State Parks Panel Meets Today

Lansing, Michigan – The Michigan Blue Ribbon Panel on State Parks and Outdoor Recreation will meet Monday, April 16, 2012 at the Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Paradise, Michigan from 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Michigan has more than 100 state parks and recreation areas, used by more than 25 million visitors annually. Governor Snyder established the 16-member panel through Executive Order 2011-10, with the purpose of reviewing state parks and recreation areas and exploring innovative models that will help these assets better serve current and new generations of Michiganders.

The panel will make recommendations to the Governor by the end of September, 2012. The Panel has been meeting monthly since November 2011 at locations throughout the state. At April’s meeting, the group will begin to formulate recommendations in four areas of focus: Protection of natural, cultural, and recreational resources

Provision of social goods and values Advancement of place driven economic development Structure and models for service delivery

In addition, the panel will hear from Tahquamenon Falls Park Supervisor, Craig Krepps, about the park and some of its management issues, as well as a report-out on recent meetings with stakeholder groups. The agenda includes time for comments from the public. Public input and feedback can also be provided through the Blue Ribbon Panel’s website: (https://janus.pscinc.com/ParkandRecPanel/index.html). The full agenda for the April 16 meeting is also available on the website under the “calendar” section.