Five federal initiatives have won Beacon Awards in 2018 from the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) for successes in harnessing the power of technology to improve public recreation experiences and federal recreation program management. Winners were selected from efforts of multiple federal agencies.
The Beacon Awards were created in 2005 to encourage federal agencies’ experimentation with and use of new technologies and alternative communications channels to enhance the experiences of visitors to the nation’s public lands.
Nominations are made by the federal agencies and are judged against the award’s criteria, which are:
- Innovative use of technology for visitor services or recreation management
- Use of partnerships with for-profit and nonprofit organizations
- Efforts to share news of creative solutions within the agency
- Community support for the work of this initiative
The recipients of ORR’s 2018 Beacon Awards were honored on Wednesday, May 30, at a presentation at the U.S. Department of the Interior. The ceremony was moderated by Phil Ingrassia, ORR treasurer and president of the RV Dealers Association; and Jim Kurth, deputy director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This year’s recipients are:
- Peter Bonsall and Matt Robinson – National Park Service: National Trails System GIS Network
- Gabe DeAlessio – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Regional Office: Innovative Sign Inventory App
- Danielle Brigida – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Digital Strategy Manager
- U.S. Forest Service: USFS Mobile App
- NIC Inc., and the National Park Service: Senior Pass Fulfillment