You can support goals to increase access to parks and preserves to people with disabilities.
As described in previous posts, Kennett Outdoors has worked closely with other stakeholders across Pennsylvania over the past year to identify potential priorities for the development of our parks and preserves. We are delighted to announce that the draft Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) is now online (you can download a copy here). It is open for public comment through March 3rd. The SCORP includes a detailed review of potential areas of development, drawing on statewide surveys of users and other data sources to identify gaps and opportunities.
We are especially excited about the specific goals related to access and inclusion that we worked carefully with other stakeholders to develop. As part of the broader goal to "Create safe access to recreation for all skill levels, abilities, and experiences" for example, the plan proposes to "Develop progressive skill trail systems for walking, hiking, and biking in local parks, state parks, and other outdoor recreation spaces." and to "Establish and implement a standard trail communication system to help users more easily determine level of difficulty" (see. p. 77). We hope that this will spur a workgroup to pilot modified trail rating systems better suited to the needs of people with disabilities. We also hope that this will help to prioritize the identification of natural trails that approach standards for universal access, like this portion of the PennDel trail in White Clay Creek Preserve we walked over the holidays.
We are also excited about other goals that might help to close other gaps in access more generally. As part of the broader goal to "Create greater recreation opportunities for aging populations and people who experience disabilities or chronic health conditions" the plan proposes to "Increase availability of passive and adaptive recreation facilities on water ways, hiking trails, walking paths, local parks and playgrounds, and other recreation facilities," and to "Create an accessibility field guide for aging recreation users or those experiencing disabilities or chronic conditions" p. 77). We hope that this might, for example, spur surveys of parks and preserves to identify the subset that have different accessible features and programs, resulting in a county or multi-county level guide. Such a guide might also serve to identify underserved areas - e.g., where users with disabilities must drive significantly longer distances to access parks and preserves suited to their needs.
If you agree that these goals are important, be sure to get your comments in by March 3rd. If you are interested in learning more, consider coming to our session on April 4th at the 2025 WeConservePA annual conference - we will be presenting our own survey of accessible features and programs here in Chester County parks and preserves.
Comments