FACILITY MASTER PLAN

FOR THE

BIGHORN NATIONAL FOREST

October 2002

Chapter 4: S.O. & Zone

Summary of Facilities, Workforce and Needs

Supervisor's Office, and Zone Resources

Supervisor's Dwelling in Sheridan

Overview: Supervisor's Office and Zone Resources

The Supervisor's Office is located in Sheridan, Wyoming. The S.O. provides staff and technical support for the districts. The organization is divided into 5 staff areas. The Forest Supervisor supervises each staff officer. Following are the programs for which each staff officer is responsible:

• Recreation / Lands / Wilderness / Special Uses
  
  
• Planning / Appeals / Litigation
  
  
• Administration / Budget & Finance
  
  
• Range / Watershed / Fish / Wildlife / Fire / Timber
  
  
• Engineering

Workforce: Supervisor's Office and Zone Resources

Permanent Workforce

CURRENT

The organization chart lists 2 Permanent Seasonals and 35 PFTs in the Supervisor's Office. Currently 3 of these positions are vacant.

A new organization chart will soon be submitted to the Region. The chart shown in this Facility Master Plan reflects the new chart. The Organization Chart for the S.O. is listed in Appendix C, Charts C-1 thru C-6.

ANTICIPATED CHANGES

Due to the increase in fire funding, additional PFT positions may be added in the future.

Seasonal Workforce

CURRENT

The 8-person Road Maintenance Crew is based out of the S.O. They are a roving crew that moves from district to district each year. Beyond that, it is difficult to break out seasonals district by district due to the fact that many other roving crews alternate districts year to year. But for purposes of this Facility Master Plan, these seasonals will be assigned to districts to approximate the yearly averages. Although the S.O. seasonals will work on a particular district in FY '01, they also will move around the forest from year to year depending on where the focus of the work is.

Taking all this into account, the expected FY'01 seasonal crew out of the S.O. is 34 (includes the 8-person road crew). There is no chart showing these numbers. Instead, in Appendix C, Table C-1 shows the locations the seasonals were housed and working out of in FY01 site by site. It also shows the anticipated maximum number of seasonals that will be staying there in any given year.

ANTICIPATED CHANGES

There are no anticipated changes in the total summer seasonal workforce. However, the location of that workforce is expected to move around the districts from year to year.

Admin Sites & Facilities: Supervisor's Office and Zone Resources

There are a total of 12 FA&O facilities managed by the S.O. Two of them are leased, and the other 10 are Forest Service owned.

There are only a handful of facilities that the S.O. directly manages. Five of them are in Sheridan: The Supervisor's Office and Warehouse (both leased), the Supervisor's Dwelling and it's garage, and the Sheridan Bull Pen, which is a garage and storage building in downtown Sheridan.

The other 7 buildings are scattered throughout the forest. They are utility buildings, used to house radio and electronic equipment for the radio repeaters. These are the Hunter Mesa, Prairie Dog, Medicine Mountain, Pole Mountain, Meadowlark, Shell Ridge, and Brokenback Ridge Electronic Buildings. As of 2001, Pole Mountain, Prairie Dog, and Meadowlark will no longer be needed for housing repeater equipment. This is due to the radio system going to narrow band equipment, and a new system design.

Following is a list of all the sites managed by the S.O. and a brief description of the facilities located at those sites.

BIGHORN NF S.O. / TONGUE DISTRICT OFFICE SITE (Site #1)

The Supervisor's Office (S.O.) is co-located with Tongue District, and is headquartered in a new leased facility, constructed in 2000. The lease runs through 2015.

#1: Supervisor's Office

This is an 11,198 sq. ft. (occupied) leased office constructed in 2000. It is the office for the S.O. and Tongue District. The lease on this building runs through 2015. The Forest will continue with this lease.

#2: Supervisor's Office Warehouse

This is a 2,730 sq. ft. leased warehouse constructed in 2000. This warehouse is used as storage for the S.O. and Tongue District. The lease on this building runs through 2015. The Forest will continue with this lease.

Site Utilities

Water: City of Sheridan

Wastewater: City of Sheridan

Electricity: Public Utility

Phone: Public Utility

Other: Natural Gas

Key Issues or Problems

The employee office space in the S.O. is close to capacity. Although the needs are met for the current organizational chart, if there is a major employee increase, additional office space would need to be identified.

SUPERVISOR'S DWELLING & GARAGE SITE (Site #2)

There are 2 buildings at this site: The Supervisor's Dwelling and a garage. They are located near downtown Sheridan. Currently they are used to house a permanent employee. This has been its historic use.

#3512: Supervisor's Dwelling

This is a 2,791 sq. ft. dwelling constructed in 1940. It is currently used for PFT Housing. This building is recommended for disposal.

#3560: Supervisor's Dwelling Garage

This is a 768 sq. ft. garage constructed in 1940. This building is used with the Supervisor's dwelling (#3512). This building is recommended for disposal.

Site Utilities

Water: City of Sheridan

Wastewater: City of Sheridan

Electricity: Public Utility

Phone: Public Utility

Other: Natural Gas

Key Issues or Problems

Both buildings are recommended for disposal since the demand for Permanent Employee housing in Sheridan is not high. Seasonal housing demand is high on the forest, but these facilities are not located where seasonals could take advantage of them.

S.O. GARAGE SITE (SITE #3)

#3505: Sheridan Bull Pen

This is a 2,440 sq. ft. building constructed in 1935. Used for storage for the S.O. This building is located near downtown Sheridan. After moving into the new S.O. / Tongue leased office in 2000, most of the items stored here were moved to the new leased warehouse. It has a garage stall and a room used for a materials testing lab, along with general storage space. This building is recommended for disposal.

Site Utilities

Water: City of Sheridan

Wastewater: City of Sheridan

Electricity: Public Utility

Phone: None

Other: Natural Gas

Key Issues or Problems

This building is recommended for disposal because the new warehouse at the S.O./Tongue office eliminated the need for this extra storage space.

HUNTER MESA ELECTRONIC BUILDING SITE (Site #4)

#3551: Hunter Mesa Electronic Building

This is a 58 sq. ft. building constructed in1970. This is a small building used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Public Utility

Key Issues or Problems

None. This will continue to house repeater equipment.

PRAIRIE DOG ELECTRONIC BUILDING SITE (Site #5)

#3509: Prairie Dog Electronic Building

This is a 60 sq. ft. building constructed in 1964.It is used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. This building is recommended for disposal.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Public Utility

Key Issues or Problems

In FY01, the forest installed a new repeater site, and this building is no longer being used.

MEDICINE MOUNTAIN ELECTRONIC BUILDING SITE (Site #6)

#3528: Medicine Mountain Electronic Building

This is a 65 sq. ft. building constructed in 1969. It is used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. Maintain this building.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Public Utility

Key Issues or Problems

None. This will continue to house repeater equipment.

POLE MOUNTAIN ELECTRONIC BUILDING SITE (Site #7)

#3508: Pole Mountain Electronic Building

This is a 64 sq. ft. building constructed in 1975. This is a small building used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. Maintain this building.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Public Utility

Key Issues or Problems

In FY01, the forest will be installing a new repeater site, and will no longer need this building. Other possible uses for this building are unknown at this time. It will probably be recommended for disposal.

MEADOWLARK ELECTRONIC BUILDING SITE (Site #8)

#3546: Meadowlark Electronic Building

This is a 91 sq. ft. building constructed in 1964. This is a small building used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. Dispose of this building.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Public Utility

Key Issues or Problems

In FY01, the forest installed a new repeater site, and no longer has a need for this building. Other possible uses for this building are unknown at this time.

SHELL RIDGE COMMUNICATION SITE (Site #4CS)

#3546: Shell Ridge Radio Building

This will be a 108 sq. ft. building to be constructed in 2001. This building will be used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. This is a new site and the prefabricated concrete building will be installed in 2001. Maintain this building.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Photovoltaic

Key Issues or Problems

None

BROKENBACK RIDGE COMMUNICATION SITE (Site #5CS)

#3638: Brokenback Ridge Radio Building

This will be a 108 sq. ft. building to be constructed in 2001. This building will be used to store electronic and radio equipment for a repeater. This is a new site and the prefabricated concrete building will be installed in 2001. Maintain this building.

Site Utilities

Electricity: Photovoltaic

Key Issues or Problems

None

Challenges and Opportunities: Supervisor's Office and Zone Resources

The Supervisor's Office and Zone facilities are small in number, but most are very important in helping accomplish the forest's work. The Supervisor's Office is the largest building on the forest, yet the office space is close to its maximum capacity. If the workforce increases in the next few years, it will be a challenge to find office space. As it is, with the increase in fire funding, it will be difficult to find room if many additional employees call the S.O. home.

After installation of the 2 new communications buildings this summer on the mountain, the forest will have a total of 7. However only 5 communications sites will be used. That means 3 of the buildings will no longer be needed. If there is no other use for these buildings, which is unlikely, due to their remoteness, the forest will likely move them elsewhere, or recommend them for disposal.

The Sheridan Bull Pen and the Supervisor's Dwelling and Garage are all recommended for disposal. These have had important uses in the past, but now, after the new S.O. Warehouse has eliminated the need for the downtown garage (Bull Pen), there really is no need to keep this building.

The Supervisor's Dwelling has been pretty continuously occupied during its history. It would be well suited for housing seasonals, but it is much more preferable to house them on the mountain. Housing seasonals in Sheridan cuts off 2 to 3 hours a day of work due to driving time. Therefore, the Forest has recommended this facility be disposed.