Staff Writer
Workspace: Park superintendent Barbara Goodman
Barbara Goodman has a desk, but her job is anything but a desk job.
As superintendent of the more than 46,000 acres of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Fort Caroline National Memorial, Goodman’s work is much more outdoors than indoors.
With a staff of 30 and $2.6 million in federal funding, Goodman is the manager of the East Arlington park that attracted 1.4 million visitors in 2009 (though others might not have realized they were in the park) and grown steadily over the years.
The land is owned by numerous parties, including the State of Florida, JEA, the City and more than 300 private homeowners. While coordinating efforts is a challenge, it’s been positive, she said.
As for those who have yet to realize the natural urban amenity, Goodman hopes they take advantage.
“They should,” she said. “It’s so special to have this vast open space in a city. It’s one of the few places you can go where all you see is nature.”
She attributes a rise in attendance to more people staying closer to home during tough economic times, the price point (free) and overall increased community interest through partnerships and outreach.
Fourth-grade students across the county visit the Timucuan Preserve annually and Goodman and staff have also set up programs for inner-city youth to experience the ecological and historical features of the park.
It’s the historical aspects Goodman says are often overlooked.
“We have 6,000 years of history here,” she said. “The southernmost battles of the Revolutionary War, the landing of the French, the plantation period and through today. It’s evolving today and our history continues.”
As for how Goodman landed in Jacksonville 13 years ago, it’s been a “natural” progression, including Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, the National Park Service International Affairs Office in Washington, D.C., and other parks in the West that have been much more off the beaten path than Timucuan Preserve.
After growing up with Girl Scouts, she went to San Diego State University and chose a major with a focus similar to her Scout past: outdoor recreation. Following graduation, she was hired by the National Park Service and has been with it for 28 years.
As for the transition from the isolated parks of her past to the more urban Timucuan Preserve, she said she made the right choices.
“I really like the order I did (from isolated to urban),” she said, smiling. “I’ll leave those (isolated parks) to the younger and more energetic now.”
For more information about the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Preserve and Fort Caroline National Memorial, call the Visitor Center at 641-7155 or headquarters at 221-5248.
356-2466