Parks Group Wants Your Opinion
10/6/2009
Public input effort begins with on-line survey
Des Moines, Iowa - September 29, 2009 The Iowa Parks Foundation is asking park users and members of the general public to share their opinions about recent experiences in Iowas parks.
Before this new organization jumps into comprehensive planning for green infrastructure or begins a major fund-raising campaign; we want to understand how parks are used today and Iowans expectations for the future says Kent Sovern, Executive Director of the Parks Foundation.
The on-line survey is the first step in a citizen engagement process that will include community meetings that will be scheduled around the state in the late fall and early winter. The Foundation will host community forums as well as smaller targeted focus groups in each region of the state.
We have designed an online assessment tool to help identify recreational interests, patterns of park use, quality and condition of state park facilities and user priorities for park improvements for the future. With broad-based citizen and community input, we hope to create an action plan that preserves, enhances and transforms the recreational and natural resources environment throughout Iowa.
To participate in the survey, visit the Foundations web site at www.iaparks.org and click on the IPF logo on the right hand side of the page. It will take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete the survey.
About the Iowa Parks Foundation
In the summer of 2008, former Governor Terry Branstad and former Congressman Neal Smith joined to recruit a founding Board of Directors and to form the Iowa Parks Foundation. The Foundations mission is to strengthen the connection between Iowas people and their parks by serving as an independent voice to advocate a new vision for Iowas parks. The Foundation cultivates stewardship through environmental education and research, advocates for adequate funding of park programs and infrastructure improvement, increases the number of park users and improves the quality of visitor experiences in Iowas state parks.
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