The House Tourism and Recreation Development Committee is scheduled to hold an informational meeting on January 15 on DCNR’s Penn’s Parks For All, a strategic plan now in the final stages of development to address the challenges faced by State Parks to keep them relevant to the recreational needs of Pennsylvanians for the next 25 years.

Last October, DCNR posted a draft Penn’s Parks For All Plan which makes a series of recommendations for managing and improving State Parks.  The comment period on the Plan just ended December 31.

DCNR developed the Plan after two years of collecting and analyzing data from surveys-- including a special ethnicity survey focused on Latio, African American and Asian Pennsylvanians-- as well as interviews and its own research.

Issues

Among the issues the Plan addresses are--

-- Operating 121 parks with decreasing resources

-- Threats to park resources, including deteriorating buildings, flooding, visitor overuse

-- Changes in recreation interests

-- Changing population demographics

-- Impacts of climate change on state parks

Survey Findings

The findings in the surveys taken as part of the planning process include--

-- State parks should continue to emphasize healthful outdoor recreation activities

-- Visitors should expect a quiet, natural and/or wild experience

-- 79 percent said resort-style develop was inappropriate for state parks

-- DCNR should designate campground areas for quiet, wild and remote camping experiences

-- DCNR should continue its strategic land acquisition program

-- State parks should invest more resources in volunteer and friends group programs

-- A constraint on visitation to state parks by Blacks was found to be lack of transportation and public transportation access

-- Strong support for increased funding to maintain, repair and improve park facilities without creating new fees or increasing costs to park visitors

Future Directions

Among the recommended future directions for the parks are--

-- Enhance landscape-level partnerships to improve regional recreation, tourist, conservation activities

-- Improve each park’s tail system

-- Enhance water-based recreational offerings consistent with natural aesthetics

-- Improve accessibility for water-based recreation

-- Partner with the health industry in marketing state park activities

-- Add more rental cabins and pet-friendly campsites

-- Renovate campground to enhance natural character, sustainability, safety

-- Reduce energy consumption by 25 percent, set 50 percent renewable energy goal

-- Develop a night sky management program to enhance sky viewing

-- Collaborate with public/private partners to improve local watersheds

-- Improve volunteer programs

-- Expand native habitats

-- Increase professional staff levels by 15 percent to meet legislative mandate

-- Increase employee diversity

-- Ensure funding continues from the Keystone and Environmental Stewardship funds

-- Both DCNR and the PA Parks & Forests Foundation have documented a backlog of $1 billion in maintenance and needed safety and other improvements to recreation facilities in state parks and forests.

A complete copy of the Plan and recommendations as well as other information on public surveys made as part of the planning process are available at DCNR’s Penn’s Parks For All webpage.

The meeting will be held in Room B-31 of the Main Capitol starting at 9:00 a.m.  Click Here to watch live online.

Rep. David Millard (R-Columbia) serves as Majority Chair of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-783-1102 or send email to: dmillard@pahousegop.com. Rep. Mark Longietti (D-Mercer) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-772-4035 or send email to: mlongiet@pahouse.net.

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[Posted: January 7, 2020]

1/13/2020