Determining the Need and Extent Necessary and Allocating Use

Needs Assessment

Small Group Exercise

Needs Assessment, Extent necessary and Allocation of Use Template

Note - Elements shown in bold and italics should be addressed during the workshop exercise. Expand format as needed.

A. Introduction (Summary-overview, document structure as needed, etc.)

1. Purpose and Need for Analysis - to determine the public need and

extent necessary for commercial services in wilderness

a. Overview of issues to be resolved (if any)

i. Social (use levels, user conflicts)

Describe Social issues here:

ii. Biophysical

Describe biophysical issues here:

iii. Managerial

Describe managerial issues here:

b. Need to protect wilderness character

2. Legal and Policy Requirements for a Needs Assessment

a. Basis in the Wilderness Act and other laws (if applicable)

b. Basis in regulations and agency policy; national and regional

c. Basis in forest or wilderness area plan direction

Describe any specific forest or wilderness plan direction here:

3. Description of the Wilderness Area (and non-wilderness lands if

included in analysis)

a. Overview and history of commercial services in this wilderness

b. Visitor use trends (if known)

B. The Need for Commercial Services

1. Public need for wilderness dependent commercial services

a. Existing operations: number, type, location, season, trends

Describe existing operations here:

b. Categories of public need (i.e. safety, expertise, equipment, accessibility, access to private land, etc.)

List potential categories of public need for commercial services here:

c. Demand for commercial services authorizations (applications received, business opportunities, trends, etc.)

Describe known demand for SUAs here:

2. Other administrative needs for commercial services (research, scientific study, access to installations, etc.)

List other types of administrative needs for commercial services here:

3. Wilderness management objectives for commercial services

a. Wilderness stewardship activities (i.e. education, resource protection, etc.)

List wilderness stewardship activities that could be enhanced by commercial services here:

4. Test to evaluate need for current commercial use

a. Public and other need categories for commercial services

i. List of wilderness dependent public needs with rationale

Using the categories of public need identified in 1. b. above, determine whether they are or are not wilderness dependent here:

b. Support for management objectives

i. Description of how operations help implement

Using the categories of management objectives listed in 3.a. above, describe specific activities that commercial services providers can do to assist managers here:

c. Consistent with the public purposes

i. Match need to public purposes (recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use)

Using the categories of public need identified in 4.a.i. and other needs identified in 2. above, determine if they are consistent with the public purposes of wilderness here: (A possible table format is shown below.)

5. Range of quantified need for commercial services (by type of service)

a. Current levels of commercial use

b. Unmet need

c. Future trends in need

d. Amount of commercial use to satisfy need

Estimate the gross amount of visitor use capacity (PAOTS, RVDs, etc.) needed to meet public and other commercial services needs here: (A possible table format is shown below.)

C. Conditions, Standards, and Capacity

1. Commercial services capacity to meet need (type, location, season)

a. Existing commercial use

b. Potential for increase in existing operations

Identify existing and potential commercial services capacity to meet need and compare to gross level of need identified in 5.d. above here:

2. Constraints on meeting need for commercial services (biological, physical, and social resource conditions, standards/limits, and visitor use capacity)

a. Desired condition or design guidelines

b. Indicators, standards, limits, guidelines, or management prescriptions (social, biophysical, managerial)

Identify existing management direction that would constrain the capacity for commercial services here: (Examples of potential constraints are shown.)

o There will be no other parties within sight or sound of dispersed campsites in those areas classified as Primitive ROS (TLRMP, 4-46).

o No other parties should be within sight or sound of dispersed campsites during 80% of the primary use season in those areas classified as Semi-Primitive ROS (TLRMP, 4-47).

c. Existing conditions and use and future trends

a. commercial and non-commercial visitor use conflicts

Identify use trends and user conflicts that should be addressed here:

Tongass NF Workshop - Needs Assessment exercise – Please STOP HERE

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d. Visitor use capacity

Describe total visitor use capacity (all visitors) here: (The capacity will likely need to be determined by zone or area, type of use and season to be useful for determining the extent necessary.)

D. The Extent Necessary

1. Determination of the extent necessary

a. Comparison of the quantity of public need plus non-commercial use to capacity (by type, location and season of use)

i. Areas where need can or cannot be met

Identify areas of the wilderness where gross need for commercial services are constrained by capacity here: (Note it may be useful to display the amount of need vs. constrained capacity to support the rationale for the allocation.)

b. Range of capacity available to meet need for commercial services (by type, location, and season of use)

Display the range of capacity available in PAOTs, RVDs, occupied areas, or other suitable measure.

E. Allocation of use capacity for commercial services (NEPA decision)

1. Decision to allocate visitor use capacity to commercial services (by type, location, and season of use)

Describe decision on portion of overall visitor use capacity allocated to commercial services here:

a. Rationale for decision (based on public need, management objectives, condition standards/limits)

Describe rationale for allocation decision in terms of meeting public need within constraints of law, policy, and other direction to preserve wilderness character and avoid impairment of the social and biophysical components of the wilderness resource.

F. Additional Management Actions (supplemental)

1. Criteria for assessing new or expanded commercial services

Describe any criteria to be used for screening future opportunities for new or expanded commercial services here:

2. Additional standards and guidelines for management and administration

a. Monitoring tasks and frequency

b. Methods to address fluctuations in need (e.g. pool system for SUAs)

c. Other

Prescribe needed monitoring and administration necessary to implement decisions here:

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