America’s national parks are some of our most beloved places. Scenic vistas, incredible wildlife, cultural treasures and more help make our public lands and waters the envy of the world. However, many parks lack the modern conveniences an increasingly diverse, urban and technologically savvy public wants to deliver great experiences. AccessParks – American Recreation Coalition’s (ARC) newest Contributing Member – is bringing nearly a decade of experience and out-of-the-box thinking to change that situation and help the National Park Service (NPS) remain relevant to today’s public.
Since 2008, the team behind AccessParks has been building and managing commercial-grade, high-speed wireless networks on federal lands in some of the most remote locations on earth. It has pioneered public-private partnerships to build scalable, rapidly deployable, modular Internet delivery for bases managed by the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army, as well as FBI and DHS sites, at no cost to the government and actually yielding a sustained revenue stream. In fact, DOD saved hundreds of millions in budgeted funds under this partnership. These systems are now in use today at most U.S. military facilities across the globe. Now, AccessParks CEO Tim Rout and his team are looking to bring their vision and expertise to America’s national parks through its SmartParks™ program, going beyond just connectivity to bring the Internet of Things (IoT) to federal lands.
AccessParks’ first NPS unit, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, was launched in May 2017, bringing gigabit internet services to campgrounds, RV parks, marinas and more! AccessParks reports early user feedback has been so positive that it is already in talks with concessioners in other parks to help bring 21st century internet technology to more of America’s public lands and waters, with the goal of delivering game-changing, high-speed Wi-Fi and IoT benefits to an entire NPS region.
Mr. Rout has shared his innovative ideas with top government officials and other potential partners – meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke alongside the Outdoor Recreation Industry Roundtable in July – and has presented at two Partners Outdoors conferences – 2015 and 2017 – where he spoke about embracing innovation, modernizing infrastructure and creating more enjoyable recreational experiences for all visitors to federal lands.
"We welcome this visionary company to ARC membership,” said ARC President Derrick Crandall. “We look forward to working with Tim and his forward-thinking team to provide outstanding recreational experiences on America's public lands and waters."
Click here to watch Mr. Rout join Rocky Mountain Conservancy Executive Director Estee Rivera Murdock and Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Assistant Secretary Linda Craghead to discuss Embracing Innovation at Partners Outdoors 2017.