December 19, 2004|By CANDUS THOMSON
That concept would seem to mesh nicely with Maryland's natural resources goals, as officials try to figure out how to boost membership in the outdoors community. Of particular concern is the 50 percent drop-out rate of male anglers ages 33-44, who stop buying licenses because of family and business commitments.
Feedback will be important, and on that count DNR, one of the first Maryland agencies online, leads the pack in online customer interaction. An electronic store that sells everything from state park passes to trail guides has served more than 1,000 customers this year and is widely considered a success. A free e-mailed newsletter about DNR activities has 3,600 subscribers.
Perhaps most importantly, employees have addressed nearly 8,000 inquiries since June, running the gamut from fishing regulations and waterfowl blind permits to best family outings and tips on poachers.
"Can anything be done with technology? Yeah, but here at DNR it has to be cost effective," Deems says. "We run the Web site at a bare-bones cost. It's almost free."
Even with a bargain-basement budget, the site gets lots of traffic. In July, the site had 509,187 unique visitors, with 43,100 people visiting more than once. The addition of e-licenses is likely to give the numbers of users a boost.
As Homer would say, "They have the Internet on computers now? Woohoo!"
