Secretary Salazar Presents the Outdoor Recreation Business Plan Guidebook Team with Partners in Conservation Award

05/07/2009
Last edited 09/29/2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today presented a Partners in Conservation Award to the Outdoor Recreation Business Plan Guidebook Team for creating a publication for recreation professionals that assists in effective fiscal planning and management, by sharing the knowledge and practices of current park managers.

This team received one of 26 national awards to individuals and organizations presented at a ceremony at Interior headquarters in Washington, D.C. to honor “those who achieve natural resource goals in collaboration and partnership with others.”

The 26 Partners in Conservation Awards recognize conservation achievements resulting from the cooperation and participation of a total of 600 individuals and organizations including landowners; citizens' groups; private sector and nongovernmental organizations; and federal, state, local, and/or tribal governments.

“The Partners in Conservation Awards demonstrate that our greatest conservation legacies often emerge when stakeholders, agencies, and citizens from a wide range of backgrounds come together to address shared challenges,” the Secretary said. “By simplifying the business plan process and involving park managers in the creation of the Outdoor Recreation Business Plan Guidebook, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Utah State Division of Parks and Recreation and the volunteers who worked on this project have created an inexpensive alternative that encourages the best recreation business practices.”

Using the Outdoor Recreation Business Plan Guidebook, recreation managers are able to create, revise and update business plans without the assistance of consultants. Past business plans prepared by consultants may have cost park managers $20,000 or more but by using the guidebook, business plans can be prepared for less than half the cost and in less time. The authors report that the business plans are more time sensitive to trends, inflation and other influences, as well as have more value, use and acceptance by each park.

The following groups and individuals share this Partners in Conservation Award:

Bureau of Reclamation
Fred Liljegren
Vernon Lovejoy

Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation
Mark Forbes
Mary Tullius

Volunteer
Jonathan Liljegren

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