The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship seeks proposals to assess the implementation of the 2006 PA Wilds Recreation Plan and identify on-going needs, strategies and other recommendations for DCNR’s Investment in the PA Wilds Conservation Landscape

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

Summary
In 2006, “A Recreation Plan for the State Parks and State Forests in the Pennsylvania Wilds,” completed for DCNR by Fermata, Inc., set a course for agency infrastructure investments based on current recreation trends and needed to establish the area as a regional destination. The plan included large and small projects: from signage, restrooms, trailheads/trail improvements to several flagship destination facilities such as the Elk Country Visitor Center, Nature Inn at Bald Eagle, Wildlife Watching Center at Sinnemahoning, and Kinzua Bridge State Park Sky Walk and Visitor Center. The “Fermata” plan also proposed a staff deployment structure to address plan implementation at an operational level.

A majority of the recommendations in the Fermata plan have been addressed but there has not been a formal assessment of plan implementation nor determination of what a new strategy might look like. Such a strategy is needed to guide DCNR and the agency’s partnership with the Center and others in terms of new priorities, needs and staff roles going forward in the context of past work, outdoor recreation interests and visitation patterns today, current partner capacity and long-term sustainability. Developing such a strategy is the goal of this request.

Timeline:
RFP Issued: March 15, 2019
Responses Due: April 15, 2019 (COB)
Pre-submission Questions Taken: Between March 15 and April 1.
Project Completion Target: April 2020.

Please download the full RFP here to review project scope, goals, requirements and background information.

To Apply:
Please submit proposals electronically to Abbi Peters, Managing Director, PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship at [email protected].