Member News

We’d love for you to join us on Tuesday, April 29 from 10:30am–3:30pm for MRPA’s Day on the Hill at the Minnesota State Capitol’s Upper Mall (75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. S), in partnership with Three Rivers Park District. Link for parking instructions

Click here for the flyer

We’ll have a table on the Upper Mall (in partnership with Three Rivers Park District), so stop by, bring a colleague, wear your department gear, and maybe even take a Capitol tour while you're there! 

MRPA Annual Conference 2025
October 27 - 30, 2025
Heritage Center of Brooklyn Center
Brooklyn Center, MN 

The 2025 Conference Planning Committee is excited to bring to you the 2025 Minnesota Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference. This year’s conference theme is Rooted in Community, Growing Together. The 2025 conference team is devoted to delivering a conference that will explore all aspects of parks and recreation.

One of the most important parts of any Conference Committee is the recruitment of high-quality speakers and engaging educational topics that will spark the interests of everyone in your organization. Please consider either submitting a proposal or forwarding a proposal to a person that may be interested in sharing their talents.

To submit an Educational Session Proposal please visit: ­­­­­
https://form.jotform.com/250054492458156

The deadline for Educational Session Proposals is Friday, March 28, 2025.  

If you have questions, the Conference Committee members would be happy to assist you:

Carrie Anderson, Conference Committee Co-Chair                                                      
carrie.anderson@cityofroseville.com

Greg Simmons, Conference Committee Co-Chair
gsimmons@goldenvalleymn.gov

Aaron Thelen, Program Committee Co-Chair  
athelen@newhopemn.gov

Paul Pearson, Program Committee Co-Chair
ppearson@plymouthmn.gov

MRPA Awards of Excellence

Now's the time to show your support for your agency! The Awards of Excellence program recognizes agencies or organizations in Minnesota for outstanding achievements in parks, recreation, and leisure services.

We invite you to participate and submit your agencies' outstanding programs, projects, or initiatives.

The Awards of Excellence application is an online process.

*Nominations are for new or purposefully updated/changed initiatives completed in 2024.

Administrative or Management Strategies:

https://form.jotform.com/250224157362147

Park & Facility:

https://form.jotform.com/250224036697154

Programming & Events: 

https://form.jotform.com/250224000061130

Marketing & Communications:

https://form.jotform.com/250223759753158

Sponsorships & Partnerships:

https://form.jotform.com/250224347178153

Volunteer Initiatives:

https://form.jotform.com/250223885875163

This is a scored process, so complete answers to the application questions are valuable to a project’s overall score. Those applications that meet scoring criteria are presented with an MRPA Awards of Excellence plaque. All nominations must be submitted by the application deadline of March 2, 2025.

We encourage all agencies to submit at least one project application. Let’s highlight all the great projects happening in Minnesota!

Sincerely,

Stacy Chouinard and Carissa Goebel

Co-Chairs, MRPA Awards Committee

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wants your input on the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP)! As a leader and manager of a local parks and recreation system, we want to understand your priorities, challenges, and ideas about the future of outdoor recreation in Minnesota. If you aren’t already familiar with the plan, it is considered Minnesota’s outdoor recreation policy plan. It gives outdoor recreation decision-makers and managers a focused set of priorities and suggested actions to guide them as they make decisions about outdoor recreation. The National Park Service requires this plan to maintain eligibility to participate in the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (also known as the LAWCON or LWCF) program. The previous Minnesota SCORP can be found on the DNR website.

Minnesota outdoor recreation agencies have a variety of strategic plans in place already, such as: the 25-year Legacy plan, plans developed by the Minnesota DNR, Metropolitan Council, and others. Because much important work has been done in this area already, we will incorporate existing goals and strategies into the next SCORP; with the addition of new and emerging information and priorities highlighted by local providers like you. Your input, along with research and other information on outdoor recreation, will be considered by the project team and a steering committee to develop the plan.

Please use this online form to share your feedback by February 7.

Responses provided in this survey are optional and will remain anonymous unless you share your contact information for follow-up. Please contact Diane Anderson, Parks and Trails Planner (MN DNR), if you have questions or to share any other resources that may be helpful for planning: diane.k.anderson@state.mn.us or 651-259-5614.

2025 MASS Conference "Pit Stops for Active Lives"

April 10-11, 2025 in Duluth, MN. 

$169 Member 
$209 Non Member

Deadline for registration is Monday, March 31^st

Click here to register

Congratulations to the MRPA professional award recipients for 2024 at the Annual General Meeting and Awards Luncheon on January 10, 2025. Thank you to New Brighton Parks and Recreation for hosting. Also, thank you to long-time North Star Partners, Landscape Structures, Inc. and Flagship Recreation, for sponsoring this event. 

Pictured from left to right:

HORIZON AWARD

Jessica Christensen Buck, Corcoran

TOMMY JOHNSON AWARD

City of Duluth (Jessica Peterson pictured)

Tracy Petersen, Edina

NELSON - NILES AWARD

Carrie Anderson, Roseville

Nikki Friederich, St. Louis Park

HORIZON AWARD

Jessica Christensen Buck, Corcoran

Kevin O'Brien, Faribault

LEADERSHIP AWARD

Jason T. West, St. Louis Park

BOARD AND COMMISSION AWARD

Troy Fritz, St. Cloud

LEGISLATIVE AWARD

Representative Leon Lillie

Join the Leadership Network on Tuesday, January 21 from 1 - 4 p.m. at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park for a workshop on building your team.

Click here for the registration form

Click here to register and pay online

MRPA wishes all members a happy holiday season! The MRPA office will be closed for the holidays from December 24, 2024 through January 1, 2025. We want to ensure a timely response to members’ needs -- please contact us by December 20 with any questions or member inquiries. Thank you!