{"id":9105,"date":"2018-09-28T22:26:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-29T03:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/?p=9105"},"modified":"2019-05-18T07:59:32","modified_gmt":"2019-05-18T12:59:32","slug":"helen-scully-retires-as-nts-program-specialist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/helen-scully-retires-as-nts-program-specialist\/","title":{"rendered":"Helen Scully retires as NTS Program Specialist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>by Partnership for the National Trails System<br \/>\n<\/b>Adapted from emails with former and current NPS staff<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9106\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9106\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-9106\" src=\"http:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-75x75.jpg 75w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/nps_helen_scully_2.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-9106\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Helen Scully<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helen Scully, National Trails System Program Specialist and National Recreation Trails Coordinator, has announced her retirement, which takes effect September 29, 2018. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helen came into the National Park Service (NPS) to be an interpretive ranger from a background in theater and natural sciences. Somehow she found her way to the staff of the National Heritage Area Program, and when that program downsized she came into the National Trails System (NTS) office in 2000. For the next 18 years she served as Program Specialist, ably carrying out many functions that strengthened the NTS. Among Helen\u2019s many accomplishments were:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Coordinating the usually complex annual package of National Recreation Trail (NRT) nominations.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Tracking applications and finalists in the Connect Trails to Parks Program.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Shepherding the development of Federal Trails Data Standards to maturity and acceptance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Taking the minutes for many years at the Federal Interagency Council on Trails.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Steve Elkinton, who retired as the NTS Program Leader in 2014 and currently serves on the Partnership for the National Trails System (PNTS) Board of Directors, said it was a \u201cwonderful pleasure\u201d to serve as her supervisor and friend. He said Helen avoided positions of visible leadership (she much preferred to serve quietly in the background), and her high standards of integrity, persistence, and attention to detail rendered invaluable service. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI came to quickly appreciate Helen&#8217;s gifts, her perceptive observations, her distrust of unnecessary bureaucracy, her sense of theater and drama, her keen photographic eye,\u201d Elkinton said. \u201cShe has left behind her as she departs NPS an invaluable legacy of accomplishment working on the National Trails System that will endure for years. May her well-earned retirement be joyful, inspiring, and full of healthy adventures as she returns to her native Hawaii.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bob Ratcliffe, Division Chief for the NPS Conservation, Recreation, and Community Programs, and Rita Hennessy, NTA Program Leader, are going through the process needed to hire a successor. Until a permanent replacement is on board, Hennessy will be the contact for NRT matters. In an email to the NRT Roundtable members, Helen said, \u201cIt has been a great privilege working with all of you. Your passion for trails and public service is inspiring.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">PNTS thanks Helen for her steadfast, conscientious work with the National Trails System and the Pathways Editorial Board. Aloha!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>UPDATE: October 1, 2018 from Rita Hennessy, NTA Program Leader<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Beginning today, <a href=\"peter_bonsall@nps.gov\">Peter Bonsall<\/a> will be working with me on National Trails through a part-time detail, primarily focusing on the National Recreation Trails program, and the Connect Trails to Parks fund source. Peter is no stranger to national trails. He currently serves as the GIS Specialist for Conservation and Outdoor Recreation (COR) division, and has worked on the development of the National Trails System interactive map, specialized maps for briefings, improving data for National Recreation Trails, and more. He is based out of Denver, CO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">BIO: Peter Bonsall is the GIS Specialist with the National Park Service Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Division.\u00a0 He began as an intern in 2013, and became a permanent employee in 2015.\u00a0 Through his tenure with the COR Division, he has supported and advanced the GIS capabilities for the National Trails System, Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, and the Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) Program.\u00a0 He spends much of his free time exploring local trails, so he is excited to assume the detail role as a program specialist for the National Trails, which will allow him to work with local partners in designating National Recreation Trails, and play a larger role in the National Trails System.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Unless otherwise indicated, all material in Pathways Across America is public domain. All views expressed herein are perspectives of individuals working on behalf of the National Trails System and do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of the Federal agencies.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Partnership for the National Trails System Adapted from emails with former and current NPS staff Helen Scully, National Trails System Program Specialist and National Recreation Trails Coordinator, has announced her retirement, which takes effect September 29, 2018. Helen came into the National Park Service&hellip; <\/p>\n<div class=\"button right\"><a class=\"button more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/helen-scully-retires-as-nts-program-specialist\/\">more &raquo;<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":742,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[432,242,188,172,433],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/742"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pnts.org\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}