Pinelands staff outline multi‑year PCIS revamp funded by National Park Service economic monitoring grant

Susan and Gina presented the Pinelands Commission’s long‑term economic monitoring work and a proposed multi‑year modernization of the Commission Information System (PCIS), funded in part by National Park Service economic monitoring grants.

Staff said the Commission typically receives about $300,000 annually from the National Park Service, historically split roughly between science monitoring and economic monitoring. The FY work plan included projects such as an updated municipal zoning system for public access, a permanent land protection database, and an agenda to modernize PCIS so it better supports staff workflows and provides controlled public access to application status and data.

Susan said the Commission intends to rely principally on in‑house IT staff time (funded by the grant) to develop the system rather than contracting large outside consultants, and that initial purchases for servers and incremental hardware upgrades are underway. The modernization is a multi‑year effort beginning in the FY26 work plan period and will prioritize database structure, user needs assessment, and features that support both staff review and public inquiries.

Commissioners asked whether grants would cover staff salaries and hardware; staff confirmed grant support for staff time and that some server upgrades are already planned. The project will phase work and keep confidential information restricted while making selected data publicly accessible.

Staff said the Park Service has reviewed the draft work plan and indicated funding is secured, though formal approval remained pending at the time of the meeting.

"We propose this as our major work plan project for 2026 and beyond," Susan said, outlining the PCIS goals of improved tracking, reporting, and public access.