What is SCORP?

What is SCORP? 

Per federal regulations, each state must complete a statewide comprehensive outdoor recreation plan every five years to receive resource appropriations from the National Land and Water Conservation Fund. These funds, distributed per state, are then used to increase outdoor recreation access and participation via state approved projects. Each state must submit this plan to the National Park Service to meet requirements for funds distribution. Part of this plan includes outdoor recreation user and provider surveying to identify participation rates, access issues, and concerns related to current and future areas and facility needs. Many communities have benefitted from these allocated funds via the Outdoor Recreation Grants Program.  

What do I need to know about the survey? 

The survey is hosted online through QuestionPro. It is a software that is licensed by the university and used widely in research. The survey is set up so that a person must agree to participate and be 18 years of age or older to continue. From there, the survey will ask a series of questions about outdoor recreation participation and perceptions.  If an adult notes they have children, it will ask questions about what types of outdoor recreation activities the children participate in. If the respondent notes they have no children, it is designed to skip those questions. From there it will ask a series of questions about the respondent’s outdoor recreation participation, motivations for outdoor recreation, and thoughts related to barrier to outdoor recreation participation. It will conclude with a few simple demographic questions that will be used in analysis only. The survey has been taken many times during drafting and is estimated to take an average of about 15 minutes.  The survey and research process has passed the internal review board process at Arkansas Tech University to assure privacy, confidentiality, and that participation poses no more risk than an individual encounters in their everyday life.  While every effort will be made to keep data anonymous, QuestionPro does collect IP addresses. This information will not be published and will not be used to discover more information from or about the participants. Data will be kept on password-protected devices and accounts. The intro the online survey includes all this information for individuals beginning the survey. 

Who do I contact if I have questions? 

You can send an email to Michael Bradley at [email protected] with any questions about the survey or the survey process. To learn more about the Outdoor Recreation Grants Program visit www.outdoorgrants.com. 

About James Brandenburg

Arkansas Chapter Board Member, generalist hunter and angler

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