Visitors to the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands may encounter signs along roads, trails, or possibly in campgrounds announcing, “Traffic Survey Ahead.”
Participation in the survey is voluntary and all responses are confidential; names are not collected. Interviews last about 10 minutes. Information gathered from the surveys is useful for forest and local community tourism planning. It provides public land managers with an estimate of how many people recreate on the National Forests and Grasslands, what activities they engage in while there, and how satisfied people were with their visit. Economic impact to the local economy is also captured in the survey.
NVUM surveys will be conducted on the Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. Throughout the year surveys will be conducted by contract employees on all five districts of the Nebraska National Forests and Grasslands. This includes the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, as well as the Buffalo Gap and Oglala National Grasslands and the Nebraska and McKelvie National Forests.
Survey questions include length of visit, number of people in the group and types of recreational activities enjoyed. Public satisfaction ratings are also a key component of the survey. Some visitors will also be asked to complete a confidential survey on recreation spending during their trip to provide economic impact data.
The survey is entirely voluntary, but participation is extremely important so we can learn about visitor experiences said forest supervisor Jack Isaacs. He says they want to use the information gathered to improve the recreation services they offer, so it’s important for surveyors to talk with local users of the forests and grasslands, as well as out-of-area visitors.
Information about the National Visitor Use Monitoring program can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/nvum.
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