Evidence-Based Land Management Strategies: SOPARC Analysis for Flood Buyout Open Space

The U.S. buyout programs relocate households out of hazard-prone areas to mitigate future risk by converting developed land into open space. The open space is managed as a public resource by local government and can offer benefits to the community beyond flood risk reduction, such as ecosystem services, recreational activities, and social interaction. Although federal agencies’ funding buyout programs encourage communities to develop open space into an amenity for residents’ use, there exist minimal guidance, tools, and resources to help land managers identify uses that best meet community needs. Additionally, there remains minimal analysis of how residents use the acquired lands to help guide practitioners. Yet, existing scholarship encourages community engagement to identify postbuyout open space management needs and the use of empirical evidence to support land management decisions. To help meet these goals, we use the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC), to examine patterns of open space use, activity levels, and user demographics across five target areas within a buyout area along with Rush Creek in Arlington, Texas. Over a two-week period, we conducted 196 nonparticipant observations documenting patterns in recreation, time of use, and user characteristics. We found areas of the buyout with minimal or hidden amenities were underused, while areas with active recreational amenities, such as paved trails, dog parks, and playgrounds, had higher and more diverse use patterns. We also found that some groups, including Black and Asian residents, were underrepresented relative to nearby neighborhood demographics. These findings suggest that land managers can use the SOPARC method to identify where and what types of amenities to provide, guide outreach efforts to underrepresented groups, and prioritize ecological restoration in underused areas. This case study demonstrates the potential for extending the SOPARC method beyond parks and recreation studies to inform postbuyout open space management decisions.