The NRPA, a national non-profit organization dedicated to advancing park, recreation and conservation efforts, and AAPRA, an organization for the administration of recreation and parks announce the 2013 National Gold Medal Awards.
Credit: National Recreation and Park Association

The National Recreation and Park Association together with the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration announce the Finalists for the 2013 National Gold Medal Awards for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management.

Founded in 1965, the Gold Medal Awards program honors communities in the U.S. that demonstrate excellence in parks and recreation. Designations are based on long-range planning, resource management, volunteerism, environmental stewardship, program development, professional development and agency recognition.

There are seven classes, with five classes based on population, one class for armed forces recreation communities and the State Park System Class awarded every other year.

This year, AAPRA and NRPA will award the prestigious and highly sought State Park System Class Gold Medal award. Four finalists in each class are chosen to compete for grand honors each year.

Finalists will compete for the Grand Plaque Award honor; the seven recipients will be announced during NRPA's Annual Congress & Exposition in Houston, Texas October 8th -10th.

A panel of five park and recreation professionals, chosen for their experience and knowledge in parks and recreation on both the local and national levels will review and judge application materials.

The 2013 Gold Medal finalists are:

State Award
• Florida Park Service, Environmental Protection
• Missouri State Parks
• North Carolina State Parks & Recreation
• Virginia Conservation and Recreation Division of State Parks

Class I (population 250,000 and over)
• Henderson (Nev.) Parks & Recreation
• Long Beach (Calif.) Parks, Recreation & Marine
• Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
• Plano (Texas) Parks & Recreation

Class II (population 100,001 – 250,000)
• Round Rock (Texas) Parks & Recreation
• South Suburban (Colo.) Park & Recreation District

Class III (population 50,001 – 100,000)
• Allen (TX) Parks & Recreation
• Kettering (Ohio) Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts
• Roswell (Ga.) Recreation, Parks, Historic & Cultural Affairs
• Waukegan (Ill.) Park District

Class IV (population 25,001 – 50,000)
• Doral (Fla.) Parks & Recreation
• St. Charles (Ill.) Park District
• Westerville (Ohio) Parks & Recreation
• Winter Park (Fla.) Parks & Recreation

Class V (population less than 25,000)
• Erie (Colo.) Parks & Recreation
• Frankfort (Ill.) Square Park District
• Middleton (Wis.) Public lands, Recreation & Forestry
• Oak Brook (Ill.) Park District

Armed Forces Recreation
• Fort Knox (Ky.)
• Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (Ga.)
• Naval Base San Diego (Calif.)
• US Coast Guard Base Kodiak (Alaska)

Musco Lighting LLC is this year's sponsor for the Gold Medal Awards program.

For more information about NRPA, please visit nrpa.org. To learn more about AAPRA click here.

Association news and events are listed at landscapearchitect.com. To view the calendar of upcoming events, visit www.landscapearchitect.com, go to the Associations/Events" tab and click on "Search for Events."

If your association has news and/or events that you would like featured on landscapearchitect.com, please send your information via email to associations@landscapearchitect.com.