Agnew::Beck assisted the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and their project partner, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), to conduct the public participation and facilitation process required to prepare a multi-purpose MapGuide for Prince William Sound (PWS) and Marine Trail. The project sought to help a broad and diverse audience CONSERVE, ENJOY, and UNDERSTAND the Sound.
The key goals of the project were to work with PWS communities to achieve the following:
- Document and share stories about the Sound, in the voices of those who live in and use the area
- Increase public understanding about Sound resources
- Help conserve the natural and cultural resources of Prince William Sound
- Promote sustainable economic health
- Connect people to the Sound and foster appropriate recreation and tourism activities
The US Forest Service initiated this project in light of the facts that:
- PWS is a particularly wonderful place; well loved for good reasons
- Tourism and recreation activity continue to grow in PWS; this growth creates impacts – positive & negative
- PWS has been studied as intensively as any marine region in the world; public knowledge of the results of this research is limited
- Need for community voice in PWS planning efforts and recreation project funding and spending
- Need for increased collaboration to improve management and support continued recovery of PWS resources
A website and accompanying print material were designed to share the PWS stories and information. The collection of stories was so successful that the Forest Service decided to broaden the scope of the project to include the entire Chugach National Forest. This resulted in the Explore the Chugach website that collects and shares stories and information about the Chugach National Forest.
