Recreation and Visitor Services Bureau of Land Management

1. A Unified Strategy to Implement “BLM’s Priorities for Recreation and Visitor Services” Workplan Recreation and Visitor ServicesBureau of Land Management … the “Purple Book” Attachment 2-1

2. Understanding the role of the BLM in supporting communities, providing quality settings & benefitsand promoting partnerships • What we have heard from external groups is the BLM cannot and should not do this alone • Although the BLM needs additional resources, answers lie in collaborating and leveraging BLM’s resources with communities of place and interest Attachment 2-2

3. ThePurple Bookis: A corporate statement of commitment, with program priorities and a service delivery plan to facilitate beneficial outcomes to visitors and communities. The Unified Strategy promotes “cooperative conservation” and • provides ways to evaluate “appropriateness” of proposals, • assess the long-term costs and implications for management, & • helps BLM focus priorities and target program investments. Attachment 2-3

4. What is the Unified Strategy? • It is a planning/decision framework for implementing the seven key objectives of the Purple Book. • It provides guidance in defining the relationships between the seven objectives. • It is the first step toward institutionalizing and integrating the Purple Book into the development of policy, guidance and budget for the recreation program. Attachment 2-4

5. What is the Unified Strategy? • It prioritizes and aligns program objectives and implementation actions. • It embraces the principles and concepts of “Cooperative Conservation”. • It incorporates a Benefits-Based Management (BBM) application framework. Attachment 2-5

6. The Seven Purple Book Objectives • Manage public lands and waters for enhanced recreation experiences and quality of life • Encourage sustainable travel and tourism development with gateway communities and provide community-based conservation support for visitor services • Provide fair value and return for recreation through fee collection and commercial services • Establish a comprehensive approach to travel planning and management • Ensure public health and safety, and improve the condition and accessibility of recreation sites and facilities • Enhance and expand visitor services, including interpretation, information and education • Encourage and sustain collaborative partnerships, volunteers and citizen-centered public services Attachment 2-6

7. The Key to the Unified Strategy • Application of the Unified Strategy and the integration of Benefits-Based Management initiates an evolution from a “fun & games” (activity-based) approach of delivering recreation services to a conceptual framework requiring all recreation actions to be subject to both outcomes-based management objectives and to a hierarchy of program objectives functionally related to one another. Attachment 2-7

8. Hierarchy of Seven Purple Book Objectives Attachment 2-8

9. The Objectives • All the Purple Book objectives are essential components of the recreation program and all must be achieved. • However, the achievement of some is dependent on its relationship with the others - there is a cause and effect relationship among the seven objectives. Attachment 2-9

10. The Objectives • The key to implementing the strategy is to coordinate proposed recreation planning and implementation actions across the seven Purple Book objectives such that no action occurs without first ensuring each is guided and constrained by all objectives located above it in the hierarchy. Attachment 2-10

11. Thought Process 1) What outcomes (experiences and benefits) are desired including the essential recreation settings required for their attainment? (objective 1) …… 2) Do we have the commitment of the managing partners and their assurance to provide a sustainable flow of services and products? (objective 2) …… 3) Will there be fair return for the fair value provided to our shared customers? (objective 3). Attachment 2-11

12. Application Example Proposed Action: Grant funds are available to develop a new mountain bike trail system on the edge of town. The project is consistent with the transportation management piece of the land use plan. Should BLM proceed with the project? • Step 1 - Go to the Hierarchy table. • Step 2 – Determine where the proposal lies on the hierarchy. • Step 3 – Begin at the top of the table and work down. First Questions: Is there demonstrated demand for this activity and who are the primary user markets? What kinds of experiences and benefits have been identified to address the desires of the primary user markets? Will mountain bike use in this area sustain the distinctive character of the public land recreation setting, and will these facilitate production and attainment of the desired experiences and benefits? (objective 1) Next Questions: Have you engaged key services providers and local governments within the local community to ensure that you can deliver the essential services? What are their needs, and what do they bring to the table in terms of possible services? How and who is best to provide these services, and what would be the effects? (objective 2) Attachment 2-12

13. Application Example Next Question: Will implementation of the proposal provide fair value to customers within the targeted markets, and have you identified the necessary actions required to generate sufficient revenue to sustain the delivery of essential services? (objective 3) And so on down the hierarchy – Working up and down the hierarchy ensures you fully consider how your action is interrelated with and given strategic direction by the other objectives. It indicates what strategic actions the other objectives require as a condition for implementing your action. The answers to these questions are determined through application of the BBM planning approach. Attachment 2-13

14. Produce Facilitate Recreation Opportunities Interact with Beneficial Outcomes Recreation Settings Implementation Actions To facilitate attaining the primary goals and objectives of the Purple Book – the Unified Strategy incorporates the principles of Benefits-Based Management (BBM) … a results-oriented framework to view, plan and collaboratively deliver recreation services as a means to larger “ends” – “quality of life” or beneficial outcomes to: individuals, communities, economies and the environment. Attachment 2-14

15. BBM’s customer-oriented approach recognizes the motivations that drive individuals to recreate. Example Attachment 2-15

16. Benefits Based Management (BBM) represents an evolution of BLM’s Recreation Program because it builds on existing recreation foundations (i.e. Recreation Opportunity Spectrum , Limits of Acceptable Change, Adaptive Management) – it doesn’t replace them. Attachment 2-16

17. BBM better meets the needs of communities and constituentsby… • Providing a logical framework for managers to engage collaborating partners, stakeholders and businesses in planning and managing recreation and visitor services. • Opening doors to building and strengthening community-based partnershipswhich help leverage resources for management. • Encouraging coordinated provision of interpretation, stewardship education and information services. • Better defining and considering social, economic and environmental benefits in planning decisions. • Necessitating a discussion of recreation setting characteristics which helps determine the appropriate public access (roads & trails) to meet land use objectives Attachment 2-17

18. The application of a BBM philosophy provides a management framework to… • Encourage regional & landscape level recreation planning which integrates other resource considerations. • Move BLM away from responding to specific activity proposals without regard to long-term implications. • Evaluate the affect of land use allocations and individual resource projects on: recreation activities, experiences, outcomes and recreation settings. • Focus limited recreation resources on land use plan objectives which helps BLM determine : “what we need to do” “what we shouldn’t do” and when to say “NO” • Identify and foster partnerships with public & private providers • Be customer-oriented combined with a practical business approach to help with asset management Attachment 2-18

19. Why Change? • Because…implementing the Unified Strategy initiates a decision framework requiring all planned actions to be subject to the hierarchy of program objectives. • Because…our constituents continue to express concern about the loss of character of BLM’s unique landscape settings and associated recreation opportunities. • Because… that which matters most to BLM’s visitors, local communities, service providing businesses, and constituencies should also be a primary concern of BLM managers. Attachment 2-19

20. What are the consequences of delaying action? • The clock is ticking. Every new planning effort must incorporate the Unified Strategy and employ the conceptual recreation framework provided by BBM consistent with outcomes-based planning policy within Special Recreation Management Areas to fulfill the BLM’s desire to effectively implement the “Cooperative Conservation” vision. • For completed land-use plans which have not incorporated this, field managers will assess and evaluate effects of proposed projects in Special Recreation Management Areas on activities, experiences, beneficial outcomes and recreation setting character to ensure consistency with BBM concepts. Attachment 2-20

21. Consequences (cont’d.) • Decisions must be made with sufficient background data to address the concerns of our publics and constituencies. • Decisions must be pro-active not reactive to the needs of outside interest groups, funding opportunities, and pressures from impacting resource programs. • Recreation planning must meet the needs of our visitors and customers to avoid the loss of quality recreation settings and opportunities. Attachment 2-21

22. Next Steps: • There is no point in changing how we plan if we don’t also intend to change how we manage. • New BLM Manual and Handbook guidance is needed to provide the specifics on how to implement the new planning policies and requirements. Attachment 2-22

23. Next Steps-continued • Training…… • Assessment and Monitoring…… • Staffing and Organization…… • Evaluate Activity-Based Programs and other Initiatives…… • Marketing and Information…… • Budget/Workload & Performance Measures…… • Facility and Condition Assessments/Asset Management…… Attachment 2-23

24. Conclusion Applying this Unified Strategy, with a focus on enhancing recreation experiences and quality of life outcomes, is consistent with the Department of the Interior’s effort to implement “Cooperative Conservation”. Attachment 2-24

25. Conclusion This Strategy is grounded in the realities that the BLM can no longer afford to “Go it alone”, can not be “Everything to everyone”, and recognizes we are “Not the sole source provider of recreation opportunities”. Attachment 2-25

26. Conclusion Only if we work together with our partners – communities of interest & communities of place - can we protect the unique landscapes and settings that make the BLM public lands so important to millions of recreating American’s. Attachment 2-26