July is National Parks and Recreation Month, and many of our local governments have recognized the importance of both their staff and the work necessary to help provide places for residents to be active.
For Chatham County, the government’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is guided by a particularly steady hand: Tracy Burnett, who is one of the county’s longest tenured employees and whose leadership has ushered in a new era for Chatham County’s recreation options.
On the days when Burnett is in her Pittsboro office, she has a wall covered in maps beside her to remind her of her department’s ongoing work. They show concept plans, updated phases of construction and notes about Chatham County’s current and future parks.
“I basically live by maps,” Burnett says. “That gives me my visual of where we are, and where we need to get to.”
Tracy Burnett in her office at Chatham County’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. Burnett has served as the director for more than three decades. (Photo by Brighton McConnell.)
It won’t take long for her to trade the office for visiting park. At the moment, she is often donning boots and hard hat to check the site of the future Parker’s Ridge Park — joking that she has no favorites, although she comes to really like each one when they are complete. Most days also include holding meetings with other county departments and checking in to see how a piece of programming is faring.
Burnett is a native, born and raised in its southwest area. Upon graduating college, she came back to work as the county government’s athletics specialist before quickly being promoted to recreation director – which, at the time, effectively led the Parks and Recreation Department. One of her earliest goals was to complete and implement a master plan to add district parks to every quadrant of Chatham County. Thirty-three years and four parks later, not only has Burnett helped achieve that but she’s helped grow the department’s infrastructure to adjust to the county’s increasing population and new interests. She says keeping track of those has been the clearest way she’s experienced the county’s changes.
“Chatham County 30 years ago was more like an agricultural county, [a] quiet county,” says Burnett. “And now, [it] is one of the fastest growing counties in the state of North Carolina. So, we really have to do a lot in our recreation field to keep up with the growth and keep up with the new demands and requests from the people who are moving into the county – as well as the people who are here already.”
After doing so much on her own, Burnett was joined by an assistant director eight years ago and the department has since added a county-run community center for indoor programming, started a trails and open space division with a dedicated staff member, and opened the Arts Center last year to provide all kinds of creative classes.
Carolyn Miller joined Chatham County just a few years after Burnett. As Miller led the human resources efforts for the local government, the two women bonded over taking on the individual responsibilities of their respective departments.
“It would have to be [her] perseverance,” Miller said when describing her memories Burnett in those earlier years. “Being a department of one takes a fair amount of perseverance, period, and the ability to multitask. But she was relentless in her championing of parks, parks and recreation programming, and park spaces, particularly, for a long time.”
Miller now works as the Deputy County Manager, serving as a direct supervisor to Burnett and requiring a lot more collaboration between the two. Miller said it has opened her eyes even further to the work Burnett did in the past and does now adjusting to the ever-changing definition of “recreation.” With the county’s Board of Commissioners putting an emphasis on parks funding in recent years, Burnett and her staff have more support than ever before from the manager’s office.
“But, more importantly,” Miller added, “they’re seeing the return [on investment]. And I think part of that is [county leaders] have somebody at the helm of the department who understands. They know that Tracy’s got it under control, and honestly, Tracy knows the board finds it a priority. And that is a good environment to operate in.”
Neha Shah leads Chatham County’s visitors bureau and her office is on the other side of the building where Burnett and the Parks and Rec staff work. She describes Burnett’s leadership style as grounded in the big picture, as she operates with a vision to provide all kinds of resources to people and keep residents’ needs top of mind. And since the department’s scope has grown so much, there are aspects that overlap with the visitors’ bureau to help attract people to the county – like organized sporting events, the Haw River and the growing trail network.
“We had a working relationship that, basically, quickly grew into a friendship because she’s one of the most helpful and welcoming people I know at the county [government],” Shah said of Burnett. “As a person who has known Chatham County all her life, and she’s been doing parks, rec and cultural resources for so long – she was doing cultural resources before it was officially part of the name – she considers what the residents need. And…whenever she works on a project, she wants to leave the county in a state that is better than it was before.”
Tracy Burnett visiting the Parker’s Ridge Park site in Moncure, July 2026. (Photo via Tracy Burnett.)
Right now, Burnett’s next major task is bringing Parker’s Ridge Park to life. The project has cleared its site east of Moncure after breaking ground in the late spring, but it is still in the earliest stages of construction. When finished, it will bring southeast Chatham County its first major park and add several amenities that Burnett is excited to bring to the community.
“This will be a park in which we will be building our first inclusive playground,” she said. “It will also have our first pump track. We will have a shelter with an observation deck that will overlook a pond, we’ll have a walking trail there. So, it will give the community that opportunity to really get together, socialize, and to connect.”
The latest concept design for Parker’s Ridge Park in New Hill, Chatham County. As of May 2026, the local government is aiming to have the initial phase of the park open in Summer 2027. (Photo via Chatham County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department.)
After doing the role for more than three decades, what still motivates her? Burnett says it is seeing residents get to learn new skills or enjoy their passions, whether that is children playing in the rec sports leagues or seniors using the guided walking trails. And, she adds, having a great staff around her to help with that work plays a huge role.
“I’ve been grateful to have the opportunity to have a recreational team with me that is passionate about what they do, and passionate about providing opportunities for the county,” says Burnett. “With my mission and their mission together, we know we can make great things happen here in the county for people of all ages.”
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