Courtesy photo from the Nature Conservancy Emily Clegg, director of land and water management for the Nature Conservancy in Michigan

LANSING – Many parks and recreational areas rely on partnerships to help maintain public spaces.

“We have found partnerships essential as we work to conserve land for people and nature,” said Emily Clegg, the director of land and water management for the Nature Conservancy in Michigan, a science-based environmental nonprofit.

Park departments work with nonprofits on restoration projects, said Clegg, and even if different organizations own different pieces of land, they have to work together as ecosystems are connected.

Along with restoration work, organizations such as the Nature Conservancy, which operates globally, rely on guidance from local experts on how to properly manage properties, said Clegg.

Without nonprofits, park departments would face more serious problems from staffing shortages and limited funding, said Scott Pratt, the chief of community and employee engagement at the Department of Natural Resources.

Without support from friends, tourism partners and trade schools, many restoration efforts and statewide events wouldn’t be possible, said Pratt. There would be fewer projects and less volunteer engagement that benefit the public and the environment.

Friends groups are nonprofits that support parks and recreation areas by fundraising, recruiting volunteers and taking the lead on restoration projects, according to the DNR.

Friends groups are a huge support system for Michigan parks.

The Partnership Match Program matches friends groups’ fundraising dollars with money from the Recreation Passport Program and Park Endowment Fund, according to the DNR.

Leaders of Friends of Bay City State Park said, “One item that would most likely be impossible has been the establishment of three endowed funds by the Bay Area Community Foundation: Come Play by the Bay Playscape, the Spray by the Bay splash pad, and the Park Enhancement Funds.”

About 4.5% of the endowed funds in those accounts is distributed annually to the friends group to support maintenance and enhancements to the playscape, spray park and overall park improvements, board members Catherine Washabaugh and Jeannine Lorenger said in an email.

Pratt said working with outside partners helps park departments understand community needs that they otherwise wouldn’t know.

Partnerships bring different perspectives and ideas into planning programs and events that motivate the public to invest in taking care of parks, said Pratt.

Pratt also said many larger projects like playgrounds and trail improvements rely heavily on outside support, with many bigger organizations like Michigan Friends of State Parks and trade school programs often providing such funding.

Because of these partnerships, state parks are seeing more tourism and attendance, said Pratt. Events like family fishing days and volunteer trail days encourage people to come together to clean and restore parks.

Clegg said partnerships bring localized knowledge, specialized skills and cultural understanding and help from partners reduces the time to get these projects done.

“The more people and organizations that know about a park or a preserve, the more they can understand the importance and opportunities of that land and water,” she said.