The Catalyst: The Newsletter for Interpretation in California State Parks

How the Service Centers Serve Parks What is a Service Center, where are they, and what do they provide? California State Parks has two Service Centers: one in Sacramento and another in San Diego. The Northern Service Center (NSC) and the Southern Service Center (SSC) trace their origins to the Office of Interpretive Services (OIS), organized in the 1960s. Back then, visitor center design was a collaboration between interpreters, museum curators, exhibit designers, and staff architects. Almost everything was done in-house, and it was a rare exception to utilize outside vendors for interpretive services.  Collaboration continues at the Northern and Southern Service Centers. The potent combination of interpreters, museum curators, and exhibit designers allow the service centers to assist parks and districts with everything from the design of a single interpretive panel for a trail to the development of a new Interpretation Master Plan. This includes the ability to design new visitor c...

  For interpreters in classifications eligible for uniform reimbursements, there are two key updates to what you may have understood from years past. Footwear is, in fact, reimbursable . The current Uniform Manual indicates that Dress/Work shoes and Boots may be required but are not reimbursable; however, this is severely outdated. The annual uniform replacement allowance has been increased from $450 to $650 . You can verify both of these updates for yourself by viewing the current  BU01 Tentative Agreement (see page 876) . This is a large file and may take a while to load.

 The Resources Hub: A Central Location of Resources for Interpreters Statewide This may sound like a familiar story to many Parks employees. When I first joined State Parks in July I had a lot of questions, and in my quest for information, I was pointed to, well, everywhere . There was the State Parks official webpage, the intranet, the network drive, seven different SharePoint sites, an old workbook on our library shelves, the Post-It stuck on the bottom of my chair, etc. There was no central place to find information, and even the designated area for information ( the Interpretation and Education Resources Hub ) was hard to navigate. Then Heather asked me to make it more functional. I set to accomplish this by: Building an intuitive navigation structure outside of files/folders. Uploading or linking to all the resources scattered throughout the Parks' databases. Organizing and grouping similar resources logically, whether by group or by type. Continuing to u...

Two decades ago, California State Parks launched PORTS: Parks Online Resources for Teachers and Students ®, aiming to harness technology to engage a diverse K-12 audience. The global pandemic propelled our popularity, solidifying PORTS as a vital resource for thousands of educators seeking to bring learning beyond the traditional classroom. In 2020, we reflected on our journey and proudly announced that PORTS had engaged over 1 million students since its inception in 2004. Just four years later, we are thrilled to share that we have now reached over 2 million students with our innovative educational programming across California. This milestone is a testament to the dedication of our field staff and the enthusiasm of educators eager to connect their students with the wonders of nature and history. To learn more about the impact of the PORTS Program, we invite you to explore our annual report for the 2023/2024 school year . Thank you for being a part of this incredible journey! — Br...

Strap on your helmet, buckle your seat belt, bring a buddy, and grab plenty of water for hydration as you participate in this year’s OHV Safety Week November 16-24 .   Safety Week is an opportunity for state parks and their partners to showcase safety measures while enjoying California State Parks.   Messaging includes information about sharing the trail, and keeping yourself and others safe while enjoying the park and various OHV recreational opportunities.   Parks host a variety of classes and activities that illustrate these messages. This event is co-hosted by the California Outdoor Recreation Foundation (CORF) and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) . According to Safety Week co-founder Don Schmidt, “Safety Week was born out of the idea to highlight and enhance off-highway vehicle safety throughout California.   The OHMVR Division works with a large off-highway vehicle community who recognizes the importance of getting participants to in...

California State Parks’ Division of Interpretation and Education is introducing the 2024 Interpretive Excellence Awards to recognize the tremendous variety and depth of staff accomplishments in support of the department mission to “provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California."  Nomination forms must be submitted by 1/8/25. For awards details, view the nomination form at this link: https://forms.gle/yuFsqbG6GfCwWtab9

    Your questions answered! Dear Master Interpreter:  I am a lead person for a group of employees in a lower classification than I but I’m not their supervisor. I don’t understand the difference between a lead person and a supervisor. I want to be sure to do my job but not “over” do it in my lead person capacity. Thanks for clarifying! — Leading The Way (but not supervising) Dear Leading The Way: This question is common in the state park interpretation world as so few classifications technically have supervisory authority. That said, there is a great need for leadership in the interpretive ranks and this can be accomplished through giving an employee “Lead person” responsibility. Our colleagues in HR have shared with us a breakdown between the different responsibilities of these two roles. I've included that below. It’s important to note that only the supervisor has final decision making authority and signs documents on behalf of the department such as time sheets and em...

  Here are some events, theme weeks/months, trainings, holidays, and other dates to know for Fall 2024 / Winter 2025:

Hello Esteemed Colleagues—The purpose of this article and subsequent articles is to succinctly highlight various interpretive techniques that all of us can use in our interpretive endeavors. While I am starting with this article, I am reaching out to anyone interested in sharing techniques and tips for future articles. Please reach out to me at  elizabeth.hammack@parks.ca.gov if you would like to share tips/techniques for future editions. The Power of Pragnanz Have you ever read a book or watched a movie where the ending brought you back to the beginning? Do you remember that satisfying feeling and sometimes an “ah-ha” moment when the conclusion brought you back to the start? Think about the beginning of the “Forest Gump” movie when the feather is falling from the sky. Then, at the end, one lone feather falls, and you know that the ending has arrived. You feel whole and complete. Pragnanz is a German word that can refer to wholeness, completeness, or unity. Another definitio...

  Welcome to Beyond the Blacktop , the podcast for anything off-highway vehicle related across California! For the past few years, the OHMVR Division has been floating around the idea of starting a podcast all about off-roading in California and now it has finally happened. Beyond the Blacktop will discuss news surrounding dirt bikes, ATVs, side-by-sides, 4x4s, and Off-Highway vehicle (OHV) trails in the state, as well as discuss larger issues that impact the OHV Community. Our goals for this podcast are two-fold. First, is to try to better connect with the OHV community and second, to continue to promote California’s diverse outdoor recreation opportunities. Come listen along and learn all about OHV recreation in California. —Kevin Schmidt, OHV Partnership and Special Events Outreach

  The Interpretation and Education Division is offering a series of statewide webinars for interpreters, volunteers, and partners. These are designed to provide training on a variety of topics to support all our interpretive endeavors. Webinars are FREE. Participants can receive training credit through FOCUS. Sessions will be recorded for those unable to join live. More information and Zoom links will be shared via email. For questions, contact  Elizabeth  Evans  or  Elizabeth Hammack

Editors' Letter Between community science projects, seasonal migrations, trainings, cultural events, holiday festivities, and the usual Fall swell of K-12 School programs, interpretation staff are a busy group right now. While trying to capture just the smallest sliver of that effort in this issue, we’ve also picked out some resources that might help lighten your load. Aside from the practical Q&As in the long-running “Dear Master Interpreter” column, you’ll also find a newly-launched series featuring “Interpretive Tips and Tricks.” With you all doing such great work, we know we’re missing some big stories. If you have something you’d like to see featured in The Catalyst, let us know!  —The Catalyst Team

Natural resource agencies, California voters, legal cannabis users, and even steelhead trout, are all collaborating to fulfill California State Park's mission in an exciting restoration project in the San Mateo Coast Sector of Santa Cruz District State Parks. With funding from the Cannabis Watershed Protection Program (CWPP) , California State Parks, partnering with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District , is involved in an ecological restoration and climate resiliency project within the Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve . To put this into context: in 2016, Californians voted to legalize recreational cannabis with the passage of Proposition 64. Specifically, the intent of the act, among other actions, is to “…generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new state revenue annually for restoring and repairing the environment.” When someone makes a purchase at a legal cannabis dispensary, some of the tax money generated from this purchase will make its way to State Parks for the p...