Conservation & Natural Resources Advisory Council

P.O. Box 8773 Rachel Carson State Office Building Harrisburg, PA 17105-8773
717-705-0031 fax# 717-787-8817 KLeitholf@state.pa.us

Mr. John C. Oliver, Secretary
PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
RCSOB, 7^th Floor
P.O. Box 8767
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8767

Dear Secretary Oliver:

Several years ago the Conservation and Natural Resources Advisory Council agreed to undertake a study of the Department’s relationships with the public that it serves. We quickly discovered that this would be a monumental task unless we were able to focus the review into some more narrowly-defined areas. Through the formation of a User Friendliness Work Group the process of defining the terms of the study, observing the Department’s actions, and participating in tours and staff interviews helped us to reach the point where we can provide our findings and make our recommendations to you.

The purpose of this presentation is to note some perceived shortcomings in three areas – user feedback, customer service training, and rules and regulations – and to present to you our suggestions for addressing these areas requiring improvement. We have found much to be supportive of during this study and the reading of this report should not imply otherwise. We have also seen improvements in many areas highlighted in the report since the inception of this study. Therefore, we ask that you view this report as a source of encouragement to continue to move forward in learning how to best serve the public.

After DCNR staff have had a chance to review Council’s recommendations we suggest that a small DCNR working group review the status of activities related to the contents of this report with members of the User Friendliness Work Group. We further suggest that this review take place within three months of the receiving of these recommendations.

Sincerely,

Dennis DeMara
Chairperson

The Conservation and Natural Resources Advisory Council focused on three main categories in its study of "user friendliness" within DCNR: User Feedback, Customer Service Training, and Rules and Regulations.

Council identified three categories within User Feedback that should be addressed by DCNR:

• Immediate, Local, and/or Program-Specific;
• Regional and More General; and
• Statewide/National and Philosophical.

Immediate, Local and/or Program-Specific

Feedback mechanisms should be readily available at all state parks and forests. Facilities that can provide visitor feedback tools include park and forestry offices as well as facilities located at points of heavy traffic and use. At minimum, the following mechanisms should be used:

• Postage paid comment cards conveniently available for users to provide to the park/forest during the day of use or to mail after the visit. These cards should also be included with reservation materials provided to visitors;
• Public contact phone numbers displayed prominently throughout the service area; and
• Posting the park manager/district forester’s name to provide a sense of welcoming and personal assurance.

The above recommendations address specific program-oriented questions/concerns during a park/forest visit. These feedback mechanisms become more important as parks and forests attract more visitors with fewer staff to serve them.

Other DCNR local and regional facilities should also provide opportunities for public input.

Standard hospitality industry practices should be taught and practiced. Examples of simple hospitality improvements are:

• "Welcome" and "Thanks for Visiting" signs at all standard entrances and exits of state park and forest service areas;
• Extensive posting of the 1-888-PA-Parks number for overnight reservation assistance; and
• Posting other telephone numbers for assistance, such as park/forestry offices, information hotlines, and local police/ambulance assistance numbers.

Regional, and More General

The Council is not aware of any present DCNR program to gather regional user information. The Bureau of Forestry recently undertook an extensive outreach effort as part of its state forest resource management plan update with plans for additional public meetings. But this is done only every 15 years, and nothing on a more regular basis is anticipated. The Statewide Recreation Planning Advisory Committee initiated recreation plans with regional breakdowns in 1975 and has periodically issued updates, with the latest update covering 1991-1997. The Bureau of State Parks is anticipating a thorough evaluation of its rules and regulations beginning this year, which may entail public outreach, but formal plans have not yet been designed. Interns, as part of an information-gathering effort, surveyed users at individual parks over recent summers, however no on-going formal effort to gather regional user information appears to exist. 

The Council advocates:

• Establishment of an on-going information-gathering plan within DCNR to better understand changing user needs and community issues.
• Specifically, that the Bureau of State Parks undertake an effort similar to that of the Bureau of Forestry by holding regular regional public meetings or perhaps developing a more permanent public outreach structure to gather public input.

Statewide/National and Philosophical

DCNR is the largest tourism provider in the Commonwealth. Thus, it is critical that DCNR thoroughly train employees to understand and recognize the importance of their role in attracting tourists and tourism dollars to their region of the state.

With encouragement from Council, the Bureau of State Parks is presently conducting a survey that focuses on services it provides, especially as viewed by non-users. This survey asks specific questions related to "user friendliness" as well as asking non-visitors or non-returning users the reasons why they don’t visit state parks. We commend State Parks for moving forward with this survey that should identify possible hindrances to park visitation and use.

The Bureau of Forestry is presently undertaking a pilot survey of users of state forests. We strongly support this effort and encourage Forestry to continue this program. Understanding the needs and desires of park and forest users is a critical first step in any planning effort.

Links are being quantified and forged between state-owned facilities and out-of-state tourism through surveys such as the Outdoor and Heritage Tourism Survey. Recognition that these facilities are an impressive draw from other states, especially from our immediate neighbors, is increasing. DCNR must embrace a customer service philosophy that is an enticement not just to Pennsylvania residents, but to a larger population of national tourists to state parks and forests. Our recommendations to DCNR include:

• Working through appropriate organizations and agencies and interfacing with the private sector, continue strategies that identify strengths and weaknesses of existing facilities, use those strengths to attract tourism, and increase and focus public relations and tourism efforts on both statewide and national levels;
• Continue efforts such as Visitor Guides and Outdoor Discovery Maps, improvement of state park and forest maps, and ecotourism promotion efforts;
• Hire professional marketing personnel to oversee its overall tourism initiatives.

DCNR has an economic responsibility to the Commonwealth to make this tourism outreach program as effective as it can be.

Council recommends that three customer service sub-areas require additional attention: Manager Training, New Employee Training, and Enforcement.

Manager Training

Direction provided by DCNR’s managers is critical to overall performance of staff, especially as it applies to customer service and tourism promotion. DCNR managers should have a common understanding of the term "tourism" and how they impact tourism in Pennsylvania. The Council recommends that DCNR:

• Provide regular, quality, and mandatory customer service training courses, at least for managers. We recognize that some training now occurs through programs such as MES and ACER Training and support their continuance;
• Make the Manager’s Conference an annual event. The Council views annual manager training as time and money well-invested;
• Solicit outside expertise in hospitality training. In conjunction with external training, we urge that DCNR training programs be evaluated externally.

New Employee Training

The Bureau of State Parks provides all new employees with a "State Park Employee Orientation" manual. This manual describes DCNR’s mission, organization and direction, and also has sections on Meeting the Public, How to Give Visitors a State Park Welcome, Personal Appearance and Conduct, etc. Of particular concern to Council was not the content of the material (which was thorough and informative), but the order of it. One of the most important informational pieces in the manual (in our minds), How to Give Visitors a State Park Welcome, was found at the very end of this 20-some page manual. Acting on our advice, the Bureau of State Parks has relocated this section near the beginning of the manual.

We encourage other bureaus within DCNR to develop new employee manuals similar to that of the Bureau of State Parks.

Enforcement

Council recommends that DCNR:

• Review all practices relating to enforcement training for employees. It can be difficult for some individuals to balance effective visitor security services with visitor assistance. On-going monitoring and training for park and forestry security personnel are important when reviewing for customer satisfaction;
• Gather and review enforcement statistics to note discrepancies with DCNR practices and continue to urge customer service messages to enforcement staff;
• Investigate methods for providing security and the training of security personnel in other states.

Nothing sets the tone for park/forest visits more than its rules and regulations. Rules need to be clearly stated, consistently applied, address a multitude of recreational interests, and protect visitors, while at the same time encouraging a positive visitor experience. Rules and regulations need to be well-planned and should include perspectives from a wide spectrum of users, taxpayers and neighbors.

Rules Establishment

The Council strongly supports that:

• Establishment of park and forest rules should be a very public process;
• Citizens should be involved in rule establishment. As mentioned in the visitor feedback section above, there are several ways to solicit public input prior to the establishment of new rules or revision of old ones;
• Established rules and regulations must always consider the resources that state parks and forests were created to protect.

Effective methods of gathering and disseminating information on the establishment of rules and regulations should include:

• Comment cards;
• Central collection system of citizen recommendations;
• Use of the Internet;
• Surveys of users and non-users;
• Public meetings and discussions;
• Industry research;
• Use of 1-888-PA PARKS to advertise upcoming public involvement opportunities to review proposed changes and new rules and regulation revisions.

Rules Monitoring

DCNR needs to be attentive to existing regulations and ensure that established rules fulfill their intended purposes. Rules should be regularly re-examined to address the recreational and resource needs of future generations of residents and visitors.

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