Parks

First Nation Shuts Down Highway Following Discovery Of Human Remains

October 31, 2024 Jon Thompson, Ricochet. Resist! Blockade, Canada, First Nations, Indigenous culture, Parks

Members of Red Rock Indian Band and their supporters brought all traffic to a halt between eastern and western Canada at the Nipigon Bridge for an hour on Monday morning. The shut-down came after pre-contact human remains were found at a nearby park construction site. Demonstrators from across the Robinson-Superior Treaty area called on Parks Canada to cease construction and acknowledge what the First Nation says are systemic mistakes that caused this to happen. In May, four unique sets of human remains were overturned in development of Parks Canada’s $37-million Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area visitor’s centre in Nipigon, 100 kilometres east of Thunder Bay.

Three Weeks Into Strike, Park Workers Shut Down Park Board Meeting

July 26, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Minneapolis, Parks, Strikes, Worker Rights

Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis park workers have been on strike since July 4, after seven months of negotiations failed to lead to a contract that they could accept. The park workers are represented by the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), Local 363. On Wednesday July 24, the park workers decided it was time to take their fight to the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board meeting and make them face the workers. The board had intended to vote on a resolution to move a proposal at the bargaining table. However, after LIUNA members and supporters held a picket line for three hours, and packed the board room, ultimately the meeting adjourned with no other business being conducted except approving the meeting agenda.

A Seattle Urban Garden Models What Community Input Should Look Like

June 13, 2024 Jennifer Caddick, Next City. Create! Community, Environment, Gardening, Parks, Seattle, Urban Gardens, Washington

More than 20 parks across Seattle support urban gardens developed and managed in partnership with local communities. From small community garden plots to large orchards, the gardens provide fresh, healthy food to community members across the city. Seattle Parks and Recreation, through itsUrban Food Systems Program, provides the land and the infrastructure for these projects. But community members are at the heart of each project, determining what to grow and how to plant and manage their gardens. One such project — the Rainier Community Center’s new urban garden — has received the2024 Toro Urban Park Innovation Award.

Power Plants To Parklands

June 1, 2024 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Create! Coal, Community, Michigan, Parks, Power Plants

There are currently more than 200 coal-fired power plants in operation in the United States, but the country has been scaling back since reaching its coal generation peak in 2011. By the end of 2026, the U.S. is projected to have retired half of its coal capacity. Coal plants emit toxic pollutants into the air, water and soil, leaving a legacy of contamination that must be cleaned up after their decommission. But what happens to coal plants after they shut down? Michigan’s Environmental Law & Policy Center (ELPC) sees retiring coal plants — once viewed as industrial scars on the landscape — as “canvases for the creation of new greenways, parklands, wildlife habitat, and clean energy development,” a press release from ELPC said.

Parks For The People

August 2, 2021 Olivia Riggio, The Indypendent. Organize! COVID-19, New York City (NYC), Parks, wealth inequality

It’s a mid-July evening in Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, Brooklyn and people are out, enjoying the final few hours of daylight. The sounds of basketballs bouncing and sneakers squeaking echo in the nearby courts. Some people sit placidly on benches, others walk their dogs along the paths. Parents chase children teetering on their bicycles and teenagers skateboard over the cobblestone pavement. A group of 20-somethings sits talking on a blanket in the grass, which, in certain patches, is overgrown and littered with soda cans and plastic bags. Over by the volleyball court, a match has drawn a rowdy crowd along its perimeter. Maria Hernandez Park may not be a tourist destination, but it is a staple for the surrounding neighborhood, which is largely Hispanic and working class.

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