January 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 43

Drones can fly low-altitude grids to seed
pollinator meadows, apply herbicides
with precision control, and do inspections
of buildings to within a centimeter
of accuracy.
Kdrone Services in Maryland, flies
midsize drones to apply insecticides
and fungicides for horticultural
and arboricultural purposes
and seeds landscape areas with
pinpoint
accuracy. " Drones can
economically reach areas that are
inaccessible by any other vehicle,
even [all-terrain vehicles], " he
says. Floyd says that commercial
drones will be utilized in parks.
They can fly low-altitude grids to
seed pollinator meadows, apply
herbicides with precision control,
and do inspections of buildings
within a centimeter of accuracy.
The
$105
billion
commercial
mowing machine market is rapidly
evolving with implications
for parks and recreation. In June,
Forbes reported on the introduction
to the market of fully autonomous
commercial mowers by Scythe Robotics
of Boulder, Colorado. Other
equipment manufacturers, like John
Deere and Clean Scapes, are working
on similar fully electric, zero
emission mowers that are projected
to require far less maintenance than
internal combustion-powered mowers
that often require replacement
after just a few short years.
Kiwibot, Starship Technology
and a half-dozen other robotics
companies already have deployed
pedestrian robots that will traverse
sidewalks and public paths for
deliveries and other services.
Amazon and FedEx are now in final
stages of testing their delivery bot
fleets. Ten states have adopted robotfriendly
regulations that appear to be
giving bots legal rights as pedestrians.
As Axios reports earlier this year,
Greg Lynn, CEO of Piaggio Fast
Forward, says that some companies
want to deploy their bots in bike
lanes where they can travel at greater
speeds than on sidewalks. Imagine
your park rangers attempting to
write a citation for a bot involved in a
collision with a pedestrian or cyclist
(tinyurl.com/3432yjw4).
Recreation Program Trends
Decline in Youth
Sports Participation
Multiple studies have found that
there has been a sharp and continuing
decline
in
youth
sports
participation. Concurrently, there
also has been a steady decline in
physical activity by youth. The Aspen
Institute's Project Play State of
Play 2021 report shows that before
the restrictions imposed by the
pandemic, participation in youth
sports declined from 45 percent in
2008 to 38 percent in 2018 (tinyurl.
com/4wbm63kf). Most kids ages
6 to 12 playing a team sport quit
by age 11, and since the pandemic,
three in 10 kids who previously
played say they are no longer interested
in playing again.
These statistics have alarmed
and
youth
sports organizations
child health experts alike. One way
some agencies are addressing these
issues is by hosting sports sampling
programs. These specifically
designed programs are held over
a day or a weekend, during which
sports trainers, players and leaders
give kids an opportunity to try a
variety of sports out for an hour or
two and then move on to another
sport. Rachel Banner, director of
park access
for NRPA, believes
that we will see considerable innovation
in how sports programs
are offered and that there will be a
return to community-based sports.
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | J ANUAR Y 2 0 22 | Parks & Recreation
43
PHOTO COURTESY OF KIRK FLOYD/KDRONE SERVICES
https://www.tinyurl.com/4wbm63kf http://www.tinyurl.com/3432yjw4 https://www.tinyurl.com/4wbm63kf
January 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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