BLM outdoor recreation planning involves equal part paperwork and field work

WORLAND – The variety of responsibilities that are required for outdoor recreation planning for the Bureau of Land Management is quite long and goes from paperwork to field work.

According to BLM Worland Field Office Outdoor Recreation Planner Adam Babcock, Paperwork takes up about 50 percent of the time and one of the most common is Special Recreation Permits. Special Recreation Permits are permits that are required if someone wants to be a hunting or fishing guide on public lands.

Special events such as the Cowboy Tough Race and the Big Horn 100 horse endurance event also need permits as they take place on public lands.

"A big organized activity that is potentially going to have an impact on the resource, that's when you start getting into the permits system," Babcock said.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis is also a big part of outdoor recreation planning. According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, NEPA was enacted in 1970 and requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. "Any action that takes place on public land has to go through this interdisciplinary review process," Babcock said.

Outdoor recreation planning requires working with external and internal customers. "We have a lot of issues that go back and forth that we have to solve. Every project that takes place, be it oil or gas wells, a mining company doing a mining pit, working on a grazing permit, working on recreational issues, they all go through the recreational program for some type of review," Assistant Field Manager of Resources Mike Phillips said.

While 50 percent of the time is spent in the office dealing with paperwork, the other 50 percent of the time is spent out in the field. "In order to properly do my administration work, I have to be out in the field a certain amount of time, keeping an eye on the resources and contacting people. Talking to them in the field, seeing what they are doing and getting to know folks and building relationships, so they know who to call when they have a question about something," Babcock said.

The outdoor recreation planner also works with the recreation technician maintaining signs, maintaining trailheads, bathrooms, camp grounds, boat launch ramps and trails such as the Gooseberry Badlands Trail which is to be worked on this fall due to erosion issues.

The Worland Field Office are a few special projects going right now and that will be starting in the fall. One such project is on the Big Horn River. "Myself and the rec tech were down at the two main boat launches, to just contact people and be a presence because it sounds like use has increased over the last couple years. The guides related to me, in the past they haven't seen so many Game and Fish or BLM folks. They're actually pretty psyched to see that we are there taking an interest and trying to talk with people and let them know what the regulations are and aren't," Babcock said.

Phillips stated, "The big issue coming up this fall is, hunting season. Adam will be in charge of Operation Respect. That's bringing folks together out on the public lands and meeting folks, meeting hunters, meeting people out there with maps, with answering questions about the country, where things are, what's happening and the do's and don'ts."

The Bureau of Land Management website states, "Recreation opportunities abound on over 18 million acres of BLM administered public land in Wyoming.  BLM focuses on providing undeveloped recreation opportunities such as fishing, four-wheeling, sightseeing, river floating, hiking and hunting.

The BLM advises users to stay on existing roads and trails in areas without signs 

and remember to "tread lightly" and "leave no trace."