Reimagine Recreation
A Foundation for Change
Americans are finding connections to national forests and grasslands in greater numbers than ever before. Visitation to national forests and grasslands in 2020 surged to a record-breaking 168 million visits, more visitors who came to safely recreate, be restored, and create new memories.
We have embarked on a year-long process for self-reflection and external conversation to learn what we need to do better in our recreation program. In other words, we need to answer the question: “What would it look like if we were wildly successful in this endeavor.”
We are going to reimagine what recreation looks like on national forests and grasslands, and we are inviting you to take this journey with us.
The Path Forward
We are focusing on three foundations to reimagine recreation on America’s national forests and grasslands:
- REENGAGE partners both new and old to provide a place for everyone to feel welcome and connected to the outdoors.
- REINVEST in our workforce and delivery systems to provide our workforce with the skills, knowledge, tools, financial resources, and operating environment necessary to succeed; and
- REINVENT creative ways to engage with others to steward recreation on our public lands to plan, design, adapt, and manage the recreation landscape into the future.
To do this we are working through four stages:
INITIATION
August–September 2022: Summarize and share the preliminary vision, focus areas, and goals. We also are committed to continuous government-to-government consultation with federally recognized tribes throughout the year.
ENGAGEMENT
October 2022–March 2023: Hold employee surveys, open-door discussions, and engagement sessions with partners and others.
DEVELOPMENT
April–September 2023: Develop a “Five-Year National Recreation Action Plan” that sets clear priorities for our work.
IMPLEMENTATION
Fall 2023 and beyond: Work with local communities, States, Tribes, other governments and nongovernmental partners to implement the shared strategy and action plan.