SCORP 2023-27 Update
The Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) is updated every five years and serves as a guide for all public outdoor recreation in urban and rural neighborhoods, cities, and regions for a given state. This plan attempts to bring together the wants and needs of the recreation users and providers into a single comprehensive document.
The SCORP update is also an eligibility requirement for funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The LWCF provides matching grants to states and local governments for the acquisition and development of public outdoor recreation areas and facilities.
The current update provides the long overdue opportunity for a comprehensive, project-focused, locally-driven process for guiding investments and strategies for outdoor recreation. This includes addressing needs for infrastructure like parks and trails, for open space acquisition, but also for broader strategies for funding, marketing and partnership building.
Participate in SCORP!
The SCORP is updated every five years and serves as a guide for all public outdoor recreation in urban and rural neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Now is your chance to help shape the future of outdoor recreation in Alaska!
SCORP Team
The current SCORP update is led by AK DNR Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation (Alaska State Parks), with assistance from the NPS River, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program and Alaska Trails. Alaska Trails serves as the project manager for the SCORP production, coordinating the effort.
Three additional companies are contracting with Alaska State Parks to provide data collection & analysis for this update:
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Outdoor recreation supply - GIS mapping of existing outdoor recreation infrastructure
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Outdoor recreation demand - Anonymized and aggregated Mobile Data analysis of use
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Outdoor recreation demand – Public surveys and Land Managers' Surveys
Finally, the content of the SCORP main chapters comes from the work of statewide and regional volunteer working groups. The Statewide Advisory Group (SWAG) and 7 Regional Working Groups have met multiple times over the course of 2021 and 2022 to identify priorities and strategies for advancement of outdoor recreation in the state.
STATEWIDE ADVISORY GROUP (SWAG)
The first outdoor recreation advisory group in Alaska is helping the Alaska State Parks develop statewide priorities, goals, and strategies for advancing outdoor recreation in the state. This diverse volunteer group of over 20 individuals met several times over the course of 2021 – 2022 and is available to the SCORP team for questions related to their expertise. Topics include Economy, Workforce Development, Health and Wellness, Stewardship and Land Management, Funding, and Leadership.
REGIONAL WORKING GROUPS
Alaska’s outdoor recreation issues and opportunities are regionally diverse. This SCORP update aims to bring local voices to the fore front to make this document a useful tool for stakeholders at regional levels. To that aim, 8 volunteer regional working groups have been formed, led by regional facilitators. The regional working groups include public land managers, local government park and recreation departments, tourism organizations, Native organizations, recreation-focused nonprofits, and user groups. Their specific tasks:
• Develop regional-scale outdoor recreation objectives and strategies
• Identify specific priority projects and actions needed reach these objectives and strategies
REGIONAL FACILITATORS
PARTICIPATION OPPORTUNITIES
Alaskans have a unique opportunity to influence the development and implementation of the recreation plan to better our communities and economy.
Thank you for joining this effort.
