Post by mwardncsu on Jan 27, 2016 16:35:21 GMT -5
I received the inquiry below regarding an upcoming survey/study on boating access this week to the Striper Club, and the Club will have someone participate, but I offered to expand te visiblity to the Forum here as I know many of you trailer your boats (or portage your kayaks) and the topic would be near and dear to your hearts....
If you would be interested in this, contact Faren directly at the contact details below....
I am a Research Associate managing a statewide water and boating access project for Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and the Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (VT FWC). I am in the process of planning seven regional boating access focus groups and Smith Mountain Striper Club was suggested as a good group to contact since one of the meetings is in Moneta. I am reaching out via email, (1) to inform you of the Boating Access Study, and (2) to invite you to participate in one of the focus groups. There is some membership and contact information overlap among organizations, so I apologize for multiple postings on this project.
First, let me explain the study. VDGIF owns or shares maintenance responsibilities for 200+ boating access facilities (BOAs). The task of providing regular maintenance to these widely dispersed facilities is constrained by personnel and other resource limitations, especially fiscal constraints. As a result, the ability of the agency to fulfill maintenance needs of existing facilities and also accommodate the changing demands and expectations of users is being stretched. To address these challenges, VDGIF and VT FWC are collaborating on a 3-year study to examine boating access issues; in this study, we will be assessing and characterizing the current and potential future use of boating access sites, users’ preferences and satisfaction with facilities, and opinions and attitudes about issues related to accessing the state’s waters.
The first phase of this work will be conducting a series of regional focus group meetings across the Commonwealth with BOA users to gather information that will help identify and properly frame issues and concerns important to all boating access users. Information gathered through these focus group session will be used to prioritize maintenance activities and refine resource allocations for existing sites or perhaps guide potential acquisition of new access sites. Ultimately, input from the public will be used to develop recommendations and strategies as part of a draft statewide BOAs management plan we will provide to VDGIF for potential adoption. These are the following dates and places for the regional focus groups (6:30 – 8:00PM):
Radford Public Library, Radford: Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016
Hollins Branch Public Library, Roanoke: Monday, 8 Feb 2016
Moneta-Smith Mountain Lake Library, Moneta: Tuesday, 9 Feb 2016
Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg: Thursday, 11 Feb 2016
Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, Henrico: Tuesday, 16 Feb 2016
Tabb Public Library, Tabb: Wednesday, Feb 17 2016
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, New Market: Thursday, 18 Feb 2016
You are being contacted to determine your interest in and availability to participate in one of these focus group sessions, specifically a meeting scheduled to take place in Moneta on 9 Feb 2016, from 6:30 – 8:00pm. We hope to have one or two people representing different types of water-based activities (e.g. motorized boating or fishing, non-motorized boating or fishing, float fishing, waterskiing, local government, etc.). As noted earlier, the purpose of the meetings is to better understand what is important to you regarding boating access, as well as your attitudes and opinions about water access in Virginia. We are interested to hear your thoughts on boating access site maintenance and creative ideas for addressing the demands of boating access facility users. Your input is critical to developing a statewide boating access facilities management plan that reflects the desires of the Commonwealth. Would you be willing to participate in the Moneta focus group meeting? If yes, please call or email me your confirmation no later than 1 February 2016 and whether we will need to provide any accommodations to facilitate your participation. If this time/date is not convenient, we will be conducting additional meetings that you might be able to attend, so please let me know. Also, if you know someone else that may be willing to share their thoughts in a boating access focus group, please send me their name and contact information.
I look forward to hearing from you and we hope you can join us for the boating access focus group in Moneta on 9 February 2016!
Faren
Faren R. Wolter, Ph.D., CWB®
Research Associate
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (MC 0321)
111 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech
310 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Fwolter@vt.edu
540.231.0961 (office)
540.213.7580 (fax)
If you would be interested in this, contact Faren directly at the contact details below....
I am a Research Associate managing a statewide water and boating access project for Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) and the Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (VT FWC). I am in the process of planning seven regional boating access focus groups and Smith Mountain Striper Club was suggested as a good group to contact since one of the meetings is in Moneta. I am reaching out via email, (1) to inform you of the Boating Access Study, and (2) to invite you to participate in one of the focus groups. There is some membership and contact information overlap among organizations, so I apologize for multiple postings on this project.
First, let me explain the study. VDGIF owns or shares maintenance responsibilities for 200+ boating access facilities (BOAs). The task of providing regular maintenance to these widely dispersed facilities is constrained by personnel and other resource limitations, especially fiscal constraints. As a result, the ability of the agency to fulfill maintenance needs of existing facilities and also accommodate the changing demands and expectations of users is being stretched. To address these challenges, VDGIF and VT FWC are collaborating on a 3-year study to examine boating access issues; in this study, we will be assessing and characterizing the current and potential future use of boating access sites, users’ preferences and satisfaction with facilities, and opinions and attitudes about issues related to accessing the state’s waters.
The first phase of this work will be conducting a series of regional focus group meetings across the Commonwealth with BOA users to gather information that will help identify and properly frame issues and concerns important to all boating access users. Information gathered through these focus group session will be used to prioritize maintenance activities and refine resource allocations for existing sites or perhaps guide potential acquisition of new access sites. Ultimately, input from the public will be used to develop recommendations and strategies as part of a draft statewide BOAs management plan we will provide to VDGIF for potential adoption. These are the following dates and places for the regional focus groups (6:30 – 8:00PM):
Radford Public Library, Radford: Tuesday, 2 Feb 2016
Hollins Branch Public Library, Roanoke: Monday, 8 Feb 2016
Moneta-Smith Mountain Lake Library, Moneta: Tuesday, 9 Feb 2016
Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg: Thursday, 11 Feb 2016
Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries, Henrico: Tuesday, 16 Feb 2016
Tabb Public Library, Tabb: Wednesday, Feb 17 2016
Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, New Market: Thursday, 18 Feb 2016
You are being contacted to determine your interest in and availability to participate in one of these focus group sessions, specifically a meeting scheduled to take place in Moneta on 9 Feb 2016, from 6:30 – 8:00pm. We hope to have one or two people representing different types of water-based activities (e.g. motorized boating or fishing, non-motorized boating or fishing, float fishing, waterskiing, local government, etc.). As noted earlier, the purpose of the meetings is to better understand what is important to you regarding boating access, as well as your attitudes and opinions about water access in Virginia. We are interested to hear your thoughts on boating access site maintenance and creative ideas for addressing the demands of boating access facility users. Your input is critical to developing a statewide boating access facilities management plan that reflects the desires of the Commonwealth. Would you be willing to participate in the Moneta focus group meeting? If yes, please call or email me your confirmation no later than 1 February 2016 and whether we will need to provide any accommodations to facilitate your participation. If this time/date is not convenient, we will be conducting additional meetings that you might be able to attend, so please let me know. Also, if you know someone else that may be willing to share their thoughts in a boating access focus group, please send me their name and contact information.
I look forward to hearing from you and we hope you can join us for the boating access focus group in Moneta on 9 February 2016!
Faren
Faren R. Wolter, Ph.D., CWB®
Research Associate
Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation (MC 0321)
111 Cheatham Hall, Virginia Tech
310 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Fwolter@vt.edu
540.231.0961 (office)
540.213.7580 (fax)
