Wednesday Wisdom: If I had a $9.5 Billion Dollars!
Providing ideas and insight that can inform agency and partner strategies for improvement of park, recreation and hospitality operations and assets
Photo Credit: @rocinate_11, @alexmette
Title Credit: Bare Naked Ladies
Investing in Public Lands: What does this look like?
Tuesday, August 5, 2020 provided a breath of fresh air and hope for public lands. The signing of the Great America Outdoors Act will result in investments of over $9.5 Billion dollars,over the next five years, towards Deferred Maintenance for the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Education and U.S. Forest Service. Additionally, the law results in permanent, dedicated funding for the Land Water Conservation Fund. The preponderance of the funding (i.e., 70%) is dedicated to the National Park Service, but the U.S. Forest Service will receive 15 percent and the other agencies will split five percent each.
CHMGS supported the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable in developing key priorities for the agencies to consider as they developed their investment strategies. These ideas have relevance for all types of park and recreation agencies (e.g., county, state, federal and non profits) providing recreation services to the public. These ideas are presented below:
Agencies shall have a transparent methodology that identifies and prioritizes recreation projects across asset classes, and addresses resource protection, visitor use and recreation access, health and safety and long-term asset financial sustainability. This process should focus on three areas:
Planning:
Improve existing recreation public access;
Balance investments in revenue generating and non-revenue generating recreation projects;
Benefit recreation site portfolio (e.g., contemplate entire recreation site: road to site, parking, campgrounds, restrooms, trails, etc.);
Mitigate future operational/maintenance costs and/or support sustainable funding streams; and,
Support public/private partnerships to maximize community impacts.
Contracting
Ensure that Contracting is Competitive, Performance Based and provides the greatest return for every dollar of available funding;
Focus on contracting specifications that include returns/benefits such as: reduction in operational costs, job sustainment & creation, sustainability/deferment in operational maintenance, innovation in approach (smart design/construction), portfolio leveraging and volunteer/ community partner leveraging, etc. ;
Encourage the full suite of contracting and agreement mechanisms; and,
Recognize need to augment contracting and project management expertise support resources to ensure consistency, thoroughness, and transparency.
Oversight
Provide centralized project management oversight and tools (e.g., Scope of Work, Schedules, Timelines);
Provide public access to project lists and timelines;
Ensure audit-ability of contracting data;and,
Require annual reporting of results.
As you will frequently hear us say, “you get one chance to make a good decision on a capital investment”. The stakes just got $9.5 Billion dollars higher.
Subscribe to our blog below!
