DCNR, Partners: Local Parks, Recreation Are Good For You, Good For All

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the PA Park and Recreation Society are inviting Pennsylvanians to find some healthy fun at a park or recreation program close to them through a new website, brand and outreach effort.

The “Good for You, Good for All” campaign is intended to broaden awareness, and increase engagement and support for local parks and recreation.

The campaign hopes to make more than 5,600 local parks go-to destinations for Pennsylvanians with a new interactive map feature. The map lets visitors search for a local park nearby or by county; provides aerial photography of the facility and a list of amenities available.

“Local parks and recreation facilities and programs are our ‘go to” for close-to-home recreation in Pennsylvania,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “From hiking and biking trails for the nature lover to basketball courts and softball fields for the sports nut, local parks and recreation facilities offer Pennsylvanians places and programs that help them stay healthy, strengthen their communities, and have fun.”

Local parks and recreation are essential services provided to community residents, offering many benefits including:

-- Improved health and wellness for all;

-- A refuge from busy lives and a community “commons” that connects people to nature and each other;

-- More desirable communities and an enhanced sense of place;

-- Increased property values and municipal tax revenues;

-- Open space protection; and

-- Increased tourism and visitor spending.

"When you get down to it, there is an undeniable ‘goodness’ to local parks and recreation," said PRPS Executive Director Tim Herd. “No other aspect of thriving livability contributes as much to the appeal of our surroundings, the vitality of our communities, and the joy and pleasures of daily living than our local park and recreation systems.”

“Gov. Wolf recognizes and supports providing and promoting outdoor recreation as part of the effort to create jobs that pay in our commonwealth,” Dunn said.  

A “Good for You, Good for All” electronic toolkit of brand and marketing materials are being made available to municipalities and parks and recreation providers as part of this campaign.

Pennsylvania’s new five-year Outdoor Recreation Plan to connect citizens to healthy outdoor recreation shows maintenance of existing park and recreation areas continues to be a top concern and priority for citizens and providers, and that park and recreation services are a central asset in combating societal health care issues like obesity and mental health.

The “Good for You, Good for All” initiative meets one of 83 action steps outlined in the recreation plan to develop a unified brand for local parks and recreation with accompanying marketing strategy. The GoodForPA.com website meets a second goal of launching a mobile-friendly website to help residents easily find local parks.

Visit DCNR’s Outdoor Recreation Plan website for more on Pennsylvania recreation policy.