Fishing Tournaments, Coon Dogs, and Weddings: Using Technology to Manage Events on Public Land and Water

The Iowa DNR is responsible for maintaining state parks and forests, protecting the environment, and managing fish, wildlife, land and water resources in Iowa. Public use of Iowa's natural resources includes over 2,000 special events, such as fishing tournaments and dog trials, that are hosted on state managed lands annually. Clubs, organizations or the general public utilize the new, online Special Events system (https://programs.iowadnr.gov/specialevents/) to apply for events. The Special Events site also allows users to simply browse through the listing of special events, or perform detailed searches by event type, location, or date/time. Map-based search options are also available. To create this system, the DNR leveraged web-enabled, geospatial technology to efficiently and effectively provide accountable governmental services. The focus: submit forms, data, and information electronically; eliminate manual processes; incorporate geographical location technology; ensure database interoperability; application reuse; and creation of data repositories accessible to a variety of users. The result: event applications are collected, acted upon, and displayed to the public quickly and coherently.