Gifford Pinchot National Forest plans to triage sites

Budget shortfalls are forcing Gifford Pinchot National Forest officials to triage its developed recreation sites — a process that could lead to some being abandoned.

Through a process being called “recreation site analysis,” Forest Service officials are evaluating more than 200 developed recreation sites — everything from campgrounds, rental cabins/lookouts and picnic sites to visitor information sites and trailheads, across the entire forest — and they’re looking for public input.

Combining that internal review with public comments, the agency will draft a list of recommendations to change how some sites are managed, and a list of priority investments to made in the future at certain sites.

“Ultimately, we need to maintain an effective, sustainable recreation program within our budget realities,” Gifford Pinchot National Forest Supervisor Gina Owens said in a news release. “We want our recreation sites to address public demand, provide a positive environment for public use and enjoyment, and meet our health and safety standards. To do that, we must explore creative options and develop community-based solutions. Not changing our approach will lead to further decline of recreation sites and changes in service levels.”

Forest officials say their annual $1 million recreation maintenance budget, about half what it was a decade ago even without factoring in inflation, falls about $700,000 short of what’s needed to tend to its 210 highly developed sites. Making matters worse, the Gifford Pinchot’s recreation sites have a maintenance backlog of more than $10 million.

The Gifford Pinchot isn’t the only forest undergoing this process. Recreation site analysis is being done in national forests across the country by an agency accepting the reality that Congress isn’t likely to boost its budgets any time soon. Rather than thinly spreading its resources across a broad range, the forest is considering a targeted approach.

The agency expects the situation to get worse before it gets any better. Its rising maintenance and operations costs together are expected to continually erode its ability to maintain its recreation suite, which includes wilderness, trails, rentals, administration of outfitter/guides, concessionaires, visitor information, and campsites.

In this round of evaluation, the Forest Service is assessing its developed sites. In coming years, it plans to undergo the same process with its existing trail system, dispersed recreation and other uses, and related recreation.

Robin Rose, recreation program manager for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, said employees recognized at least a decade ago that the budget wasn’t meeting maintenance requirements, but the problem as been a long time in the making. Many of the recreation sites in the forest were built in the 1970s and ’80s, a period where the Forest Service had bigger budgets, more employees and more resources available to devote to recreational sites. Now the budgets are much smaller, and the agency is left with a legacy of amenities it can’t afford to maintain.

“Back in the ’80s, it feels like to me everyone was in a build, build, build mode,” said Forest Service spokeswoman Sue Ripp, adding that once a maintenance backlog begins to develop, damaged sites only become more expensive to repair.

The agency hopes that rather than thinly spreading its financial resources across an array of sites, it can target its resources to fewer, and more popular sites, which will be more enjoyable for visitors.

“We want to provide high-quality recreation at the sites we have, rather than try to maintain a bunch of sites that we don’t take care of,” she said.

The forest is considering a range of options including decommissioning sites, changing the periods they’re open, removing some of the costlier amenities at ceratin sites or rallying volunteer groups.

Still, nothing is going to happen right away.

The Forest Service will gather information over the next couple of months. Recreation employees will blend internal findings with public input. By the end of summer, they’ll come up with a draft recommendation of a five-year action program of work for finer tuning. The ultimate plan will be a five-year program of work that will prioritize developed sites, service changes, deferred maintenance, improvements, decommissioning and more.

Public input sought

Gifford Pinchot leaders want public input in developing this plan. They want to gain perspective and ideas for collaborative opportunities from those who recreate in the national forest.

Specifically, the Forest Service wants to know:

• What specific developed recreation sites are important to you and why?

• Do you prefer a primitive or developed recreation experience?

• What services are important to you at developed recreation sites (signage, parking, drinking water, trash, restrooms, picnic tables, camp hosts, other)?

• Would you be willing to pay more at current developed recreation fee sites for better-maintained and improved services, or pay a fee for services at some sites where a fee is not currently charged?

• Would you be in favor of partners or commercial permittees operating developed recreation sites as a way to enhance the ability to maintain sites?

• What specific ideas do you have for sharing stewardship at sites that are important to you?

More information about recreation sites, maps and a questionnaire are available at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/gprecreation.

The questionnaire must be finished by June 30 in order to be counted.