The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office is holding a series of online public meetings to gather comments about the future of outdoor recreation in Washington.

The purpose of the online forum is to gather the input from the public about the demand for outdoor recreation, what people want to see in parks and on trails, what prevents people from recreating outdoors, and the quality of their experiences when they do.

To participate in the online public meetings, visit the department’s website and click on the Recreation Town Hall link. You can participate at any time of day.

The meeting starts with a series of questions about commercialization of parks, and new questions will be added regularly. The online meetings will run through January.

The first series of questions asks what people think about allowing advertising or corporate naming rights in public parks. It also asks if parks should allow businesses, such as small grocery stores or gift shops. It asks whether new types of recreation, such as zip lines, should be part of our public parks. Finally, it asks whether wireless Internet access should be allowed in public parks.

Get involved

 • You can take part in the online public meeting at scorpwa.wordpress.com.

 • You can learn more about the State Recreation and Conservation Office at rco.wa.gov.