Individual Park Plans

Contents of a General Management Plan

• Description of park resources and facilities.
• Statement of park purpose, including an identification of the park’s significant resources.
• Summary of interpretive themes.
• An analysis of demand and trends.
• Summary of laws and policy guiding park management.
• An analysis of natural and cultural resource management, including external and internal threats and research needs.
• Physical plant inventory, needs and priorities.
• Capital improvement needs and priorities.
• Operations and management issues and recommendations.
• Land acquisition needs.

Development and subsequent revisions of the systemwide plan, general management plans, and other planning efforts undertaken over the years have been successful in documenting state parks system needs and setting priorities. These plans help ensure that
funds are spent effectively and that projects, such as visitor's centers, are designed and constructed to serve their intended purposes. Capital improvement projects must also be located and constructed to avoid harm to park resources.

With plan review and revision taking place at regular intervals, current and future projects can benefit from experience learned from earlier projects and plans can be adjusted to reflect changing conditions such as increased visitation or additional development around a park. Involving the general public and park advisory committees in the review of park plans provides valuable feedback concerning park development projects as well as park operations.

In addition to general management plans, the Comprehensive Planning Program is responsible for park master plans that include conceptual designs of park facilities in newly acquired and expanded park areas, such as Gorges State Park. Conceptual design alternatives for proposed new park areas are developed, and the Comprehensive Planning Program also conducts various research and visitor use surveys regarding the state parks system.