Fiscal_Year 2009 End-of-Year Recreation Management Information System Data Call; DD: 09/18/2009; 09/25/2009

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov

July 6, 2009

In Reply Refer To:
8300 (250) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 07/07/2009
Instruction Memorandum No. 2009-161
Expires: 09/30/2010

To: All Field Officials
Attn: State Recreation Program Leads, Outdoor Recreation Planners

From: Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning

Subject: Fiscal_Year 2009 End-of-Year Recreation Management Information System Data Call
DD: 09/18/2009; 09/25/2009

Program Area: Recreation and Visitor Services and National Landscape Conservation System.

Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) informs State Directors and field managers about the Fiscal_Year (FY) 2009 End-of-Year (EOY) Data Call for the Recreation Management Information System (RMIS) and requests all Field Offices (FO) to complete the data call. This IM also requests State Recreation Program leads or their designees to complete a review of their data after all State and FO data have been entered into the RMIS, and submit a confirmation memorandum to the Division of Recreation and Visitor Services (WO-250) certifying the review has been completed. Each of these requirements has a specific deadline.

Policy/Action: All State Offices (SO), District Offices, and FOs are requested to update required RMIS data for the period October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. An estimate of visitation from September 15–30, 2009, may be necessary in order to complete the FY data. These offices should enter their data into RMIS through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intranet site at: http://rmis.blm.gov/.

This year’s data call focuses on:
Visits to public lands and waters, special recreation permits for both commercial and non-commercial private use,
Off-highway vehicle designation acreage updates of Recreation Management Areas (RMA),
Update of current Activity Level and/or Travel Management Plans within the RMA/Site page, used to report Annual Performance Measure,
Number of Recreation Use Permits issued and,
Partnership and Agreement updates.
Guidance to complete the reporting of visits to public lands and waters is detailed at the RMIS User Information Website described in the Background section below.

Once FOs have completed their work, State Recreation Program Leads must review their respective FOs’ data for completeness and accuracy. The RMIS Team listed on attachment 1 will be available the week of September 21, 2009 to help with the data quality review. When the review is complete, a confirmation memorandum should be sent to the Recreation and Visitor Services Division Chief (LLWO250000). This memorandum should identify both unresolved issues that need attention and any necessary justification of the data.

Timeframe: The SO and FO data are to be entered into the RMIS by September 18, 2009. The deadline for the State Recreation Program Lead review of their SO and FO data and confirmation memorandum is September 25, 2009. The system will be closed at midnight on September 30, 2009.

Budget Impact: This planned workload was included as part of the FY 2009 base Recreation (L12200000) budget. Use Program Element MA (Evaluate Recreation Areas) when reporting labor for both collecting and entering RMIS data.

Background: The RMIS is the BLM’s official repository for data relating to the recreational and social use on public lands and waters. It is an internal system accessible only by BLM personnel. Data within the system include, but are not limited to: recreation visits, visitor days, type of activities, permits issued, recreation site details, off-highway vehicle designation acreage, and partnership agreement details.

The RMIS User Information Website serves as a helpful resource for RMIS users and guests and can be reached at http://rmishelp.blm.gov/. This website provides links to the RMIS 4.0 User Guide, Training Modules for Login, Data Collection and Estimation; Special Recreation Permits, Instruction Memorandum No. 2003-245 detailing the Guidelines for Reporting Recreation Visitation, and reference documents such as “Techniques and Equipment for Gathering Visitor Use Data on Recreation Sites”.

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.

Coordination: This IM was coordinated between the National Recreation and Visitor Services Division and State Recreation Program Leads.

Contact: Attached is an updated RMIS Team Contact List for use by the State Recreation Program Leads and FO users. Users in each state are directed to a primary RMIS contact for assistance in completing this EOY data call. When your primary RMIS contact is unavailable, anyone on the list may be contacted. If you have questions or need additional information regarding this data call, please contact Tina McDonald, RMIS User Representative, at 303-236-0508 or Andy Tenney, Planning and Resource Branch Supervisor (WO-251) at 202-452-7735.

Signed by: Authenticated by:
Edwin L. Roberson Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Renewable Resources and Planning

1 Attachment
1 - Recreation Management Information System Team Contact List (1 p)