Recreation Mapping Project

United States Department of the Interior

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Washington, D.C.  20240

http://www.blm.gov

April 13, 2015

In Reply Refer To:

6100, 8300, 9167 (WO-410) P

EMS TRANSMISSION 04/15/2015

Instruction Memorandum No. 2015-086

Expires:  09/30/2018

To:                   All BLM Employees

From:               Acting Assistant Director, National Landscape Conservation System and Community Partnerships

Subject:           Recreation Mapping Project, Due Date:  04/24/2015

Program Areas: National Conservation Lands and Recreation & Visitor Services

Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) outlines procedures and deadlines for the recreation mapping project.

Policy/Action: The BLM has initiated the recreation mapping project to provide easily accessible outdoor recreation maps for the public with standard components and a consistent design.  This project will ensure that members of the public can go online and access consistent, informative maps of BLM’s recreation sites with minimal effort.  Standardized recreation maps and web pages for National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, and similar designations (NM&NCA) will be publicly released in June 2015, for units with sufficient recreational data.  Recreation maps for the other BLM recreation areas will be developed and released thereafter, as feasible.

Teams have been identified to help develop recreation maps for NM&NCAs.  Team members will be reaching out to local BLM offices associated with individual NM&NCAs to gather recreational data, photos, and text descriptions of recreation site features over the next few months in accordance with an interim data standard (IM No. 2015-069).  BLM offices should be prepared to be responsive to data gathering requests for this high priority project.

Timeframe: This IM is effective immediately.  States should provide data per the interim data standard no later than April 24, 2015.

Budget Impact: Minimal.  Each Monument/NCA office is responsible for submitting its own data elements to the WO for development of the maps and web pages.

Background: Current BLM recreation maps are inconsistent, difficult to locate on the BLM website, or do not exist.  This project will help to promote public awareness of the many recreational opportunities available on the BLM’s public lands as well as to enhance the visitor experience by providing visitors with consistent information about those opportunities.   The recreation mapping project will also further the goal of establishing a common “look and feel” for BLM’s National Conservation Lands and BLM’s recreation sites by implementing consistent visual design standards and criteria.

Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.

Coordination: This policy was developed in collaboration with the WO-610 Public Affairs Division and the WO-250 Recreation & Visitor Services Division.

Contact:  Through June 5, 2015, please direct questions about the recreation mapping project to Dario Lunardi, Project Manager, at 202-912-7369 or dlunardi@blm.gov.

Signed by:                                                                

Tim Murphy                                                               
Acting, Assistant Director, National Landscape Conservation System and Community

Authenticated by:

Robert Williams, Division of Information Resources Management, WO-860