Forest Service employees will soon be found conducting surveys in
developed and dispersed recreation sites and along Forest Service roads within
the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands.
They will be wearing bright
orange vests and be near a sign that says "Traffic Survey Ahead." They are waiting to talk to you about your
visit to the national forests and grasslands. All information you give is
confidential and the survey is voluntary.
This on-going national survey has already been conducted once five years ago on
every national forest and grassland in the country. The purpose of the second survey is to update the information previously gathered as well as to
look at recreation trends over time.
The information is useful for forest
planning and even local community tourism planning. It provides the
national forest managers with an estimate of how many people actually recreate
on federal lands and what activities they engage in while there.
Other
important information forest and tourism planners need includes how satisfied
people were with their visit and the economic impact of your recreation visit
on the local economy.
The basic interview lasts
about eight minutes and is completely confidential. Every other visitor is asked a few additional
questions which may take an additional five minutes. The questions
visitors are asked include: where they recreated on the forest or grassland,
how many people they traveled with, how long they were on the forest or
grassland, what other recreation sites they visited, and how satisfied they
were with the facilities and services provided.
About a third of the
visitors will be asked to complete a confidential survey on recreation spending
during their trip.
Interviews will be conducted beginning October 4, and run thru
September 30, 2013 at various locations across the Nebraska National Forests
and Grasslands. If you have any questions about this program you can
visit http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum/.
