputy Chief of Staff. These are generally being turned around quickly and favorably. Fisheries and MPS were identified as units having already experienced this process, with thanks.
Reminder that ALL staff who are telework-eligible must abide by telework policy; sites updated for next round
Operational adjustments were discussed, including off-season campground operations, reductions in office hours, refocusing on core operations, strategies to reduce workload, triage maintenance and administrative tasks, minimize staff commitment, and scale back certain events while continuing to consider impacts on revenue. Supplemental staffing through headquarters support, seasonal hiring, partner/volunteer support, and contractual services were also discussed.
Proposed enhancements to waterfront management guidelines were shared and will be discussed with the training division and waterfront managers at the upcoming meeting.
The Conservation Corps program is chugging along amid recent changes - Maryland Conservation Corps was granted a reprieve from monthly Department of Service and Civic Innovation (DSCI) training. The Secretary of DSCI has moved on and the Governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff is serving in an acting capacity in the role as of today (November 12, 2025); the Conservation Corps Executive Director position is with Human Resources currently and supplemental seasonal support is being considered to offset the recent position abolishment. The SkillBridge application has been resubmitted ahead of the December 1, 2025 deadline.
A brief update was provided on the status of leasing considerations for historic properties, currently under review by the Attorney General’s Office. Prospects for the disposal of key properties was also discussed.
Updates were provided on several initiatives underway with Natural Resources Police (NRP) including camera services, overtime initiatives for speed enforcement, operational adjustments, and collaboration opportunities. It was requested that any coordination needs from the field be brought forward for discussion.
The 2026 Legislative Session is fast approaching and the team is already fielding a few requests for feedback on proposed bill language. Support from Regional and Park Managers is greatly appreciated to facilitate rapid turnaround of comments.
The continuation of routine out-of-state travel for the purposes of conducting normal daily business in the Maryland Park Service has been approved by the Office of the Secretary under a blanket approval, with justification provided to demonstrate reasonable activities.
Teams are asked to bring forward any specific policy questions they may have while we continue to work towards an overhaul of our existing manual.
Program Planning with Jonas Williams
So far this year, 408 projects have been submitted for review. We’re on pace for another record year of reviews!
Key Projects
Great Maryland Outdoor Act (GMOA) climate resilience projects are moving forward. The Point Lookout State Park project has a partner, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, through a Request for Qualifications process. The Patapsco Valley State Park project has received interest from four potential non-profit partners.
LeeAnne Chandler is working with Maryland Environmental Services (MES) to move into the next phase of the Artmor (Wills Mountain State Park) clean-up project.
Cultural/Historic Resources Team
The Freedman’s State Historical Park has officially moved into the Request for Proposals stage. Staff is working with Preservation Maryland to draft the final scope of the project.
Preservation Maryland continues to manage some great projects across the state through its Conservation Services Agreement.
Interpretation
With Ranger School 2025 wrapping up, Melissa Acuti is transitioning to planning for the 2026 Adventure Challenges, starting with the First Day Hike. Stay tuned for updates to the successful 25 in 2025 and additional challenges!
Volunteers
Carly Brukiewa, our Volunteer Coordinator, continues to travel across the state to familiarize herself with park volunteer programs. Her current efforts also include working with DNR, in-state volunteer organizations, and out-of-state partners to identify what makes a good volunteer database and how we can potentially adopt a new system in the future. She also crocheted some cute autumn leaves for Ranger School.
Maintenance
Continuing to reach out with regional projects. Wayne Suydam and Bill Trego are happy to lend a hand with planning scopes of work and identifying resources to complete these great projects. Consider small projects that may be on the Engineering & Construction Critical Maintenance list, funding may be made available for materials. Touch base with the Planning Team if you have anything in mind.
Administration with Kenneth Miller
Regional budget meetings have concluded. Follow up is needed on a few items, and then budgets will be finalized and shared through the projection sheets as usual. Revenue targets will likely not be included yet as more work is needed to understand what each park can realistically generate.
Barb Knisley sent out an email request for any spring 2026 seasonal recruitments. Please have all information submitted before December 1, 2025.
Visitation was briefly discussed. Currently, the Park Service has seen a little over 3 million fewer visitors in 2025 compared to 2024 when looked at across the state. Day use and camping numbers are down, however, cabin visitors have increased. I do acknowledge that we have a few campground construction projects in place that are affecting the camping numbers and likely account for most of that reduction.
The Park Service will launch onto the Aspria One platform in February 2026 for the camping and pavilion reservation system. The scope of their new web-based software has become much more robust and will unfortunately not be ready before our launch. Aspira One is much more robust than our current software, and will be a much improved system. We will then migrate to the new platform at another time in the future.
Feedback was solicited from Regional Managers on any issues with our current cancellation policy for the camping reservation system. Please share any issues with your Regional Manager so it can be shared with the Reservation System team.
A reminder to sign up for Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) and the annual Town Halls before January 1, 2026, so the Training Team can properly plan. Should you be unable to attend a training for which you have registered, please notify the training division via email and include your supervisor. This procedure enables the training team to offer your cancelled spot to someone on the waitlist.
The 2025 Employee Viewpoint Survey is being developed and will be shared soon.
Regional Reports
North Central Region Report with Andrew Hangen
A paddock lease at Fair Hill NRMA has recently expired and we need to determine next steps. The tenant does not want to leave but we will be looking for a graceful way to exit the arrangement. We also discussed modifying an agricultural lease at Bohemia River State Park.
“Next best use” strategies were discussed for vacant buildings. A building or two at Susquehanna State Park may be used as a pilot for the new effort.
South Central Region Report with Mark Spurrier
Spurrier is starting conversations about the Days Cove landfill closure. An internal DNR meeting will be planned for January.
Managed Hunts will be occurring at Seneca Creek State Park in December and January. Preparation is ongoing. The Veterans Hunt is scheduled for December 5th, the R3 (Recruitment, Retention, Reaction) Hunt is scheduled for December 13th, and a general public hunt is scheduled for January 17th.
Southern Region Report with Mary Ironside
The day-use reservation system was discussed. It was expressed that the ability to do timed entry reservations may significantly increase visitation and revenue at Sandy Point.
Internal meetings will be scheduled to discuss Holly Beach Farm NRMA future plans including priorities and construction timelines.
Point Lookout State Park will open the Tulip Loop in their campground on November 14, 2025.
Eastern Region Report with Dana Paterra
The region is experiencing ongoing challenges due to increasing staff vacancies across all areas. Parks have encountered limited success in recruiting qualified seasonal maintenance workers and administrative specialists previously; however, active recruitment efforts will persist to help fill these essential needs.
The discrepancy between job specifications and corresponding MS-22s was noted and added to the list of inquiries directed to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) regarding the recent Ranger series name change.
Efforts are underway to process and fabricate awards preceding significant events such as regional holiday gatherings and retirement celebrations.
It has been confirmed that funding for overtime (OT) compensation is allocated within the Headquarters budget for classified staff and not at the park level.
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center will implement Tuesday closures until critical vacancies are addressed and/or the National Park Service (NPS) is able to provide operational assistance. The Office of Communications is working on drafting appropriate language.
The preliminary requests for the new Wetipquin Creek State Park are currently in draft form and will be discussed in greater detail next month.
Western Region Report with Sarah Milbourne
The Dans Mountain Pool issue was discussed.
The Deep Creek Lake Dunk will include an exclusion area on the ice surrounding the site for safety purposes, more information will be provided soon.
Just a reminder that we’ll be pausing weekly reports from December 22, 2025, to January 5, 2026, so everyone can focus on essential operations and take some well-deserved time with family, friends, or a bit of quiet time to yourself!
Meeting was adjourned at 11:40 am.
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