WRPA 2018 Fall Leadership Summit

Date/Time: Tuesday, October 9 | 1:15 AM - 2:30 PM

Speaker: Jessica Sargent | The Trust for Public Land

Description: The Trust for Public Land is helping park agencies across the country make the case that parks are a strategic community investment. In part one of this two-part session, attendees will develop a strong toolkit of economic arguments that can be used to support their work across the state. We will introduce existing tools and resources that are readily available to help make the economic case for parks to diverse audiences, from local elected officials to national foundations. This includes facts and figures related to enhanced property value, recreational use, health care cost savings, air pollution removal, stormwater management, tourism, and economic development. We will also explore specific economic talking points that can be used in support of parks funding.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will develop a strong toolkit of economic arguments to support parks and recreation investment. 
• Participants will discover readily available data and resources to craft a strategic economic case for their agency. 
• Participants will glean effective and compelling economic arguments for presentation to different audiences.

Jessica Sargent is the Director of Conservation Economics for The Trust for Public Land. The Trust for Public Land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. As The Trust for Public Land’s chief economist Jessica leads The Trust for Public Land’s Conservation Economics program which conducts research on the economic benefits of parks and land conservation at the local, regional, state, and national levels. Since 2007 she has overseen more than 40 economic benefits of parks and land conservation studies. Prior to joining The Trust for Public Land, Jessica worked at Industrial Economics, Incorporated where she conducted analyses of the costs and benefits of proposed environmental and natural resources policies, program evaluation, and natural resource damage assessment for various state, federal, and international agencies. Jessica holds a M. S. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences and a B.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Maine.