[PaybackTony]

I attended the NASPD conference this last year (National Association of State Parks Directors). After a couple of us ex Vacasa / Nike / Amazon engineers heard from our local state that the industry is up for disruption we started working on product in our free time. After attending that conference they couldn't be more right.

Those running the parks hate their options, I don't see them as a crook here. The industry for park management software that fits the needs of a public land is stale. Fees for fees is normal. The process to become a vendor for a state is long and drawn out, and is riddled with red tape that was created in large part by the very same stale old vendors who've been in it the last 30 years.

After speaking with multiple states and now being in the proposal process for a number of them, hopefully we can be a step further in the right direction (think things like opening up 3rd party integrations, better bot prevention, etc).

Another thing I'd like to pass on from talking to a number of states including the national parks people: They are really trying to move in a more equitable direction when it comes to park access. They are very aware that many park experiences aren't as accessible (hard to get a reservation) to certain demographics and from my perspective they are making an effort to figure some of those things out.

[no_wizard]

Do you think part of that accessibility plan is more paved parkways too? My wife has a disability that makes walking on gravel substantially harder than paved road.

Selfishly I'd enjoy parks more if the had paved access roads, parking and parkways. One of the things I like about where I'm living right now is the Recreation district in the city made it a mission to pave parkways and everyone's better off for it.

[StillBored]

I'm sorry about your wife, but I'm going to say that I (and quite a number of other people) are against paving public lands reserved for nature parks. I'm perfectly happy to support her using off road (powered even) bikes, wheelchairs and any other personal mobility technology that is invented or used.

But, parks are suppose to be nature, its widely accepted that what the national parks did in the early 1900's was a huge mistake, paving and placing lodges next to old faithful, the paved path in carsbad caverns (along with the cafeteria), the roads through glacier and nearly all of the other parks. The town in the middle of Yosimite valley. This was done to encourage people to "see the sights" and the results have been a disaster, not only to nature, but to the traffic and general destruction of the "sights to be seen". And IMHO paved paths are just another name for a vehicular road.

So the modern take on nature parks (vs recreational parks like you find in town, which have trails, baseball fields and swimming pools), is that the correct way to build them is to keep the cars on the borders, and build trails to the sights. Ideally single track, and most definitely permeable surface. Although, armoring, and other more natural construction methods tend to be fine as well. Most of the parks constructed since the 1970's (the few that exist) tend to follow this model. Visitors center near the road, along with the RV camping, improved camping sites, etc and the nature is accessed via natural surface trails on foot, bike or horse.