Ninety years ago, Michigan citizens recognized the importance of preserving Michigan's rich natural and historic heritage and created our Michigan State Parks System.

Included in this system are some of our most precious natural assets -- Tahquamenon Falls, the 47,000 acres of wilderness preserved within Porcupine Mountains, irreplaceable sand dunes at 16 state parks bordering the Great Lakes, the virgin forest of Hartwick Pines and the vast open spaces of 12 Recreation Areas encircling Southeast Michigan.

The Parks and Recreation Division of the Department of Natural Resources is responsible for managing Michigan's state park and boating facilities.

"Our mission is to provide the public with access to 100 state parks and recreation areas, 80 state-funded harbors and more than 1,300 state-funded boating access sites throughout the state," said DNR Parks and Recreation Chief Ron Olson. "But current funding challenges dictate that focused decisions must be made in the management of these significant state resources, which are a major component of Michigan's tourism industry."

That's why, in October 2006, Olson, with the approval of DNR Director Rebecca Humphries, established a core work team in the Parks and Recreation Division to identify and explore existing strategic plans and to recommend a planning process for the development of a new strategic plan for state parks and boating facilities.

"Our goal was to develop a strategic plan that would be a 10-year 'road map' to set direction and guidance for the Parks and Recreation Division as it manages its parks and boating facilities," Olson said. "A key component in the development of the new plan was to interact with the public and the stakeholders whom we serve."

Two earlier plans were in place: Vision 2020, developed in the early '90s, which mapped out six long-range goals for state parks and recreation areas, and the Waterways Commission Strategic Plan, adopted in December 2000, which identified specific actions that needed to be addressed for state harbors and boat access sites.

The planning process underway for the new Parks and Recreation Division Strategic Plan establishes one cohesive plan for the division that embraces its two primary programs.

"It spells out long-range goals, objectives, actions and specific tasks for both the state parks and boating programs of PRD," Olson said. "It is more than just a plan to secure a stable, long-term funding source for these programs, although this is a critical recommendation of the plan.

"It truly reflects the broad range of issues which must be addressed to ensure that our state parks system continues to offer outstanding recreation for the millions of Michigan citizens and out-of-state residents who visit each year, and that all of Michigan's public boating facilities are developed, maintained and operated in a customer-oriented, ecologically responsible manner."

The components of the plan were developed through extensive interactions with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Citizen's Committee for Michigan State Parks, the Michigan State Waterways Commission, interest groups and organizations, key committees of the Michigan Legislature and the public.

From November 2006 through April 2007, 12 workshops were held around the state. Additionally, more than 12,000 questionnaires were distributed at state parks and boating facilities, and an additional 1,600 were mailed to those who used a state harbor in 2007.

A total 132 telephone interviews also were conducted with Parks and Recreation Division stakeholders representing the Michigan Legislature, Michigan Natural Resources Commission, Citizen's Committee for Michigan State Parks, Michigan State Waterways Commission, Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board and a total of 58 interviews with grant-in-aid communities and other stakeholder groups or organizations.

"The results of all these efforts resulted in confirmation of the original goals of Vision 2020 and the Waterways Commission Strategic Plan, but they also identified the need to add a number of additional goals," said Vicki Anthes, chief of the Park and Recreation Division's Planning Section.

For the new strategic plan to be effective, Anthes said the document must: 1) reflect the core mission of the Parks and Recreation Division; 2) be incorporated into the fabric of the day-to-day thoughts and actions of Parks staff and 3) be dynamic and responsive to change.

"These three primary goals guided the creation of the new plan and how it will be used, monitored and updated on an annual basis," Anthes said. "It also provides a framework to have the plan completely reevaluated and reaffirmed every five years."

Throughout the first 10 months of 2008, the work team began drafting the 12 specific goals and 44 objectives for the plan based on the initial input that was received.

"We also worked to solicit additional public input at outdoor shows, by e-mail to stakeholders and through the public meetings of the Citizen's Committee and the Waterways Commission," said Paul Curtis, strategic planning coordinator.

The Parks and Recreation Management Team (representing Lansing staff and field operations staff) then worked to validate the goals and worked to synthesize the objectives, actions and tasks into a comprehensive document.

"This part of the process took about six months," Curtis said. When the draft document was completed last December, a public announcement was made and it was placed on the DNR Web site for public review and a 60-day comment period which ended Jan. 30.

"Any needed revisions will be incorporated into the document," Curtis said.

The final plan then will be moved through an approval process that includes the DNR Statewide Council, Citizen's Committee for Michigan State Parks, Michigan State Waterways Commission and Natural Resources Commission, before being presented to Director Humphries for final approval.