What keeps you showing up to work when the politics are messy, the budget is tight, and the trail never really ends?

In this episode of Parks and Restoration, Chris and Jeremy explore the power of purpose—your WHY—and why it’s a powerful force for staying motivated, engaged, and resilient in parks, natural resources, and outdoor recreation work.

Drawing inspiration from Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why,” they share personal stories, leadership insights, and practical ways to reconnect with your purpose when the mission feels buried under bureaucracy or invasive species.

If you're feeling stuck, stretched, or just need a reminder of what pulled you into this work in the first place, this one’s for you.

Show notes, transcript, and contact at parksandrestoration.com

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In this episode, I explore how onboarding isn’t just about filling out forms and handing over keys—it’s about shaping culture, boosting retention, and setting your team up for long-term success.

Whether you're bringing on seasonal staff or full-time hires, this episode breaks down the three essential functions of onboarding—belonging, purpose, and clarity—and offers practical, field-tested strategies to help new team members thrive from day one.

Back around the first of the year, I was a (co)guest on the Outliers Edge Podcast hosted by Niiamah Ashong. We discussed some of my "leadership through the lens of ecology" ideas, how it's not good to go it alone, and much more.

Outliers Edge is "a podcast for high-performing unconventional leaders and entrepreneurs (aka Outliers) who use what makes them different to make a difference."

I got permission from Niiamah to share this episode here so I thought I'd break from the norm and share an episode where I'm the one being interviewed.

Enjoy!

There's an effort in the Iowa Senate to repeal what would be the most impactful funding mechanism for parks and conservation that has ever existed in the state of Iowa.

Iowa's Water and Land Legacy fund, also known as IWiLL is technically the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund. It was established by a 63% majority vote by Iowans in 2010, writing the fund into the state's constitution. But the fund sits empty because no legislature since has passed the necessary 3/8-cent sales tax increase to fund it.

This episode goes over how this fund came to be, beginning with a legislatively appointed Sustainable Funding Committee back in 2006, up to today's efforts to just scratch it from the constitution altogether.

If you are involved in parks or conservation in any capacity - from soil health to trails - this fund will have a profound impact on what you do once it's funded. As leaders in this industry, we need to be educated on what this fund is, how it came to be, and impacts it would have. That's why I wanted to publish this episode.

To learn more about the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, go to www.IowasWaterandLandLegacy.org, or read the various posts I've made about it over the years on my blog at www.OutdoorExecutiveDad.com.

Thanks for what you do!

In this episode, I chat with John Fullbright who has one of the craziest life stories of anyone I know. A lifelong adventure guide currently residing in New Mexico, he recently led a nighttime whitewater rescue the likes of which belongs on one of those crazy "I shouldn't have survived" TV shows.

But that's not a fraction of what makes him so interesting. Among other things, he is now venturing into beekeeping as he is one of the most outspoken champions for the use of bee venom for intractable diseases such as Lyme disease.

This is definitely an episode you want to check out.

Some of us are lucky enough to have great mentors in our professional lives. This is the story of one of mine.

When I first became Director, I saw one of my board members, Jim Garnjobst, as difficult. Argumentative. Contrarian. "This guy's gonna be the death of me..." I remember lamenting to my wife back then.

Fast forward a dozen or so years and I saw Jim as one of the most important people in my professional life. A mentor. A friend. Jim passed away recently and the hole he leaves on my board on on my heart is palpable.

I wanted to honor him by talking about how important mentors are to high-achieving folks like us and how cultivating space for debate and contrarian approaches makes our boards and organizations stronger.

I'm joined by sustainability consultant Kenny Oleson for an insightful discussion on clean energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability.

This episode covers, among other things, the Clean Energy Districts of Iowa program, practical energy-saving measures for homes and businesses, and the benefits of long-term planning in construction. We also explore the vulnerabilities of power grids, the potential of renewable energy, and Earthships, whatever the heck those are...

Many of us in parks and conservation are building or planning future facilities. Many of us probably also maintain old, inefficient buildings. This is a good listen on both fronts.

Enjoy!

Lora Friest is no stranger to big goals. Early in her career, she played a key role in the state's largest watershed project - an effort to clean up the Upper Iowa River. Now as a tourism liaison with Travel Iowa, she's helping to change the nation's perception of Iowa.

One way she's doing that is by highlighting the incredible parks and natural resources that people like us manage everyday. It turns out that those outdoor amenities are one of the key things that inspire people to want to move to Iowa. So it begs the question, how do we as parks and conservation professionals contribute to telling this story to the world?

In this episode, Lora and I talk about what the state tourism office is doing to attract people to our state and how we play a big role in that.

To learn more, visit www.traveliowa.com