Global Gossip currently has NetEqualizers deployed at the Furnace Creek Resort in Death Valley National Park, as well as throughout guest and employee accommodations in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore and five
Ohio State Parks. The bandwidth management solution is also expected to be deployed with the Global Gossip system in several more US locations by the end of the year.
These volunteers included representatives from the Nature Conservancy, local regional planning office, state Emergency Management Association, Ohio Wesleyan University, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the local sheriff's office,
Ohio State Parks, community residents, Delaware soil and water conservation district, solid waste district, PPG Industries, realtors, and a local elected official.
Historically, the dredging in Ohio state park lakes has not been the responsibility (or a cost to) farmers, although the majority of run-off originates from upstream farms.
Two criteria were used to select the Ohio state park lakes for this study.
A total of 11 of the 47 Ohio state park lakes met both of these requirements.
Several of the Ohio state park lake officials interviewed claimed that in addition to the factors listed in the ODNR priority list, years since the establishment of the lake was an important determining factor for choosing a dredging project.
The Physical-Natural model, based on the variables indicated on the ODNR target list and the information gained from the interviews with the Ohio state park lakes officials, was expressed as follows:
The significance of [PNC.sub.1] (the years since establishment of the lake for recreational purposes) in the Mixed Model is in accordance with the belief by Ohio state park lake officials that the older lakes have been dredged consistently in order to prevent complete filling of sediment.
In the case of the Ohio state park lakes, the local Ohio House representatives apparently exchange lobbying for the promise of campaign contributions and voter support from lake associations.
In order to get an idea of the potential economic benefits of efficiently dredging the Ohio state park lakes, the second goal of this study was to conduct a forecast of dredging benefits and costs.