Reduction in Service Requirement for Volunteer America the Beautiful Interagency Recreational Lands Pass
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENTWASHINGTON, D.C. 20240http://www.blm.govMay 29, 2012In Reply Refer To: 1114 (420) PEMS TRANSMISSION 06/01/2012Instruction Memorandum No. 2012-128Expires: 09/30/2013To: All Washington Office and Field Office OfficialsAttn: Volunteer Coordinators Recreation Program LeadsNational Landscape Conservation System LeadsFrom: Assistant Director, National Landscape Conservation System and Community PartnershipsSubject: Reduction in Service Requirement for Volunteer "America the Beautiful" Interagency Recreational Lands PassProgram Area: Volunteers.Purpose: This directive notifies Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices of a reduction in the service requirement for BLM volunteers to earn the Volunteer "America the Beautiful" Interagency Recreational Lands Pass.Policy/Action: The Interagency Pass Steering Committee, in cooperation with the Federal Interagency Team on Volunteerism, has reduced the service requirement for volunteers of the five participating agencies to earn the subject pass. The requirement has been reduced from 500 to 250 hours.Volunteers may count all hours accrued beginning January 1, 2007, in service to any of the five participating pass agencies: BLM, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Agency, Bureau of Reclamation, and U.S. Forest Service. The attached publication provides standard operating procedures and additional information on all interagency recreational lands passes, including the volunteer pass. The publication is also posted on the BLM Volunteer Program intranet site.Time Frame: This Instruction Memorandum is effective immediately.Background: In the past year, the Interagency Pass Steering Committee and the Federal Interagency Team on Volunteerism, each of which includes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a member, have had discussions about reducing the service requirement for volunteers to earn the subject pass. Feedback from volunteers, partner organizations, and agency volunteer coordinators had indicated that the 500-hour figure was excessive and that too many exemplary volunteers were failing to qualify for the pass. As a result, the service requirement for volunteers to earn the America the Beautiful pass has now been reduced to 250 hours.Please also refer to BLM Instruction Memoranda 2007-077 and 2007-136 for information on obtaining and safeguarding passes. Current or prospective volunteers may be referred to the BLM Volunteer Program website for information on the pass program.Budget Impact: BLM will receive reduced revenues from standard amenity fees at recreation fee sites.Manual Sections/Handbooks Affected: Volunteers, 1114 Contact: Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Bibi Booth of the Division of Education, Interpretation, and Partnerships at Bibi_Booth@blm.gov or (202) 912-7451.Signed by: Robert B. Towne, Acting Director, National Landscape Conservation System and Community PartnershipsAuthenticated by: Robert M. Williams Division of IRM Governance, WO-5601 Attachment 1-- America the Beautiful -- The National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass Program: Interagency Standard Operating Procedures, March 30, 2012 (42 pp)