The award, presented by the National Park Foundation, recognizes the achievements of California State Parks and the National Park Service in developing joint management strategies for the adjoining redwood parks along the North Coast. The cooperative management of the redwood parks is provided for in a 1993 agreement that also pursues collaborative operation of state and national parks in the Bay Area and the Santa Monica Mountains.
"This partnership is not just a wave of the future; this is the way we'll be doing business from now on," said Roger Kennedy, director of the U.S. Park Service. "We look forward to expanding our partnership with California State Parks."
The four adjoining redwood parks are Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park in Del Norte County, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County, and Redwood National Park in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
"The direct benefits to the public from this partnership are enhanced park experiences, as our coordinated management minimizes the awkwardness of adjacent state and federal parks," Director Donald Murphy of the state Department of Parks and Recreation said. "This is part of our mission to provide quality service to our stakeholders."
State Parks Superintendent William R. Beat of the North Coast Redwoods District and former National Parks Superintendent William H. Ehorn accepted the award in a special congressional awards presentation in Washington, D.C., May 23. Kennedy attended the ceremony, along with representatives of the Park Service, Interior Department, members of Congress, the National Park Foundation, and corporate sponsors.
The presentation honors the efforts of both park systems to protect old-growth redwood forests and associated ecosystems, and to provide a higher level of service to visitors through combined resources. All financial savings from the endeavors are reserved for the use of the combined parks to enhance resource protection and visitor services.
The partnership serves as a model for other agencies to follow. The agreement developed for the redwood parks strongly influenced the shape of the broader National Park Service-California State Parks coordination agreement applied statewide operation with adjoining state park areas.
The National Park Foundation established the Partnership Leadership Award in 1992 to recognize the outstanding partnership contributions of external organizations in advancing the missions of the National Park Partnership.