The new Huron Clinton Metroparks director is getting settled in.

Amy McMillan’s first day in the new position was April 30th. She served as the parks director for Genesee County for almost 19 years before coming to Huron Clinton Metroparks. McMillan says she was actually an intern at Metro Beach back in 1988, and it feels like coming home after all those years. She’ll oversee the 13 parks that cover five counties including Livingston. McMillan says they have a talented team, parks beyond compare, a great Board of Directors and she couldn’t feel more fortunate. She stressed there is also a great group of volunteers and a large community that’s very supportive of the Metroparks.

McMillan tells WHMI there are a number of goals they’re looking to achieve, in addition to the everyday responsibility to be extraordinary stewards of the properties they manage. She says they’re working to put systems in place to get a better sense of who visits the Metroparks, who doesn’t, how to fill those gaps and better connect people to the environment and services.

McMillan says they’re focused on ways to collaborate more effectively with local units where parks are located toward broader regional goals but also focused on connectivity between Metroparks and other park systems in the five county area. She says they have also been working for a long time to improve access to parks for those with special needs and disabilities.

It’s estimated on average that attendance is somewhere around 7 million people and McMillan says they’re always interested in learning from visitors and people who live in the region. A five year plan addresses big goals for the Metroparks system, but 10 out of 13 parks have their own 10-year master plan addressing programming and facility development. Locally, Kensington’s plan is complete. The draft plan for Huron Meadows is online and will be before the board in July for approval. (JM)