The Montana Parks in Focus Commission will host its inaugural public meeting February 15-16 in Montana’s first and most well-known state park, Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park.
The public meeting is the first of four to be held at state parks across Montana intended to gather public input and develop recommendations to sustain and strengthen support for Montana’s state park system.
“Our state parks are Montanan’s gateways to adventure, recreation, our history and culture. Montana’s first state park is an ideal location to begin hammering out the future of our state park system,” said Stace Lindsay, Chair of the Parks in Focus Commission. “We invite Montanans to attend these meetings and work with us as we discuss how best to enable the state park system to achieve its goal of providing extraordinary experiences for our visitors while keeping the state park system strong for generations to come.”
The Parks in Focus Commission consists of 12 volunteer professionals with backgrounds in outdoor businesses, local government, education, tourism, and healthcare.
The Commission was created January 11, 2017 by Governor Steve Bullock to strengthen Montana’s state park system and to ensure the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks has the resources, capacity, and expertise to implement the Montana State Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan.
Specifically, the commission will use the upcoming public meetings to discuss implementation of three recommendations from the strategic plan: developing diversified revenue streams, growing strategic partnerships, and building an engaged constituency for state parks.
The commission is expected to provide final recommendations to the governor’s office by December of this year.
The Commission will meet for a kick-off dinner on Thursday, February 15. The agenda for Friday, February 16 includes morning tours of Missouri Headwaters State Park and Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park followed by the afternoon Commission meeting from 12-4:00pm. To view the full Parks in Focus Commission meeting agenda visit: http://www.chartinganewtomorrow.com/parks-in-focus/
Commission meeting attendance is encouraged by all members of the public. Commission meetings are a unique opportunity to provide input on creating a robust and relevant state park system for Montana. Here is the full list of upcoming Commission meetings and agenda for the first meeting:
Feb 15-16, Three Forks
Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
May 10-11, Kalispell
Flathead Lake State Park – Big Arm
Sept 20-21, Glendive
Makoshika State Park
Dec 13-14, Great Falls
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park
