Renée E. Bahl, an accomplished executive in the park and conservation industry for over 25 years, her proudest achievement in the industry was receiving the Cornelius Amory Pugsley Medal in 2019. She has been a member of the American Academy for Park and Administration since 2010, and has served in leadership roles in its Foundation, Externship and Pugsley Award committees. Ms. Bahl is currently the Associate Vice Chancellor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
She oversees the physical infrastructure, construction, maintenance, and safety of this ocean-front campus. While this is the furthest she has strayed from her conservation and recreation roots, she likens the campus to a large state park; "the students are the visitors, its staff are the rangers, the faculty are the interpreters and the Chancellor is the governor. I am able to apply all that I learned serving the public through park systems to serving this campus." She is also actively involved in campus sustainability, including co-leading an effort to decarbonize campus through eliminating natural gas use for heating and hot water.
Renée began her career as a Fiscal Analyst for Arizona's Joint Legislative Budget Committee. Here she examined proposed budgets and programs for the state's environmental and natural resource agencies and made recommendations to the legislature. Soon after, she became Assistant Director of Arizona State Parks where she administered grant programs for statewide recreation, historic preservation, and land conservation projects that valued $100 million annually, and well as guided the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and recreational trails programs.
She was appointed the Governor's State Liaison Officer for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and became an active board member of the National Associate of State Outdoor Recreation Liaison Officers (NASORLO). She left Arizona to accept the position as San Diego County's Park and Recreation Director. Its 40,000-acre park system included day use and camping parks; recreation centers and programs; and, sports fields and trails. The County also valued protecting habitat, and Renée was involved in millions of dollars of acquisitions and conservation easements which were managed by her department. San Diego County and its park system were ravaged by wildfires in 2003. The Cedar and Paradise fires destroyed one-third of the park system. Committed to turning this tragedy into an opportunity, Renée and her department led the park restoration by building smarter and designing what was needed and not merely replacing what was there, thereby establishing a more sustainable and better functioning system.
The Grand Canyon State called again and in June of 2009 she was selected to be the Executive Director of the Arizona State Parks Board. She was greeted by severe budget cuts that not only eliminated all state general funds, but also swept funds generated from user fees that are used to operate the system. Knowing that Arizona State Parks is a critical economic engine for the state, the Board's overarching priority was to keep parks open. Under Renée leadership, the Board forged unprecedented agreements with local governments, non-profit organizations and the Hopi Nation to keep state parks open. Ultimately, all parks remained open for portions of the year.
Returning to California as Santa Barbara County's Assistant County Executive Officer, she oversaw several land use and judicial departments. In addition to her primary role, she served as the Community Services Department's interim director for more than a year and was able to modernize the reservation system and promote partnerships with appropriate private concessions to satisfy visitor desires and maximize revenues for park use. She also led the county's response to the Refugio Oil Spill in 2015 which dumped over 140,000 gallons of crude oil onto one of the most biologically diverse landscapes on the west coast.
Renée holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Emory University and a Master of Pubic Administration in Environmental Policy and Natural Resource Management from Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.