Madison Boone Resource and Recreation Action Plan

What?

The Madison/Boone Resource and Recreation Action Plan is a process and a product. The process will deliver planning, training and technical assistance through on-site workshops, Steering Team meetings, a public open house, a survey, and interviews. The process will pull together community members and organizations to identify actions to:

strengthen recreation options and community health,
protect natural and cultural resources, and
foster an emerging outdoor recreation economy and lasting economic opportunity.

The product—the Madison/Boone Resource and Recreation Action Plan—will document findings, reflect the future vision and propose actions to achieve that vision.

Where?

The project seeks to serve residents and visitors to the City of Madison and Boone County, and the long-term health of the community. The project will focus on Madison, the county seat, while extending throughout Boone County.

Who?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development awarded funding for the project through their Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge to The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to finding solutions that make both environmental and economic sense. The framework of The Conservation Fund’s Balancing Nature and Commerce program, around which this project’s tasks are centered, provides a “seat at the table” for diverse interests and perspectives, which the project will reflect. The process will be inclusive and locally driven, with a Steering Team guiding the Plan. The Steering Team will include participants from Madison, Boone County, recreation interests, community health organizations, area businesses, resource agencies, education providers, and other community leaders in southern West Virginia.

How?

The project will include six meetings of the Steering Team, two on-site workshops, a survey, a public open house, and additional outreach methods to build capacity, connections, expertise, and community support for implementation of the final plan. The Steering Team will inform the workshops, public open house, and survey, and in turn be informed by input received through these means. A public open house will be held to extend information to and receive input from all community members, with the survey available to provide an additional input option.

The actions that emerge from the process will provide the foundation for a new concept of placemaking for Madison and Boone, one that develops a diversified and sustainable economy, with a respect for the rich cultural heritage and support for a strong outdoor recreation component. The completed Resource and Recreation Action Plan will document findings, but center on the actions developed by and for the community. The Plan will reflect the community’s vision for the future and actions to achieve that vision, addressing future investment, projects, and partnerships

When?

Extensive outreach and engagement starts in the spring of 2022 and extends across the year. Early 2023 includes completion of the Plan and support for implementation activities.