State parks seeks ideas for future

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is seeking public input on how the agency should best be used in the future. Agency officials are asking for ideas

Ideas on whether the system should be considered a hospitality industry, a public conservation asset or a collection of community non-profit entities.

The agency put out a news release Friday asking those with ideas to send them via e-mail, through legislators and in a series of upcoming public meetings. Information will be used to create a strategy for the next five years and beyond.

Eastern Washington meetings will be held at Columbia Basin College in Pasco today, Thursday, and in Spokane at the Shadle branch library Friday and Monday.

Attendance is free, and a Discover Pass is not required to attend meetings held at a state park.

For more information, consult the Parks Commission’s web site: http://www.parks.wa.gov/Beyond2013/

E-mail comments can be sent to Strategic.Planning@parks. wa.gov