- Target:
- El Paso County Parks Advisory Board
- Region:
- United States of America
Park Advisory Board
El Paso County/Community Services/Parks and Recreation
2002 Creek Crossing Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80905
Dear Chairman Falcone:
Thank you, the Board and the staff for the care you are taking to preserve the beautiful resources we have at the Paint Mines Interpretive Park. Thank you for your consideration of photographers in re-opening the park for night photography.
As advanced and professional photographers, we would like you to reconsider the way this is being approached. In sole sourcing to a single professional photographer at a very high per person fee, you have 1) excluded the majority of tax paying photographers who could safely use the resource, while 2) financially benefitting a single photographer without a vetting or bidding process.
Since we understand that the contract includes a total of nine night workshops in the PMIP and other parks, we believe our proposal deserves immediate attention to be fair to our county taxpayers.
We would like to offer several suggestions for consideration in addition to the workshops the county currently runs:
1. Establish criteria for the night photography use of Paint Mines Interpretive Park, for use in all El Paso County Parks.
2. Allow all organized camera clubs or certified instructors to apply for permits.
a. Require groups to collect a per person fee to be returned to the Parks and provide the per person waivers.
b. We recommend $10/pp for El Paso County photography/camera clubs (Returned to the Park)
c. We recommend $50/pp and $250 minimum for for-profit entities/professionals running tours. (Returned to the Park)
d. If the Parks Advisory Board and staff feel it is critical to limit night photography permits at Paint Mines Interpretive Park, we recommend the following:
i. El Paso County photography/camera clubs; 5/month with the stipulation that each club receive only 1/month
ii. For-profit entities/professionals running tours; 5/month
iii. Similar criteria could be set for other parks. We have not set out a recommendation since we are not familiar with those needs.
3. The county should establish all criteria for night photography tours for the safety of participants and the conservation of the environment and resources.
a. The per person limit, i.e. (6) people
b. All tours should be held to the same safety criteria (i.e. headlamps, footwear, etc.,) as set by the county
c. First aid should be carried
d. Pre-notification of participants, area to be visited, hours and route.
e. Allow one group per area per night.
f. Establish reporting requirements if other groups are seen in the Park (vandalizing, partying, etc.)
g. For El Paso County photography/camera clubs, the stipulation should be made that the tours are be led by an advanced photographer.
h. For all tours, communications criteria should be set promoting the specific park and providing the county with a minimum of (6) large format photographs selected by the lead photographer.
4. It seems there is significant income potential in opening more night photography spots to qualified leaders. Equally important, it is a more fair use of this public resource. Our calculations indicate, with the criteria we have laid out, the Parks could receive up to $3,600 from the non-profit side and $20,000 from the for-profit side.
It is our hope that you will continue to open the Paint Mines Interpretive Park and other parks in the system for night photography. This model offers a positive income stream and also allows you to know where organized groups are conducting photo shoots. The unintended consequence is that when responsible groups are utilizing the resources, irresponsible groups either do not use them or can be reported.
This proactively addresses your safety concerns and protects all park resources.
Most sincerely,
El Paso County Photographers
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Open Paint Mines Interpretive Park for Night Photography petition to El Paso County Parks Advisory Board was written by Janice Dahl and is in the category Photographing Our Public Parks at GoPetition.