CONSERVANCY COMMONS

From 4/17 to 4/24, it's National Park Week across the country. Each day has a theme to celebrate the different aspects of outdoor recreation, from Wayback Wednesday to BARK Ranger Sunday. See events below for more local happenings this week.

As we prepare for organizational changes aligned to strategic sprint results, I know many of you are interested in the status of Conservancy 2.0. In the link below is “Conservancy 2.0 Focus Areas,” for your review – a road map for our next chapter. The document outlines key focus areas and summarizes how we will deliver on our future work, including what we will keep/amplify, adapt/refine, divest/discontinue and create/test.

From the Safety Team: Here are some things we can do to manage our stress response during these times, especially as we enter more phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and the pace of reopening quickens around us.

Thanks to everyone who submitted their photos to the My Park Moment Photo Contest for the Presidio Tunnel Tops. Now the public can submit photos to the contest.

Spring is blooming all over the parks--and even on Yammer, our internal social network! Check out some of the recent posts to see some of this year's colorful wildflower blooms, as captured by your colleagues. Or share your own! Use your @parksconservancy.org email and password to log in.

After more than a year of being closed, the Warming Hut re-opened its doors on April 9. Kudos to all who have worked so hard to renew this space and prepare it to welcome the public once again!

Please stop by and say "hello." It will be open five days a week, Thursdays through Mondays, from 9 am to 5 pm. Parks Conservancy staff receive a 25% discount on all purchases, including drinks and snacks.

As Chris shared in a note last week, the appointment of Pamela Smith as Chief of the U.S. Park Police is historic. She is the first black woman to fill this role and she is devoted to community policing, respect for all people, and public service. Pamela was stationed for several years at the San Francisco Field Office and has already offered to meet with our staff when we can once again safely gather.

Just in time for National Park Week: The National Park Service App is the brand new official app for all 420+ national parks Find interactive maps, tours of park places, on-the-ground accessibility information, and more.

We have put together a team of staff from across the organization to work on plans for reopening office spaces. This group will coordinate with the Executive Team to help define what changes we will see over the next few months and how we might more widely open at the end of September.

The Finance and Accounting department and the Policy and Operational Infrastructure Task Force shared updates to the cell phone reimbursement policy as well as a new internet reimbursement policy.

The recent shootings in Atlanta and Boulder remind us that too often we are faced with trauma, acts of terrorism, gun violence, racism, hate crimes, and other tragic events. When faced with these tragic, challenging events, our needs are physical, emotional, and psychological. Claremont EAP is an important resource during difficult times. You and family members in the immediate household can receive free and confidential mental health support for issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, and grief.

Call Claremont EAP at 800-834-3773 to access your benefit.

April is Diversity Makes Us Stronger Month at Golden Gate! NPS is hosting a variety of events and programs for staff, including a DEI literature lunch, collage making session, and more.

Weds., 4/21 at 7 PM: Join our partners at Friends of Sausal Creek for a conversation with our very own Yakuta Poonawalla, SF Community Programs Manager. They will be exploring how can we create a deeper understanding of the Sausal Creek Watershed stewardship work we do.

Thurs., 4/22 from 10-11 AM: Join our partners at Together Bay Area will be hosting our very own Yakuta Poonwalla for three community conversations. The first one on 4/22 will be focusing on stewardship and indigenous wisdom.

Thurs., 4/22 from 11 AM-Noon: Join NPS Ranger Rebecca Au and our Community Program Manager Price Sheppy as they take you step by step through building your own kite to fly on Earth Day. As you construct your kite you will hear stories about the Monarch butterfly and what you can do to help these beautiful animals.

Sunday, 4/25 from noon-1:15 PM:
Join our partners at SF Public Library for a celebration of literacy, books and nature! We invite you and your family to enjoy stories, songs, crafts and learn about special places to visit in the City. We are bringing the festival to your home, we hope you can join us.

Thurs., 4/29 from 10-11:30 AM:
Our monthly All Staff Meeting. If you have already registered for our monthly webinars, there is no need to re-register. If you haven’t, please register here:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing info about joining the webinar.

Please contact Nessa at nramos@parksconservancy.org for questions or if you need further assistance.

The City Nature Challenge (4/30-5/9) is a yearly community science event to see which urban area in the world can turn out the greatest number of naturalists, make the most observations of nature, and find the most species. The park lands that we work on are a large part of the SF Bay Area region team!

Fridays at 3 PM: Join our NPS colleagues for one (or all) community jaunts every Friday at 3 PM, separately but together in spirit! We are encouraging solidarity and safely distanced walks through your communities beginning at the same time and taking as long as you’d like. Snap some photos of your favorite sites while you’re on your Friday stroll! Send pictures to rebecca_au@partner.nps.gov if you'd like to add it to a community art piece/album to be shared at the end of this month.

Bystander Intervention to Stop Anti-Asian/American Harassment. Various dates and times: 4/21, 4/22, 4/28, and 4/29

4/21 8:30 AM, In the Field Live: Breeding Birds and Spring Migrants

4/23 12:00 PM, Eggs, Tadpoles, to Frogs: Monitoring Frogs in the Golden Gate National Parks

4/24 12:00 PM, Intro to iNaturalist II with Lisette Arellano

Xenophobia in America: How we got here and what's at stake

What it takes to be racially literate

We all have implicit biases. So what can we do about it?

Building Resilience and Coping with Stress During COVID-19

Did you know in MS Teams that you can pin frequent conversations to the top of your chat list? You can also hide and mute them.

Have a submission for the Conservancy Commons? Send content and images to commons@parksconservancy.org by Friday at 10am to be included in next week's newsletter.

Share your favorite Park Pics on Yammer by logging in with your work email and password.