Our tagline is people + parks, and we take that to heart. We know the people we work with, both inside and outside the office, are what make this organization successful, and we’re proud of the team we’ve put together. Each of us is committed to making Austin’s parks, trails and green spaces great for each and every Austinite. Read up on this month’s featured APF staff member, and stay tuned for more throughout the year!
Name: Bill Stout
Title:
Volunteer Manager & Environmental Educator
What He Does:
Bill is the nerve center of our volunteer program. He recruits individuals, service groups, corporate volunteers and more to get out into our parks and give back. Bill also makes sure each of our park project leaders, and all of our volunteers learn about the importance of our efforts, and how their work impacts our urban forest and ecological welfare of the parks.
Time at APF:
5 years
Favorite park:
Mayfield Park and Mayfield Nature Preserve: I had a long history of stopping in for a water break and rest during my regular visits during my first 8 years in Austin, road biking from the Zilker Neighborhood to Mt. Bonnell after riding up and down all three sides of the mountain.
Favorite thing about being on the APF Staff:
The people and those relationships; both our staff and all the project leaders, Super Volunteers and City staff.
Favorite park memory:
Biking around Town Lake and coming across a group of people standing around a tree branch that turned out to be a huge water snake across the trail; it was playing dead, it’s body all “crinkled up”, then eventually straightened out and slithered off into the wetlands for another meal!
Fun Fact:
I’ve had the opportunity to take two sabbaticals: Bike trip up the Washington State coast into British Columbia; then down the Northern California coast through the Redwood National Forest, pulling a bike trailer – I voted in the 2000 Presidential Election by mail-in ballot from Mendocino, CA. My second sabbatical was to the Indian Ocean and Africa, joining a coral reef research expedition in the Seychelles Islands, then traveling to South Africa, Madagascar, Tanzania and Egypt.