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+--- Thread: Alaska State Parks seeking input (/showthread.php?tid=3099)
Alaska State Parks seeking input - 93hummer - 09 Feb 09
FYI. Maybe we can ask for more 4x4 trails.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/feb/09/state-parks-seek-input-outdoor-plan/[/url]
State parks seek input on outdoor plan
By [url=http://www.newsminer.com/staff/tim-mowry/]Tim Mowry
Published Monday, February 9, 2009
FAIRBANKS - If you have an idea on how to improve outdoor recreation opportunities in Alaskaâs state parks, the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation wants to hear it.
The northern region of Alaska State Parks is hosting a community meeting on Wednesday to begin the process of updating the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreationâs Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Department of Natural Resources office at 3700 Airport Way, near the corner of Airport Way and University Avenue.
Whether you want the state to build more trails, take care of existing trails, build new public-use cabins or fix up old ones, northern region parks superintendent Brooks Ludwig encourages people to show up and voice their opinions on the parks and what they think the future of parks should be.
The comprehensive plan is updated every five years in order to keep Alaska eligible for federal grant funds for recreation projects, Ludwig said.
In addition to a potential source of funding, the plan provides state parks with information about user trends.
âIt tells us whether people want more trails or more public-use cabins, whether we should be improving more RV sites in more campgrounds, what percentage of people are riding ATVs and what percentage of people are riding snowmachines,â Ludwig said. âIt gives us a gauge on what people are doing on public lands and what they would like to see us doing.â
People can go to the meeting to testify before the parks advisory committee or they can go online to alaskastateparks.org to complete a short user survey, Ludwig said. The online survey takes only about 10 minutes to complete and respondents do not have to provide their name.
âItâs pretty easy to do, so thatâs pretty neat,â Ludwig said.
The survey questions users about what kind of equipment they own, which activities are important to them, how often they recreate, parks expansion, fee structure, how much enforcement they want to see and various other topics.
âItâs an opinion survey that helps state parks figure out what Alaskans do for recreation,â Ludwig said.
There also is a youth user survey for children 16 and under to fill out, Ludwig said.
State parks uses the information gathered at meetings and from the online survey to help write management plans for parks and recreation areas, Ludwig said.
âIt gives us some good hard data that we can plan with and will help guide our funding decisions,â Ludwig said. âAny time I write a grant application I can quote from it. I can say, âLook here, 74 percent of Alaskans support trails.ââ
User trends change as different interests develop and the statewide comprehensive plan helps track those changes, Ludwig said.
Contact outdoors editor Tim Mowry at 459-7587.
Alaska State Parks seeking input - 93hummer - 09 Feb 09
Here is a link to the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bm9cFDtSG3XDd7Mkoon1jw_3d_3d
Alaska State Parks seeking input - ZMonster - 09 Feb 09
i as well as others have things going on wednesday evenings, i would love to go or know that one of us would be there, but if we cannot, maybe we can write something to send in our stead...
if no one can go, and i am not asking others to do what i cannot, i am just saying, if no one can go, can we get some ideas from people for things to write.
all they really want is suggestions, so i think we should be able to come up with a few...
Alaska State Parks seeking input - TJVigilante - 09 Feb 09
At least fill out the survey, help push those bar graphs up in our favor, or at least make the difference less substantial.
Alaska State Parks seeking input - 78calico - 09 Feb 09
I find it funny how there is no choice to select OHV use anywhere in the survey.
Alaska State Parks seeking input - ZMonster - 09 Feb 09
yeah i know, i put in my 2¢ but that is why i think we might want to send another form of opinion as well
Alaska State Parks seeking input - ZMonster - 09 Feb 09
this doesnt need to be in MO...
Alaska State Parks seeking input - ChevyKev - 10 Feb 09
ZMonster Wrote:this doesnt need to be in MO...
Good call - Chris. Moved to land use thread!
Alaska State Parks seeking input - AKBronco - 10 Feb 09
Wow, I can post here... how much would you be willing to pay for trailhead access or access to fishing area ?
That question actually made me angry. Is there someone there who thinks I need to pay to go day hike a trail and catch a few fish? That's crazy talk. Maybe they do that kinda stuff in California but this is Alaska!
Alaska State Parks seeking input - naturalbornmudder - 10 Feb 09
http://www.arcticoffroad.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8314
Alaska State Parks seeking input - TJVigilante - 10 Feb 09
AKBronco Wrote:Wow, I can post here... how much would you be willing to pay for trailhead access or access to fishing area ?
That question actually made me angry. Is there someone there who thinks I need to pay to go day hike a trail and catch a few fish? That's crazy talk. Maybe they do that kinda stuff in California but this is Alaska!
I put a big fat zero for the choices that didn't require some kind of maintenance, like the plug-ins and dump service.
Alaska State Parks seeking input - OneWeakXJ - 11 Feb 09
Survey completed.
Alaska State Parks seeking input - Sabync - 27 Aug 09
thank you i have this on sevral forums and i know it is in others i just cant belive that we can not move money from other stuff to help the state parks