As the tide of this magazine suggests, there are two basic worlds in this field: parks and recreation.

Recreation, of course, is the busy world of classes, programming, sports and activity. Parks, the more passive one filled with landscapes, trails, facilities and open space. But it's really not that simple, is it?

In this special focus on park management, articles cover prescribed burns, dog parks, wetland mitigation, environmental guidelines for fleets, and perceptions about natural plantings. Hardly a static lot.

And, ironically, someone from the "rec" world promoted this focus on parks. Dan Gibble, supt. of recreation for the Urbana Park District, suggested it while chair of the Joint Publications Committee in 1997.

Gibble says: "Our passive users, those who walk their dogs, play with toddlers and bike in our parks, they're the majority

"The more visible portion is recreation, but really our most significant contribution is providing areas in which people can participate the pursuits that they choose....passive pursuits that affect our parks management people, superintendent of parks, operations, park planners, landscape architects."

Indeed, the lot for park managers is diverse and demanding: from facility construction to playground planning, to "everything that goes on outside," says John Ohrlund, supt. of parks for the Skokie Park District. Ohrlund also is the president of IPRA's Parks and Natural Resources Management Section (PNRMS), another group tapped for this issue. Thank you, John, and the PNRMS board for your ideas and articles.

Among the PNRMS contributors is David Brooks of the Schaumburg Park District. A grounded soul, Brooks eloquently writes about ways to foster in your residents a favor for natural plantings over planned and groomed landscapes (see p. 20). You might have seen Brooks in a recent Chicago Tribune article, interviewed about his work at the Spring Valley Nature Center. His specific challenge? To create harmony among beavers and their human neighbors in Schaumburg.

It's all in a days work for Brooks and other "parkies": finding a balance between human nature and the natural world.

Ann Londrigan
Editor