FACILITY MASTER PLAN

FOR THE

BIGHORN NATIONAL FOREST

October 2002

Chapter 1: Introduction

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of the Bighorn National Forest's Facility Master Plan (FMP) is to provide a framework for the management of Fire, Administrative, and Other (FA&O) Facilities on the Forest.

The FMP makes use of visioning and planning assumptions to establish alternatives. The Plan also establishes a Long-Term Strategy that guides the operation of the FA&O Facilities Program. Short-Term goals are also created to bring the Facilities program into compliance with department directives and Forest goals.

The Forest has prepared a Plan which will not only meet the procedural requirements of a FMP, but one that is functional and will be referenced often to help make facility decisions. It will be a "living" document - one that will be updated often.

National, Regional, and Local Facilities Management Direction

To begin the process for a new Facility Master Plan, the previous plan needed to be reviewed. The last Bighorn NF Facility Master Plan was completed in 1990. After this was reviewed, current National and Regional Facilities Management Direction was reviewed. And finally current Bighorn NF direction was examined.

Changes During Past 10 Years

The next step was to evaluate changes that had taken place in the past 10 years, in order to determine major organizational differences from 1990 and the present. The major change affecting the facilities program was the recent combining of district offices. The forest had reduced from 5 office locations down to 3 by co-locating two districts (Medicine Wheel & Paintrock) at Lovell, and by combining two districts into one (Tensleep and Buffalo districts combined to form the Powder River District) at Buffalo. The Tongue District remained co-located with the Supervisor's office in Sheridan.

Current Bighorn NF Physical & Organizational Characteristics

Bighorn National Forest encompasses 1.1 million acres in the Bighorn Mountains of North-Central Wyoming. The forest is approximately 80 miles long by 25 miles wide and follows the Bighorn Mountain Range. The forest is divided into 3 districts: Medicine Wheel / Paintrock District (MWPR) on the northwest side; Tongue District on the northeast side; and the Powder River District on the southern third. There are 3 offices (all leased) and several work centers (all owned).

• MWPR District - Office in Lovell - 2 Work Centers on the mountain, 1 off. 20-person Wyoming Hot Shot Fire Crew located at Work Center off the mountain.
  
  
• Powder River District - Office in Buffalo - 2 Work Centers on the mountain, 1 reachable in winter.
  
  
• Tongue District - Office in Sheridan with S.O. - 2 Work Centers on the mountain, 1 off.

The most recent Bighorn Organizational Chart shows 100 permanent employees on the Forest. In 2001, there were 143 seasonal employees working on the Forest.

Vision, Trends, & Planning Assumptions

An important part of Facility Master Planning is to create a long-term vision for the forest. Through various discussions held with members of the Forest Plan Revision Team, the Forest Leadership Team, and the Districts, a 10-20 year vision of the Bighorn NF began to develop. This is expressed through several types of trends: demographic; program area; physical; financial; and others. A few of the key trends identified are:

• The emphasis on the Bighorn NF is shifting more towards recreation and less from other resources.
  
  
• The summer seasonal workforce will continue to fluctuate around the Forest from year to year.
  
  
• The forest will continue to maintain multiple use management.
  
  
• The energy boom & bust cycle in Wyoming is likely to continue, and thus population will also be affected by this.
  
  
• There is more urbanization of the east side of the Big Horn Mountains than on the west side, and this is expected to continue.
  
  
• Water supply/use demand will increase on the east side.
  
  
• The average age of Forest users is increasing. Therefore, it can be expected that activities on the Forest will change as well.
  
  
• Out of the 119 owned buildings on the Bighorn NF, 83% are older than 30 years old, and 58% are older than 50 years old.
  
  
• The annual leasing cost of offices on the Forest is $256,000 as of 2003, but will jump to $298,000 in 2004 because of the new lease in Buffalo.
  
  
• Seasonal housing at most of the work centers is lacking.
  
  
• Many of the buildings on the Bighorn NF have Deferred Maintenance Costs that far exceed the building's capitalized value, and several of these are recommended for disposal.

From these trends, Planning Assumptions were established, and some of the key ones are:

• The number of Ranger Districts or Office Locations will not change.
  
  
• The number of employees may increase slightly.
  
  
• Ranger/Guard Stations will remain essential to maintaining a field presence and seasonal workforce.
  
  
• There will be no change in the number of Administrative Sites.
  
  
• Winter recreation use is expected to increase, therefore affecting our facility needs.

Alternatives & Decision Criteria

From the planning assumptions, alternatives were considered. It was consensus that the locations of the on-forest Administrative Sites were not going to be changed. Some of the reasoning is historic eligibility, cost of rebuilding, but most importantly - the existing sites meet our needs very well.

Alternatives were then examined for our off-forest District offices. Currently the S.O. and Tongue District are co-located in Sheridan. The Powder River District Office in Buffalo is located 35 miles south of Sheridan on I-90. The only alternative other than the existing one would be to co-locate these offices as well. However the negative impacts (loss of community presence, travel time to the mountain) far outweigh any overhead cost savings.

The Medicine Wheel / Paintrock District Office in Lovell has several alternatives facing it. The current lease expires in 2004, and the Forest intends to renew through 2009. This will allow us time to seek out and evaluate other alternatives as the expiration of this lease approaches.

The alternatives currently being considered are:

• Lease
  
  
• Own
  
  
• Co-Locate with the National Park Service (Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area)
  
  
• Re-evaluate the Greybull Location

Once the time approaches when a decision needs to be made, these alternatives may be added to or altered. The decision criteria that will be used to evaluate each alternative are as follows:

• Cost
  
  
• Community Impacts
  
  
• Employee Impacts
  
  
• Travel Time
  
  
• Co-Location Opportunities

Strategies & Goals

Several Strategies and Goals are presented within the Plan. These are functions that will bring the facilities program up to date, as well as guide it into the future. These are as follows:

Short-Term Goals

• Prepare Site Development Plans for all existing admin sites.
  
  
• Prepare for the introduction of the Facility Working Capital Fund.
  
  
• Bring all Admin Sites into compliance with Hazardous Waste Regulations.
  
  
• Complete the Accessibility Transition Plan.
  
  
• Establish clear roles for the District Facility Managers.
  
  
• Complete a quarters analysis, which includes an appliance, furniture, & annual maintenance survey.

Long-Term Strategies

• Prepare annual priority list of projects.
  
  
• Continue with the seasonal Operation & Maintenance Crew.
  
  
• Preserve Historically Significant Properties.
  
  
• Integrate Sustainability, the Built Environment Image Guide, and Accessibility into all facility decisions.
  
  
• Create a more efficient use of space by better evaluating what needs storage or replacing many small structures with a single larger storage building.
  
  
• Evaluate office lease costs as the Regional Office earmark is phased out by FY04.

Reader's Guide

The Facility Master Plan can be read in different ways, depending on how it's being used, or who may be using it to make decisions or obtain information. Below is a brief description of the content and purpose of each chapter.