PARTNERS OUTDOORS VII

Summary Report

OVERVIEW

Partners Outdoors VII was held at the Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort and Convention Center in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on January 11-14, 1998. This meeting was the seventh such gathering of government officials and private-sector representatives designed to foster dialogue, understanding and cooperation between the two groups, in addition to an appreciation of the needs of their common customers: recreationists on the nation's public lands. The program was coordinated by The Recreation Roundtable in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Federal Highway Administration. Approximately 130 people were in attendance — representing an excellent turnout from both the private and public sectors. Key speakers included: Dick Nunis, Chairman of Walt Disney Attractions and Chairman Emeritus of The Recreation Roundtable; John Berry, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget; Jim Lyons, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment; Rich Teerlink, Chairman of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company; and Pat Shea, Director of the Bureau of Land Management. Panel sessions were used to address a number of important topics, including: current initiatives like American Heritage Rivers, National Recreation Lakes and National Scenic Byways; barriers to successful private-public partnerships; and government perspectives on the outlook for recreation policy. The group also broke into subgroups to develop action plans on the following issues: the use of recreation- trend information; the role of corporate partnerships on public lands; partnership support for scenic byways and highways; and partnership support for recreation lakes, heritage rivers and gateway communities. Finally, participants took on a "case-study" challenge to develop proposals for a new recreation complex along a federally managed lake — showcasing both their planning skills and their creativity in the process.

GENERAL SESSIONS REPORT

The Partners Outdoors VII program opened with an excursion to Disney University where Ten Yanovich conducted a very informative session on Walt Disney World's cast-training program, especially the means used to introduce and reinforce an appreciation and understanding of the company's corporate culture. Attendees were given the opportunity to evaluate their own organization's approach to training and orientation, leading many to conclude that at least some improvement was needed in those areas.

Following the return to the hotel, each of the federal-agency and private-sector groups involved in the conference met briefly to discuss plans and assignments for the next two days. From there, they moved to the Welcoming Reception where Dick Nunis's forceful opening remarks focused on the history and mission of Partners Outdoors. He also emphasized an important lesson drawn from his Disney experience: price your product in a way that allows your customers to rate the product highly and feel that they received good value for their money.

Monday morning's first session featured John Berry, the new Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget. His straightforward comments on such issues as solving the maintenance backlog in the parks, revitalizing the state side of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, implementing a permanent fee program, and launching the work of the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission were very well received — as was his commitment to have procedures in place for consignment sales of the Golden Eagle Pass by the private sector within one year.

Mr. Berry's presentation was followed by a panel on "Current Washington Initiatives." Jana Prewitt, the Interior Department's Director of External Affairs, served as moderator and urged the audience to "catch the wave" of partnership opportunities offered by such initiatives as American Heritage Rivers, National Recreation Lakes, National Scenic Byways, the White House Millennium Project, the Gateway Community program and the Federal Lands Highway Program. Panelists included Roger Stephenson of the National Park Service, Bruce Brown from the staff of the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission, George Schoener and Al Burden of the Federal Highway Administration, Dave Harmer of the USDA Forest Service, Rodger Schmitt and Michelle Dawson from the Bureau of Land Management, and Ed Hall of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The second panel, which was moderated by David Brown, Executive Director of America Outdoors, focused on how to understand and overcome barriers to successful partnerships. Bunny Johns of the Nantahala Outdoor Center and David Gackenbach of Forever Resorts presented perspectives from the private sector, outlining the multiple levels of regulation encountered that drain resources away from serving customers. Lyle Laverty of the USDA Forest Service, Brian O'Neill of the National Park Service, and Denise Meridith of the Bureau of Land Management looked at the challenge and potential of partnerships from their vantage point as federal officials.

Homer Staves, Vice President of International Marketing for Kampgrounds of America and the catalyst for the case-study portion of the program, then conducted a brief case-study orientation, aided by Joe Meade of the USDA Forest Service and Ray Gardiner of Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort. Participants then moved into six smaller working-lunch sessions to tackle the challenge of developing a proposal for a new recreation complex that would be economically viable while complying with environmental and other regulatory considerations. The resulting proposals, which were presented the following day, showed both creativity and good private/public teamwork, incorporating economic realities with important societal "missions" such as outreach to urban youth and single-parent households.

The groups reconvened late in the afternoon to hear from a panel — moderated by Dave Humphreys, President of the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association — that focused on "The Great Outdoors and Its Washington Architects." Panelists included Pat Shea of the Bureau of Land Management, Destry Jarvis of the National Park Service, Kelly Johnson of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Chris Topik of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. Among the subjects covered by the panel were: the growing importance of recreation to land- management agencies; the need to educate the public about resource stewardship; pending legislation on parks and recreation; and the future of recreation-fee and challenge cost-share programs.

Richard Teerlink, Chairman of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, gave the group more food for thought with his comments at Monday night's dinner. He described his company's management philosophy, emphasizing the great value placed on employees, dealers and customers alike. He also assessed some of the difficulties associated with developing appropriate company partnerships, offering lessons that could be applied to parallel situations, including the establishment of private-public partnerships on the public lands.

On Tuesday morning, as mentioned earlier, the case-study proposals were presented to a panel that included Homer Staves as moderator, Rich Davies of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, Sandra Key of the USDA Forest Service, Bill Anderson of Westrec Marinas, and Keith Kambak of Kampgrounds of America. The group then broke into four action teams to address the following topics:

• Applying Recreation Trend Information: An essential part of an effective research continuum is the translation of research findings into forms that are appropriate for those providing recreation opportunities, from "on-the-ground" area managers to product design engineers to public policy makers. Key to this translation is the identification of methods for dIstributing research findings. The action team focused its discussions on: current recreation trend research efforts; the different publics that are interested in their findings; and the appropriate means to reach those publics.

• Corporate Partnerships on Public Lands: The role of private partners is assuming increasing importance as public-land management agencies search for cost-effective ways to protect and enhance natural resources while meeting visitor needs. However, the expansion of partnerships raises issues like: identifying "the right kind" of corporate partners; recognizing partners; and determining the duration of the partnership. The action team focused its discussions on these and related issues as it worked to identify ways to augment federal resources for land management, produce a mutually beneficial relationship with corporate partners, and enhance recreation experiences for visitors to the public lands.

• Partners Support for Byways and Highways: Scenic byways allow access to and enjoyment of the nation's scenic, cultural, historic and recreation resources. However, much can be done to expand and strengthen these programs and to ensure effective Information-sharing among byway advocates and administrators. The action team focused its discussions on finding ways to expand the system of scenic byways while enhancing their ability to showcase our scenic, historic, cultural and recreational heritage, It also reviewed proposals to recast the current road network on public lands into a comprehensive transportation system serving current and future needs. A key topic was expansion of the Federal Lands Highway Program.

• Partners Support for Lakes, Rivers and Gateway Communities: The Administration and the Congress have initiated several different efforts to enhance and protect the country's natural resources while encouraging appropriate, sustainable economic development. Examples include the National Recreation Lakes Study Commission, the American Heritage Rivers initiative, and the Gateway Communities initiative. The action team focused its discussions on outlining the goals of these initiatives and identifying appropriate roles to be played by the private and public sector in their implementation.

After the action teams met for approximately two hours, participants reconvened for lunch where the guest speaker was Jim Lyons, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment. Mr. Lyons looked at some of the challenges facing the Forest Service including: the ongoing debate on the agency's involvement in the timber industry; the backlog in infrastructure maintenance; the mismatch between needed and available staff skills; and the need to find new sources of revenue. He also mentioned some promising opportunities that are already in place or on the horizon, including: a move toward true multiple-use management; the effort under way to better serve visitors; the improvement in recreation information and fee systems; and the development of a common vision on the role and management of recreation on the public lands.

At the final general session, the outstanding qualities of each case-study proposal were formally recognized and the reports from the action teams were presented. Afterwards, representatives of the private sector and the federal agencies met separately to assess the entire conference and determine appropriate ways to capitalize on their involvement. The action team leaders and the Partners Outdoors Steering Committee then met on Wednesday and agreed that Partners Outdoors VIII should be held in January 1999 and that program sponsors should immediately arrange for a briefing of key Administration, Congressional and recreation industry leaders on Partners Outdoors VII and its recommendations.