If you have a Good Enough to Share submission, please email it to CorpsLakes@usace.army.mil
Benefits-Based Management
Prior to the fall 2000 RMSP meeting, a workshop was held on Net Benefits Approach to Outdoor Recreation. Dr. Bev Driver, Mr. Don Bruns, and Mr. Brian Hopkins taught the course. This is a new approach and is intended to transition recreation programs toward targeting facilities and services that deliver defined recreation benefits in four areas: Individual, Community, Economy, and Environment. This is in contrast to another view, which looks at benefits in terms of how many campsites we provide to the public for recreation.
Brochure
As a result of a request from Program Management in USACE Headquarters and in conjunction with the Institute of Water Resources (IWR), Corps employees began assembling a recreation "Value to the Nation" brochure. This brochure is an excellent way to "tell the Corps story," and your District may be in the process of printing hard copies for use in your media outreach. The environmental benefits brochure is in the process of being assembled and should be available shortly. This effort goes hand in hand with the "Benefits" study being conducted by RMSP.
Meeting Facilitator
When the RMSP met for the fall meeting in 1999, an item on the agenda was to develop an action plan. This was accomplished by utilizing a meeting facilitator. The facilitator organized the approach to development, conducted the input sessions, and summarized the results. In other words, he kept everything on track. The action plan was created in an amazingly short amount of time and the process ran smoothly under the facilitator's guidance. If you are tasked with setting up and conducting a "brainstorming" session, this is an approach you may want to consider. Dale Brown of Dale Brown and Associates conducted the session in Nashville.
National Recreation Lakes Study Commission
Partnerships
As a result of a stakeholder initiative from Headquarters, new recreation-oriented partnerships are being created. A recent venture between the Corps and the American Recreation Coalition has been initiated. Hopefully, this will open the doors to better communication between the Corps and the stakeholders around the various projects (i.e. Congressmen, Senators, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, etc.).
