Delaware State Parks wins a national award.
DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation won the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration and the National Recreation and Park Association 2021 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.
Delaware beat Ohio, Tennessee and Texas to earn the Gold Medal for a second time. It also won in 2015. And Delaware joins Florida as the only states to win the award twice over the 13 times it’s been awarded
DNREC wasn’t given the exact reasons for winning, but the state parks system touts its tremendous growth, innovation, economic impact, and diversity
And DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin says the goal is to keep getting better.
"We will do that by continuously improving our resources and adjusting to the needs of the visitors we serve," said Garvin. "We have met unprecedented challenges in recent years and even with this award we know there will be challenges ahead. We need to tackle our critical backlog which includes the largest number of historic structures maintained by any state agency. We need to expand strategically to meet our growing visitors base in demand for recreation and overnight accommodations."
Gov. John Carney thanked DNREC’s Division of Parks and Recreation staff at a celebratory event in Brandywine Creek State Park.
"My job as your governor is really to enable all of you to do the work that you do and to do it first class, and this medal proves to me that you're holding up your end of the bargain by doing it first-class better than anybody in the country."
This year is the 70th anniversary for Delaware State Parks.
