The strength of Arizona State Parks is their ability to adjust to circumstances. Although shitty how they accumulated this strength, if a private agency experienced the sudden changes that the public sector did they would be completely irrelevant. They do this through teamwork. The agency has been through a lot in recent years with the extreme hit to the state budget and almost having to close multiple parks. The agency staff got nearly cut in half. During this time, staff took on various roles, learned new skills, and still served the public. This "scrambling" that the agency experienced ultimately makes them more resilient. At a macro level, they know how to deal with being understaffed and under budgeted. At a micro level, if an employee is not in or experiences an accident, another staff member may be able to complete their necessary work. Shared responsibility and understanding of peers work is also beneficial for collaboration.
With the change of Executive Director and Governor I believe that ASP has experienced a bit more tightening up of communication and an increase in bureaucracy. For instance, the agendas I create now have to be reviewed by 4 (sometimes 5) people. I understand that the Governor wants more state control, which is completely understandable considering Arizona state agencies seem to be lacking in efficiency. However, what could be improved is the communication on the direction the agency is heading.
Another important change I would make would be to increase the efforts in protecting the natural areas. Since there has been financial burdens, much of the agencies attention has been focused on recreation in the parks to increase revenues and visitation. Now that some of these crisis is over, it is time to refocus the agencies efforts on the natural areas. They can explore new markets by focusing on conservation and sustainability. In order for ASP to have a sustainable growth trajectory they must explore fringe stakeholders and truly listen to the needs and wants of the public they are not currently serving.
Really enjoyed reading about what you think is going well at the AZ parks. I also believe that the parks have focused to much on creating more visitation. I frequently go explore our natural wonders and noticed that there are lots of trails and natural areas that are not being protected and are rather dirty. I try to pick up as much as I can when Im hiking but it can be difficult.
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