[Public Land Statistics, 1996]
[Part 4 - RECREATION AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]


Part 4--RECREATION AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES


The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) outdoor recreation mission is to sustain
healthy land and water resources while providing quality visitor services.
BLMï¿½s overall vision for outdoor recreation is "Visitors renewing their
relationships with the land and respecting local cultures while enjoying
quality recreation activities."

The BLM provides resource-dependent recreational opportunities in a variety of
settings that typify the vast western landscapes of the 11 public land states.
These diverse settings range from the tundra in Alaska to the deserts of the
Southwest; and from the old growth forests of the Northwest to the plateaus
and plains of the Rocky Mountain states.  As a national provider of
recreation, BLM focuses on its niche -  providing resource-based versus
facilities-based recreation and tourism opportunities.  BLM emphasizes
visitorsï¿½ freedom to pursue unstructured recreation opportunities as long as
the visitor accepts the responsibility to use public lands wisely and to
respect other visitors and local residents.

Visitors participate in a variety of activities on public lands.  Most
individuals, groups, and families participate in more than one activity per
visit.  Visitor use information described by major groupings of these
activities is found in Table 4-1.  BLM stresses the use of education and
interpretation to encourage visitorsï¿½ knowledge, appreciation, and safe
enjoyment of public land resources.  Responsible use is encouraged by BLM and
its partners through land use ethics programs such as Tread Lightly! and Leave
No Trace!.  In addition, BLM is also working with other agencies and partner
organizations to improve accessibility to public lands and recreation
facilities for all visitors, including people with disabilities. 

Tourism generated by the recreation and leasure opportnities on public lands
contributes significantly to the national economy as well as local communities
economic well being.  BLM provides recreation opportunities in areas having
national, as well as regional and local, importance.  Areas of national
importance, designated by Congress or the Secretary of the Interior, include
34 National Wild and Scenic Rivers (2,022 miles); 136 Wilderness Areas
(5,227,063 acres) and 622 Wilderness Study Areas (17.4 million acres); 37
National Recreation, Historic, or Scenic Trails (4,564 miles); 1 National
Monument (1.86 millon acres, including State school trust lands and private
inholdings); 1 National Recreation Area (1 million acres); 1 National Scenic
Area (65,280 acres), and 64 National Back Country Byways (3,179 miles).

Recreational opportunities of regional and local importance are provided in a
variety of settings: non-fee sites (see Table 4-4), rivers (5,763 miles) not
in the Wild and Scenic River System, and inventoried trails (7,468 miles) not
in the National Trail System.  In addition, fish and wildlife species found on
BLM lands produce a variety of primary and secondary benefits.  Some visitors
to public lands benefit directly by participating in consumptive activities
(i.e., hunting and fishing; see Table 4-2) and nonconsumptive wildlife-related
activities (e.g., birdwatching, camping, hiking, and photography; see
Table 4-3).  Secondary benefits from wildlife-related activities on public
lands accrue to community businesses that benefit from the sale of equipment,
services, food, lodging, and transportation to public land visitors, and to
State wildlife agencies that manage wildlife populations through both
consumptive and non-consumptive activities. 



While BLMï¿½s focus is on providing resource-based recreation and tourism
opportunities, BLM does provide facilities where necessary to protect
resources and to serve as staging areas for resource-based recreation use.
For the most part, however, facilities are not the attraction in and of
themselves.  In some high-use areas, visitors are charged a recreation use fee
or entrance fee to help cover the cost of facility maintenance and resource
protection (see Table 4-5 for designated fee site information).  Fees in this
category are called Recreation Use Permits.

Special recreation permits are also used as a mechanism to protect resources
and reduce visitor conflicts.  Special recreation permits are issued to
individuals or groups participating in commercial or competitive activities on
BLM-managed lands.  Special recreation permits may also be required for
special management areas and group events to protect resources and public
health and safety.  Table 4-6 identifies the type and number of permits BLM
issues and revenue generated from these permits. 

Table 4-1 activity groupings have been revised from the Fiscal Year 1995
Public Lands Statistics report to better describe recreation use on BLM-
administered lands.  The information in Tables 4-1, 4-4, 4-5, and 4-6 was
derived from the BLM Recreation Management Information System database as of
November 8, 1996.  Additional information from this database is available upon
request from your local BLM office or the BLM Headquarters office in
Washington, DC.  Information in Tables 4-2 and 4-3 is from the National Survey
of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Related Recreation published by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.