Patrol & Inspection Team Preparations for Spring 2009

Basic Premises Most of the visitors come in good faith. We expect about 20,000 visitors every weekend between February- June. Most of the local residents are willing to open the area to visitors, but are wary of possible damage and therefore want precautions to be taken. Many residents are interested in using the park to create business opportunities

Local regulations can be enacted to help the team prevent and/or deal with inappropriate behavior. The authorities don’t have enough manpower and resources to cover the park every weekend during the peak season.. Spring 2009 affords an opportunity to trial run and fine tune the proposed methods of explanation and enforcement. The subjects under consideration are: vehicle and pedestrian traffic patterns according to days and hours, access roads, etc.

Operations ExplanationEnforcement Messages - explanation and welcome on arrival—escorted visits—reports of violations – warnings – enforcement/punishment Step 1 for this season At this stage, we propose confining our efforts to monitoring the number of visitors, escorting and deterring, the collection and analysis of data re the number of visitors and how they are dispersed over the various sites according to days, hours, weather conditions etc.

Pre-Visit Information MethodMessages General information Rules of Conduct…. Traffic and parking regulations Services Respect the land and the property of the residents. Internet Press – Media tours and articles PR TV and radio Telephone service center

At the Main Park Entrances Means Messages * Rules of conduct Driving and Parking regulations *Maintaining cleanliness and respecting nature *Contact information: assistance, emergency, rescue(?) *Safety measures *Park Rangers *Information stands *Distribution of brochures, maps, regulations, additional information, plastic garbage bags * Directing and regulating traffic

Inside the Park Means Messages The same messages as at the entrance *Mailboxes for feedback, complaints and suggestions. *Rangers on bicycles, horses and 4 wheel drives Info stands* *Licensed enforcement officers, as required *Documentation of violations

Rangers *Headquarters: responsible for solving problems that arise, work schedules and control unit. *The Rangers will be volunteers, organized into permanent teams under a designated leader (possibly by settlements) *They will wear uniforms so as to be easily identified. They will have a deep commitment to service. They will use bicycles, horses and off-road vehicles. They will be equipped with means of communicating with headquarters and with other teams. They will receive proper training and certification.

Thank you for your attention Eitzik Shafran Team manager