In the depths of the Great Depression, an important chapter in our history was started when Lewis and Clark Caverns became Montana's first State Park in 1936. Three years later, a commission was formed and given the authority to establish a state park system in Montana. Arising from these humble beginnings, there are now 50 parks in the Montana State Parks system, providing a multi-faceted treasure of personal, social, environmental, and economic benefits, positively affecting many aspects of life for Montanans and their visitors.
The mission of the system is to conserve a representative diversity of the state's natural, cultural, and recreational amenities, provide resource education and interpretation, and help facilitate sustainable economic development through tourism. Montana's State Parks fulfill a particular and often misunderstood purpose in a state with millions of acres in federal public ownership. Montana State Parks are not, by in large, multiple use areas intended to generate revenue from commodities, such as State School Trust lands. Nor are they in public ownership solely for boating, hiking, fishing, and other forms of active recreation, although these are extremely important activities. Rather, parks are charged to conserve particular kinds of natural, cultural, and recreational resources, in order to provide learning and recreational opportunities that showcase a variety of Montana's most exceptional resource values.
2020 Vision provides broad, long-range direction on where the Montana State Park system should be headed through the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The Plan lays the groundwork for the future from several different perspectives, including an inventory of resources, threats, and opportunities; an examination of trends and attitudes affecting the system; an evaluation of alternative futures for Montana State Parks; a set of outcomes, or intended end results; and a list of major issues affecting the system and the goals developed to address them. The focus in 2020 Vision is on the 50 state parks; the document is not a strategic plan for all the programs the Parks Division is involved with (e.g., Trails Program, Fishing Access Site Program, etc.), although they are described in the Plan.
The state park system today is in relatively solid shape, after enduring significant budget cuts and size reductions during the 1980s. Maintenance has improved and progress has been made on key capital improvements. A recent Montana survey indicated a high level of satisfaction with the system: 94 percent of the respondents who had visited a Montana State Park in the last two years indicated they were satisfied with the experience (FWP 1998). In spite of high visitor satisfaction measures, however, the system's size, scope, budget, and staffing are all relatively static. At the same time, visitation is growing, resources are under increasing pressure, demands on staff are rising, and there is currently little funding or political support to undertake new initiatives.
There is much more that Montana State Parks could do to improve the quality of life for both Montana residents and visitors, if provided with sufficient public and political support, along with the resources to do so. Public involvement during the development of this plan suggests that Montana residents and visitors alike support a larger role for the Montana State Park Program; as detailed in the Plan, there is no shortage of worthy opportunities, many of which will eventually be lost unless action is taken.
New opportunities notwithstanding, however, the primary focus of Montana State Parks staff will continue to be on selectively improving visitor services and maintenance, and ensuring that key park resources are protected and enhanced. Ultimately, Parks Program staff want to manage the system in such a way that visitor expectations are consistently exceeded when they visit a Montana State Park.
