2010_Interviewer's_Handbook.pdf

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 1

National Visitor Use Monitoring Handbook

June 2010

National Visitor Use Monitoring Program

USDA Forest Service

Washington D.C.

Web address:http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum

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Contents

How to Use this Handbook

HAVE A QUESTION? HERE’S WHERE TO GET HELP

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

What’s This Program About?

THE INTERVIEWER’S ROLE:

Creating the Right Impression

THE MANAGER’S ROLE:

WHAT IS SAMPLING?

Bias

Interviewer Selection Bias

Other Sources of Data Error

CHAPTER 2: SECRET CODES & TECHNICAL TERMS TO KNOW

National Forest Visit:

Site Visits

Trip

Site Types

Use Level

Proxy

Nonproxy

Table 1. Proxy Codes and Definitions

CHAPTER 3: MANAGING & PREPARING FOR THE NVUM PROGRAM

Table 2. Managing the NVUM Program

1. Training Tools

2. Review of the Survey Calendar

3. Hire a Workforce - Contract or Force Account?

4. Train the Interviewers

5a. Job Hazard Analysis

5b. Law Enforcement Plan

6. Issue press releases

7. Obtain cooperation of permit holders and other public entities

8. Equipment Needed

9. Check out Survey locations ahead of time!

10. Quarterly reports

11. Quality Assurance & Control

Project Due Dates

Mail Daily Summary Forms & Interview forms to:

E-mail or hard copy mail quarterly reports to: ........................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 4: FIELD PROCEDURES

Introduction

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Using the Survey Schedule Calendar

Reading the Calendar Information

Assigned Interview hours

Using the Backup Calendar

Basic Survey Site Setup

Surveying Cabins and Lookouts

Table 3. NVUM Field Procedures

Handling Recreation Site Complexes:

Trailhead Setup

Parking Lot Setup

Roadside Setup

Safety First

Selection of the Survey Site Location

Sight/ Stopping Distance

Placement of Required Signs

Sign Standards

Table 4: Sight distance requirements by traffic speed. (FS road design handbook)

Table 5. Meaning of Letter Codes on Typical Application Diagrams

Table 6: Advance Warning Sign Placement Distances on downgrades

Figure 1. Basic Traffic Set-up along Forest Service roads less than 35 mph

Erection of Signs (Sign supports)

Figure 2: Examples of Temporary/Portable Supports

Traffic Counters

Use of the hand tally counter

Basic traffic recording procedure:

Traffic Counter Problems

CHAPTER 5: TIME TO INTERVIEW!!

Asking Questions “By the Book”

Flash Cards

Marking Answers on the Survey Form

Conducting the Interview

Fill in the Daily Summary Form

DUDS, OUDS, GFA & Wild Survey Days

Special GFA Low Days

How to Approach Visitors for Interviews

Interviewing visitors with disabilities

Interviewing non-English speaking visitors

Handling difficult visitors

Roadside Interviews

Trailhead and Parking Lot interviews

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View Corridor Survey Days

Table 7. View Corridor Survey Day procedure

Table 8. NATIONAL FOREST RECREATION USE MONITORING FORMS

Step-by-Step Interview Process- V7-8 forms

Individual Interview Form

Section 1: Screening Questions

For Day Use Sites, Overnight Sites, and Wilderness:

For GFA (undeveloped areas of the forest) sites only:

Section 2: National Forest Visit

Section 3: This Trip Away From Home

Section 4: Demographics

Section 5: - For PROXY Sites:

The Satisfaction Survey

The Economics Survey

APPENDIX A- Job Description/Announcement

HIRING PROCESS & HOW TO ORGANIZE FOR SAMPLING

APPENDIX B-Sample Job Hazard Analysis

APPENDIX C – Sample Law Enforcement Plan

APPENDIX D- Sample Press Release

APPENDIX E- Sample Special Use Permit Letter

APPENDIX F- Road Manager Permission Letter

APPENDIX G- Equipment Checklist

APPENDIX H- Pre-survey Inspection Form

APPENDIX I- Special Event/ Organization Camp Report Form

& Traffic Counter Form

APPENDIX J- Special Interview Site Set Up Situations

APPENDIX K - NVUM Quality Assurance (QA) Check Procedures

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How to Use this Handbook

This handbook is organized into several major sections. Read it through before going into the field to conduct interviews. Bring it with you so that when things are boring out there because no visitors are around at least you have something to read while passing the time! It can also serve as a quick reference if you get confused.

Chapter 1, the Introduction is geared toward Interviewers and provides the basic information about the National Visitor Use Monitoring program, the idea behind sampling, and the key factors that help Interviewers do a good job.

Chapter 2 explains the technical terms and definitions used throughout the rest of the handbook. Refer to this chapter when you encounter words like “proxy”, “national forest visit”, “general forest areas”, and others.

Chapter 3 explains the work needed in the office before Interviewers go into the field. Read this chapter at least 6 weeks before actually starting the interviews.

Chapter 4 will walk you through setting up the survey site. It includes how to set up the site for different kinds of field situations and what equipment you will need.

Chapter 5 explains how to conduct fool-proof interviews and explains the questions on the survey forms.

The Appendices include ready to use documents that will make life easier- a Job Hazard Analysis, Law Enforcement Plan, Press Release, letters you can send to permit holders you might need information from, an equipment check list, and other needed forms.

There are two main roles that are needed in the survey process- Managers and Interviewers.

Sometimes this role is played by the same person, other times they are separate. Managers are responsible for doing all the work needed before on-site surveys occur. Chapters 1-3 and many of the Appendices are essential reading for Managers.

Interviewers are responsible for conducting the field work; Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 are required reading.

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HAVE A QUESTION? HERE’S WHERE TO GET HELP

Always call your regional coordinator first if you have questions. They have been involved in the program for several years and can most likely provide assistance. The regional coordinators are:

CALL THESE PEOPLE FIRST…..

Lis Novak R1 406-329-3376

Pam DeVore R2 303-275-5043

Dennis Garcia R3 505-842-3443

Laura Conroy R4 801-625-5152

Frances Enkoji R5 707-562-8846

Chuck Frayer R6 503-808-2446

Greg Barnes R8 270-924-2089

Leon LaVigne R9 414-297-1313

Trish Clabaugh R10 907-586-8855

IF THEY CAN”T HELP, VISIT THE WEB SITE:

For field issues and questions about the survey forms visit the Web page’s “Frequently Asked Questions.” Many common questions have already been addressed. You might even print this section out and place it in this handbook.

WEB PAGE: http://fsweb.nris.fs.fed.us/products/NVUM_Inventory_Design/index.shtml

FINALLY, IF NONE OF THIS WORKS, BUG THESE PEOPLE:

Data entry, making up for missed survey days, turning in forms, and proxy data questions: call David Bowler (dbowler@fs.fed.us) 801.236-3457.

Statistics, the sample design, field-related set-up and questions about interview forms, etc., call Don English (denglish@fs.fed.us) 202.205-9595.

Traffic counter questions call Damien Hoffman (damienhoffman@fs.fed.us) 406.829-6751.

NATIONAL FOREST VISITOR USE MONITORING TASK FORCE:

Ross Arnold

Don English

Andrew McLean

SPRA Planning Staff

Team Leader, Economist

Missoula Technology Center rarnold@fs.fed.us denglish@fs.fed.us amclean@fs.fed.us

703.605-4487

202.205-9595

406.329-3927

David Bowler Form Scanning dbowler@fs.fed.us 801.236.3457

Stan Zarnoch Statistician zarnoch@fs.fed.us 828-259-0515

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

What’s This Program About?

Your Forest has been selected to participate in a nationwide visitor use survey. Both program managers and field interviewers play a critical role in the success of this process. Managers are responsible for completing office work, organizing supplies, hiring a workforce, and ensuring quality control. The field interviewer will be collecting extremely useful information from forest visitors.

Being an interviewer takes special skills, persistence, understanding, patience, discipline, confidence, and sometimes even courage. Through study and practice of the information provided here interviewers will perfect these qualities.

The information collected from forest visitors will be used by forest managers to make decisions. It will be used to better understand who our visitors are, why they come to the national forest, how satisfied they are with the facilities and services provided, and how much they spend on their visit. While we gather more information about recreation visitors, we are also gathering information about how all people use the national forest road systems and facilities. This includes people commuting to work on Forest Service roads, commercial traffic, and people just passing through. This information helps managers understand all the uses occurring on the forest.

All national forests and grasslands collected information about national forest visitors between 2000 and 2003 using a new statistically sound method. This method was repeated between 2005 and 2009. The data have already shown visitors had been incorrectly counted using older methods - in 1996, 850 million forest visitors were reported, and the data show there were actually about 205 million visitors! So you can see the old methods of counting visitors did not paint an accurate picture. That’s why scientists, statisticians, and forest employees got together to develop the method you will be taught.

This new way of counting is called the National Visitor Use Monitoring program or NVUM for short. It is a well thought out process that more accurately measures visitor use and characteristics. Because the information collected is more accurate, managers will be able to make more confident decisions about managing forest resources.

The data answer questions such as:

How many visitors come to the national forest?

Where do our visitors come from?

How long do they stay?

What activities do they participate in while they are here?

How much money do they spend in local communities?

Are they satisfied with the quality of the facilities and services we provide?

What facilities need improvement?

Why did they pick this national forest to visit?

When managers know the answers to these questions they can target their limited resources to improve the items visitors are least satisfied with. They can also identify their forest recreation niche – the role the forest plays in people’s pursuit of having fun in the great outdoors. For example, if state and national parks also provide the same type of recreation services and facilities, what makes your national forest unique? By concentrating on improving the things that make the forest unique instead of duplicating services, the public is provided with a higher quality selection of all recreation opportunities.

Forest recreation facilities and services can supplement rather than compete with other providers.

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THE INTERVIEWER’S ROLE:

Your role as an interviewer is to put the visitors interviewed (called respondents) at ease and get complete and accurate answers to the questions asked. You will learn not to influence how people answer the questions.

Creating the Right Impression

You might be nervous the first few times you talk to forest visitors. Don’t worry, with practice, meeting and talking to strangers will soon be easy. By knowing why you are there, learning to avoid the pitfalls, and knowing what to expect you will find that both you and the visitor enjoy the process. People like telling others about their experiences and they will be pleased to know the Forest Service cares enough to hear about them. By practicing the skills we are teaching you, you will be prepared and have the self confidence to do a great job! Your role as an interviewer includes:

Following all quality control and assurance measures so that all information is complete and accurate.

Learning how to set up the survey location in the field- placement of signs and traffic counters.

Making visitors comfortable with the interview process.

Being tactful and keeping the interview on track.

Presenting yourself well, with a professional appearance, attitude, and dress.

Knowing why the information you collect is important, and letting the visitor know the information is confidential and valuable.

Remaining neutral – don’t show personal reactions when visitors answer the questions.

If visitors have trouble answering the questions use the time proven techniques of PAUSE, REPEAT, and PROBE, explained in Chapter 5.

THE MANAGER’S ROLE:

The NVUM forest program manager’s role is critical to the success of field data collection. There are many tasks to complete before interviewers actually collect information in the field. These tasks include:

Implementing and monitoring quality control and assurance measures during the survey period as described in Appendix K.

Ordering and organizing supplies.

Hiring and training a workforce or issuing a contract.

Writing and getting approval on a job hazard analysis and law enforcement plan.

Writing letters to forest recreation providers such as ski areas and campground managers informing them of information you will need in the upcoming year.

Issuing a press release so the local public knows why employees are in the field doing interviews.

Setting up a communication system and check-in, check-out procedures.

Field checks once interviewers are out collecting data.

Checking forms the interviewers turn in for completeness and accuracy.

Providing the NVUM team quarterly reports.

Mailing completed survey forms to the NVUM team every two weeks.

Finding lost or missing data.

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WHAT IS SAMPLING?

How do several hundred interviews on your forest give a true statistical picture for millions of visitors? You are probably familiar with Gallup Polls and other sampling. Think of a few examples of when you might have already participated in sampling. Have you been called on the phone to tell about programs you watch on TV? Have you tasted a spoonful of soup to determine if the pot needs more spices? Have you tried a new restaurant to see if you might want to eat there again? In the Forest Service, sampling is used for most resource data collection. Foresters do it by taking a few tree measurements on carefully selected plots to estimate total wood volume and species in a larger forest area. Range managers do it by throwing a hoop and recording the types and quantity of grasses within that hoop to estimate the quantity and type of forage for a whole pasture. Can you think of more examples?

Many years of experience plus using some well established principles of statistics and science went into the NVUM design. Each sample day was carefully selected from a well thought out design well before you were hired for the job. All the information has been carefully balanced to ensure that when the data are collected as assigned, it paints an accurate picture of the whole forest. That’s why the days and places you are assigned on the sample calendar

CANNOT BE SUBSTITUTED.

Bias

Bias is anything that influences the answers you get from the person being interviewed. Interviewers can unintentionally introduce bias into the respondent’s answers. Sometimes body language, voice inflection, and attitude can introduce bias. If you ask the questions on the survey form exactly as written and stay neutral while visitors give their answers you will collect more accurate data.

Keep your opinions to yourself, even if asked. If the visitor gets off track and asks your opinion or advice say something like “I’d be glad to talk to you about that after we complete the interview” or “As a government representative I am not allowed to share my personal beliefs on the job.”

Example: When you ask the visitor about which activities they participated in during their visit you might influence their answer by saying something like “are those the ONLY activities you did?” The visitor might take that to mean you think they are lazy and add more activities to the list. To avoid this BIAS, flash cards are provided that contain the identical list of activities in the same order for everybody. By just handing the visitor the flash card, then asking “Which of the activities on this list did you participate in during your visit?”, and letting the visitor have time to read through the list you remain neutral and get a more accurate answer. Avoid commenting on their answers.

Interviewer Selection Bias

When there is more than one person in a car or group you are to interview only ONE of these people. To avoid Interviewer selection bias, you are instructed to ask “Which one of you had the most recent birthday and is at least 16 years of age?” This random selection tool helps you avoid picking the same type of person to interview all the time, and gives more accurate overall results in the study.

Example: During roadside surveys it’s almost instinctive for the Interviewer to approach the DRIVER of the vehicle. If more than one person is in the vehicle, it’s likely the driver is the male of the group. If you only interview the driver then the data will reflect more males than females and give an inaccurate picture of the proportion of male to females on the forest.

Other Sources of Data Error

Once the Interviewer begins collecting data in the field, they are responsible for ensuring its accuracy.

Several items of particular importance include getting accurate answers to the questions on the survey, marking and recording the answers clearly and using the traffic counters and hand tally counter correctly.

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CHAPTER 2: SECRET CODES &

TECHNICAL TERMS TO KNOW

The NVUM program uses acronyms, codes and definitions that Interviewers need to know to follow interview form instructions. Sometimes you might feel like you are on a secret mission with the unique technical terms and codes used. Use this chapter to decipher funny words like “site visit”, “DUDS”, “proxy”, and “ST1”.

National Forest Visit

A "National Forest Visit" is the entry of one person upon a national forest to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time. A national forest visit can be composed of multiple site visits.

For a visit to count as a multiple day visit, the visit must be contiguous, meaning the visitor must have spent the night on National Forest System lands. A visitor who spends the night off of National Forest System lands begins a new National Forest Visit each day. Visiting different districts on the same national forest in one day is still just one National Forest Visit.

For example:

Visitor A skis at Telluride (ski area on National Forest System lands) during the day, but spends the night in a hotel located in the town of Telluride, then skis again on National Forest System lands the next day. Visitor A's recreation use would count as two National Forest Visits, one for each day because their stay was not contiguous.

Visitor B skis at Telluride (ski area on National Forest System lands) during the day, but spends the night in a lodge located on National Forest System lands, then skis again on National Forest System lands the next day. Visitor B's recreation use would count as one National Forest Visit because their stay was contiguous.

Site Visits

A national forest site visit is the entry of one person onto a national forest site or area to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time.

Visitor B, in the definition of National Forest Visit, had three site visits during their one national forest visit, because they went to the ski area on 2 different days and the lodge overnight.

Trip

A trip is from the time a visitor left their home until they return to their home. The visit to the national forest may have only been a small part of a larger trip away from home. The visitor’s trip may have included a trip to Disney Land, a visit with Aunt Petunia, and a camping trip on your forest.

Site Types

Every recreation site or area on the forest is divided into one of five site types. In addition there are developed and undeveloped sites on the forest that may require a different way of sampling or different questions asked on the interview form. The survey calendar will show which type of site the assigned sample day is. Interviewers need to make sure they use the correct questions on the interview form for each type of site by consulting the calendar. These will be coded on the sample calendar and on the interview forms. The site types and codes are:

Day Use Developed Sites (DUDS) - include sites such as picnic sites, some fishing sites, interpretive sites, playgrounds, downhill ski areas, developed caves, and some winter play areas. Sites that are not included are trailheads, boat launches, parking lots, OHV staging areas, most scenic overlooks, and other transfer points into the General Forest Area. Sites included must meet the INFRA definition for development scale of moderate, heavy, or high degree of modification, which are sites that provide for visitor comfort, convenience and/or educational opportunities. Sites with facilities that provide for health and safety only are not considered developed sites.

Overnight Use Developed Sites (OUDS) - include sites such as campgrounds, rented overnight fire lookouts and cabins, resorts, lodges, hotels, horse camps and any other overnight developed sites on NFS lands whether managed by the Forest Service or private business (concession or special use permit).

Sites included must have facilities that meet the INFRA definition for development scales of moderate, heavy, or high degree of modification. Some sites you might consider developed overnight sites in INFRA that are NOT counted in this stratum as OUDS include recreation residences, organizational camps, lesser developed hunting camps, facilities on private land within the NFS boundary, and recreation special events.

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Wilderness (W) - includes areas in the NFS that are part of the designated National Wilderness Preservation system. Generally, use is sampled at Wilderness trailheads or roads leading to the trailheads.

General Forest Areas (GFA) - includes all other dispersed recreation use other than Wilderness (hiking, fishing, water sports, etc.). Imagine a large net stretched across all your forest exit points including rivers, lakes, trailheads, and roads. At these exit points, interviewers wait at predetermined times for visitors to exit across these points. The results are multiplied by the total number of exit points on the forest. There is not a one-to-one correspondence between INFRA GFA and NVUM GFA. Your entire forest is treated as one large General Forest Area for NVUM. Recreation residence use is counted as part of GFA use.

View Corridors (VC) –measures the number of visitors that only pass through the forest to view the scenery while traveling on corridors such as state, interstate, or county highways. They do not actually recreate ON the forest. To count as a View Corridor the travelway must have been identified in the forest inventory design.

Use Level

During preparation for the NVUM program, forests categorized each day a site or area was open for visitor use as having either very high, high, medium, low, or no exiting recreation use. This stratification of use levels helps reduce the variability in the sample (for example all low days are in one group therefore their use measured on any low day is closer to the mean than if very high use days were also included in the stratum). This provides a much tighter confidence level and thus a more accurate use number.

Proxy

Proxy sites are those sites where a direct count of something (fee envelope, ski ticket sale, room rental receipt, etc.) is taken that represents recreation visitation to a Forest Service site or area by an individual, a group, or a vehicle on National Forest Service System lands. All visitors to the site or area must be required to purchase or fill out the proxy data.

Examples include mandatory Wilderness permits, campground fee envelopes, concessionaire daily counts of sites occupied, ski lift ticket sales, etc.

Table 1 shows the different proxy codes and what they mean.

When proxy data is available you do not need to set up a 24-hour traffic counter. Your sample calendar will clearly identify which sites or areas are proxy. DO NOT JUDGE THIS FOR YOURSELF. Proxy sites have already been identified. You will be provided with forms that list ALL proxy sites that your forest identified in your inventory design.

Nonproxy

When proxy information is not available the site is called “Nonproxy”. Basically, a traffic counter and hand-tally counter are used to collect information at these sites for a full 24 hours on the assigned sample day, instead of relying on proxy information.

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Table 1. Proxy Codes and Definitions.

Proxy Code Definition What to report

DUR4 Daily Use Record of sites with PAOT of 14 or less, use for OUDS campgrounds where either FS or concessionaire records occupied campsites on a daily basis, DUDS same idea

Number of sites occupied

DUR5 Daily Use Record for group sites with PAOT of 15 or more, use in large group sites where sites sold are recorded, DUDS same idea.

Number of sites occupied

FE3 Fee Envelopes issued per vehicle, use in OUDS, DUDS, and GFA

Number of fee envelopes collected

FE4 Fee Envelopes issued per family site with a PAOT of 14 or less, use in OUDS and DUDS

Number of fee envelopes collected

FR1 Fee Receipts or tickets sold to individual people only, such as a visitor centers. Use in DUDS where a daily pass is sold or individual ticket sales indicate use. DO NOT USE FOR OUDS, or SKI AREAS.

Number of tickets or fees sold

1 ticket or fee = 1 person

FR2 Fee Receipts or tickets sold per group of 14 or less people. Use in DUDS, OUDS, GFA.

Number of tickets or fees sold

1 ticket or fee = 1 small group

FR3 Fee Receipts or tickets sold per vehicle. Use in

DUDS, OUDS, GFA.

Number of tickets or fees sold

1 ticket or fee = 1 vehicle

FR5 Fee Receipts, envelopes, permits, or tickets sold per large group of 15 or more. Use in DUDS, OUDS, GFA.

Number of envelopes, permits or tickets sold: 1 envelope, permit or ticket = 1 large group

MA1 MAndatory Wilderness permits issued per individual Number of people

1 permit = 1 person

MA2 MAndatory Wilderness permits issued per group Number of permits issued

1 permit = 1 group

PTC1 Permanent Traffic Counters that count people, must be one-way traffic, use in any stratum

Number of people counted (one-way)

PTC3 Permanent Traffic Counters that count vehicles, must be one-way traffic adjusted for axles, use in any stratum

Number of vehicles counted (one-way)

RE1 REgistration forms, use in OUDS lodges, cabins, resorts, etc. where managers report total number of room nights sold or person nights sold from registers

Number of people, for OUDS report person nights

1 registration = 1 person

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RE2 REgistration forms, use in any stratum where 14 or fewer people register as one small group. Use in DUDS or OUDS.

Number of small groups, for OUDS report group nights

1 registration = 1 small group

RE4 REgistration forms for room nights, use for OUDS lodges, resorts, etc, where owner can report number of room nights sold. Do not use for DUDS, campgrounds, huts or dorms that hold more than one group in one room at a time

Number of room nights sold/ occupied

1 registration = 1 room night

ST1 Skier Tickets; use at DUDS ski areas where individual tickets or season passes are sold, but the count is NOT converted to Skier Days.

Number of tickets or passes sold

1 ticket = 1 skier

SV1 Skier Visits, DUDS ski areas where skier area provides total number of skier visits/days on a report rather than the number of lift tickets sold. The count is adjusted for seasonal passes, etc.

Ski area reports total # of skier days

SUP4 Special Use Permit issued per site, use for OUDS cabins, resorts where one permit is issued per group of 14 or fewer people per visit not for entire season; also FS cabins rented under G-T permits.

For larger groups use FR5

Number of permits issued

TB1 Toll Booth, use when GFA is close to forest boundary and there are no non TB entries from other areas, use for DUDS and OUDS only if everyone has to pay who enters site

Number of tolls collected

1 toll = 1 person

TB3 Toll Booth, same as TB1 except fee is per vehicle not per person

Number of tolls collected

1 toll = 1 vehicle

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CHAPTER 3: MANAGING &

PREPARING FOR THE NVUM

PROGRAM

The forest NVUM program manager is critical to the success of field data collection. There are many tasks to complete. Table 2 summarizes these tasks and the remainder of this chapter gives specific information.

Preparation is the key to a successful year.

Table 2. Managing the NVUM Program

1 Attend national training

2 Review survey calendar

3 Hire workforce - Contract or Force Account Work

4 Train interviewers

5 Prepare Job Hazard Analysis and Law Enforcement Plan

6 Prepare and issue press release

7 Obtain permission from any resort owners, special use permit holders, and others to survey at the designated sites and inform them of proxy information needed

8 Gather all tools, equipment, and forms and distribute as needed

9 Complete survey site pre-inspection to identify safe interview locations

10 Complete Quarterly reports – make sure to inform forest SUP coordinator you will need this Recreation Special Event and Organization camp use information ahead of time.

11 Quality Assurance & Control of data collection

1. Training Tools

National NVUM interviewer training is provided for every forest the summer prior to starting surveys.

Each forest should send at least three people, one being the Forest Coordinator and the others being people who will actually conduct the NVUM interviews.

Other training tools provided include this handbook, an interviewer training video, a safety video, and the Web site. These tools are required review for anyone actually conducting the surveys. Conducting the surveys is not an easy task. It takes skill and practice to become proficient. No one should conduct interviews for your forest without proper training.

2. Review of the Survey Calendar

Forests receive a one year schedule of sites/areas to survey for specific dates and times. This schedule comes from a random draw of sites/areas listed in the forest inventory design. The Forest Coordinator must review this calendar and make sure all the sites/areas listed exist as shown. It’s not uncommon for a forest to get their survey calendar and discover they are surveying a site in December that is not open. This happened because the site was shown as open in the inventory design. Both the inventory design and the calendar will need to be changed. They can ONLY be changed before October when the surveys begin.

At this point in the planning process, the calendar will help managers identify the work force needed.

Additional details on how to use the survey calendar are in Chapter 4.

3. Hire a Workforce - Contract or Force Account?

After reviewing the survey calendar, program managers will have a better idea of the work force needed to accomplish the program. If they decide to contract out the work, they should obtain sample contracts or memorandums of understanding done by other forests from the regional coordinator. If the forest manager decides to go Force Account, having forest employees conduct the interviews, then the employees must be identified and trained. Many forests use a combination of contract and force account. It is difficult to award a contract the summer prior to data collection due to budget constraints and there are usually only a few survey days between October and March. Interviewer job descriptions and classifications are included in Appendix A.

4. Train the Interviewers

Whether using a contract, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), or Forest Service employees, all Interviewers must be trained BEFORE conducting their first surveys. Forests using contracts or MOUs often have the contractors attend the national training, and then require the contractors to train their own Interviewers. It is still essential that the forest manager be responsible for ensuring the surveys are conducted as required. Make sure to conduct inspections or “secret shopper” checks to ensure quality control.

If using Forest Service employees to conduct interviews, the forest should have a minimum of six people trained. Multiple employees are needed because there may need to be two different sites sampled on the same day and traffic counters need to be picked up and moved to other locations. Also, if your forest has safety concerns about leaving only

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 16 one person at a survey site, you will need two people per sample day.

Good interviewers are the key to successful and accurate information collection. Interviewers are the ones that actually ask visitors the questions and collect the site information. This information must follow the national protocol and be as accurate as possible. Good interviewers have certain characteristics:

They LIKE talking to visitors.

They are prepared and excited about the project.

They are not afraid to ask questions about the survey protocol, site set-up or survey forms if they are unsure.

They do not “wing it.”

They are creative in approaching people or getting visitors to pull off the road and talk.

They are able to “hand-tally” exiting traffic at the same time they are talking to visitors.

They are not intimidated by technology like traffic counters.

They are safety conscious.

5a. Job Hazard Analysis

A sample job hazard analysis is included in Appendix B. Each forest should tailor the analysis to meet their needs. Forests must ensure that the interviewers are briefed on job hazards during their training. At a minimum include the following:

Check out/check in procedures

What to do in case of an emergency

Alert them to any special situations

Communication network and how to access

Safety supplies required

5b. Law Enforcement Plan

Forest Service personnel are not authorized to do a roadblock unless they have a plan signed by the Forest Supervisor. Each forest handles this somewhat differently. Check with your Law Enforcement Coordinator BEFORE you begin the survey process. A standard Law Enforcement Plan is included in Appendix C. Change this plan to fit your forest needs. Remember, you are not actually doing a full roadblock, only asking vehicles to voluntarily participate in a short survey by pulling off the main road for 5-15 minutes. All other traffic can continue.

Have your Forest Law Enforcement Coordinator review the Law Enforcement Plan, and have the Forest Supervisor sign it.

6. Issue press releases

Prior to starting interviews in October, the forest program manager should issue a press release in local papers informing the public about the surveys.

This will increase the chances that locals will stop for interviews. Information about the survey should also be shared with forest employees so they understand the purpose of the survey. A standard press release is included in Appendix D. It may also be beneficial to reissue the press release before the high summer use season begins.

7. Obtain cooperation of permit holders and other public entities

In some cases you will be surveying at sites under permit or on non-Forest Service managed roads.

There is a form letter you can modify and send to your forest concession and special use permittees to make them aware of your need for their data by specific dates. Let them know exactly what information is needed and in what form. Also take the opportunity to inform them of any on-site surveys that may occur in their area by attaching a survey calendar and highlighting days you will be in their area. The letter is in Appendix E.

The forest may need to set up roadside survey sites on non-Forest service roads. Permission from the road manager (county, state, federal, or private) must be obtained prior to the interview day. A standard permission letter is included in Appendix F.

8. Equipment Needed

Gather all the materials and supplies needed to conduct the surveys and keep them in an area where they will not be disturbed by others. Listed below are items the NVUM team sent to your forest. A check list which includes items you will need to gather on the forest is included in Appendix G. This makes it easy and quick to get going on survey days. If using Forest Service employees, a government vehicle really helps the visitor understand that the interview is official. If using a contractor ensure they have some type of identification that ensures visitors understand this survey is “official” business.

Each Forest was sent supplies which include:

Interview data forms

Calendar of site days to sample

Training video

7 sets of roadside survey signs

7 traffic counters and extra supplies for the counter such as hoses and magnets

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 17

9. Check out Survey locations ahead of time!

Visit your sites ahead of time. This is especially important if you are contracting the survey work.

Employees and contractors need to know exactly where they can safely set up their surveys. Look for a safe pull-off and mark the location on your forest map and on the ground. The Prescott National Forest in Region 3 developed a very useful pre-survey inspection form you may find useful. It is included in Appendix H.

10. Quarterly reports

Four times during the survey year, the forest will be required to submit two different reports to the NVUM team.

One is the Recreation Special Event and Organization Camp use report. Since recreation events cannot usually be predicted a year ahead it was not possible to factor these events into the survey calendar.

Instead, the forest will report the total number of participants at both recreation special events and at organization camps on this report. Use the blank form in Appendix I to submit this report.

The other quarterly report is the Proxy report. This report was sent to the forest electronically and lists every site or area that was shown as having proxy data. Quarterly Proxy reports are submitted through the NVUM Inventory Design Application.

Gathering information for the Quarterly Reports must be planned well ahead of time. Sometimes, once a forest begins looking for the data they find they did not have the type of data available that they thought. This situation needs to be dealt with quickly by calling the project coordinator. Sometimes the information is not available quarterly (ski areas for example) but can be turned in when it is available.

It is essential that proxy numbers reported by the forest match the proxy code. Do not do any converting of numbers. For example, the Daily Use Record (DUR4) is the total number of campsites occupied in a quarter. Do not convert the number to number of people. The NVUM team takes care of the conversion through a “magical” statistical process.

11. Quality Assurance & Control

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC) begin before the first interview and continue throughout the NVUM process. The following QA & QC checks should be routinely performed:

Step 1: All interviewers must be thoroughly trained.

This includes being trained by someone who has attended national training and has a thorough understanding of the NVUM Interviewer Handbook and video. The Forest Coordinator should show the interviewer how to setup and use the traffic counters and interview forms.

Forest Coordinators are responsible for conducting 6 “friendly” inspections and 2 “secret shopping” checks during the sample year to ensure all NVUM procedures are followed. These checks will be documented using the form in Appendix K and should be sent to the NVUM team. Only by doing this can managers know for certain how well interviewers are following NVUM protocols. Every new interviewer should be checked at least once to ensure that interviewers are following the correct procedures.

Contracts must always be inspected and inspections documented. Corrective action must be taken immediately when mistakes are identified.

Step 2: Interviewers should perform the checks outlined on the back of the Daily Summary Form before forwarding their survey forms for data processing.

Step 3: The Forest Coordinator should review all survey forms before sending to the data processing center. Many errors that could affect the quality of the data can be corrected immediately. This includes filling in the bubbles and coding the site name, number and date correctly and completely. In addition, it is critical to ensure that traffic counter readings are recorded.

In the past, the national NVUM team has conducted “secret shopper” checks randomly across the country.

At this time, the national “secret shopper” program is no longer active. This quality control check greatly improved the training tools and field procedures. For example, in almost 50% of the field inspections, interviewers did not use the birthday question to select whom to interview. Now, an additional question has been added to the survey, recording the sex of everyone in the group or vehicle. This allows the NVUM team to check whether interviewers are introducing bias into the survey results by who they interview.

Quality Control should not be ignored. Past inspections have revealed some grave mistakes such as made up answers and incorrect interview procedures. The only way to find these mistakes is by field inspections. When found, corrective action must be taken immediately.

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 18

Project Due Dates

There are several due dates to observe. Many years of experience have shown that when forests fall behind in meeting due dates and reports the information gets lost or more difficult to obtain. Keep current. The Forest Program Manager monitors how well interviewers are filling out the forms and asking the questions. If errors are not caught early in the process information can be lost forever.

Item Due Due Date

Daily Summary Forms (make a copy for backup before you mail) & completed interview forms

EVERY 2 weeks

Proxy Reports Every quarter: Jan 31, April 30, July 31, Oct 30

Recreation Special Events/Organization Camp Use Report

Every quarter: Jan 31, April 30, July 31, Oct 30

Mail Daily Summary Forms & Interview forms to:

Recreation & Heritage IBSC

Attn: David Bowler

125 South State Street Room 8428

Salt Lake City, UT 84138

E-mail Special Events reports and documentation for both mentoring and Secret Shopper days to:

David Bowler, dbowler@fs.fed.us.

Or at the address above

You can also send a courtesy copy electronically to

Don English (denglish@fs.fed.us)

Quarterly Proxy Reports are submitted through the Web-hosted NVUM Inventory Design Application.

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 19

CHAPTER 4: FIELD PROCEDURES

Introduction

Now begins the heart of the data collection process.

This chapter explains how to set up the field survey location including use of the signs, traffic cones, and traffic counters. As an Interviewer you must become very familiar with the reasoning behind the survey site setup. Although the training video shows the basic procedures, once you arrive at the survey site you will find many, less than ideal conditions. By understanding what information you are trying to obtain, the basic concepts can be adjusted to meet a variety of field conditions. Figure 1 in this chapter illustrates a typical survey site setup. Appendix J has illustrations of how to handle more complex survey site locations.

There are three basic elements to the typical survey day; the 24-hour traffic count, the 6-hour hand-tally count, and the interview period. The basic concept on each survey day is to obtain a 24-hour count of the traffic flowing through the area and during that 24-hour period, conduct 6 hours of on-site interviews.

The traffic counter counts everyone passing through and the interviews are used to describe the type of traffic. Since the traffic counter counts traffic in both directions (in most cases), you will also be using a hand-tally counter to count EXITING traffic. This information is then used to determine the in/out ratio for the traffic counter. Used together with the descriptive information about the traffic you get from the interviews, we can then determine the total amount of recreation traffic in the survey area for that day.

There are two exceptions to the above procedure.

If you are surveying on a PROXY day, you will not need to use the traffic counter or hand-tally counter, just conduct interviews.

On specially designated GFA Low survey days (identified on your calendar) only the traffic counter is set up for 24 hours, no interviews are conducted.

Using the Survey Schedule Calendar

Reading the Calendar Information

As an Interviewer one of the first things you need to learn is how to use the Sample Calendar. The calendar lists the site or area name, a site identification number, a date, AM or PM (if non-proxy), a code for site type, and a proxy code if a proxy site.

You must understand exactly which kind of survey (Overnight, Day Use Developed, Wilderness, General Forest, or View Corridor) is to be conducted on a given day. For example, General Forest Area survey days use the right hand column on the first page of the interview form, while Overnight, Day Use and Wilderness sites use the left hand column. View Corridor days use a completely different form. If the survey day is a proxy site you may have to ask an additional question on page 3 of the interview form.

The calendar contains a lot of information as shown below:

Example of Survey Calendar Information:

Mo D YR site name site # Proxy

05 6 10 W-35 Woodchuck Trail #102 91 MA2

Use level site type interview time

M W AM

For the above example, the survey day is May 6 at Woodchuck Trailhead. On the interview form enter 91 as the site number. There is a proxy, MA2 (mandatory permit per party) at this site. The use level is M for medium use day, the site type is W for Wilderness, and the interview time assigned is AM which means from 0800 to 1400. The Interviewer must ask the MA2 proxy question on page 3 of the interview form. They do not have to set up a traffic counter because it is a proxy site.

National Forest Visitor Use Monitoring Training Manual – June 2010 Page 20

Assigned Interview hours

You are conducting EXIT interviews. Interviews must be conducted for a contiguous period of six hours during the survey day, EVEN if no one shows up. You are always welcome to do more than 6 hours of interview time. At nonproxy sites you are assigned either an AM or PM shift. “AM” means from 0800 to 1400 and “PM” means from 1400 to 2000. In Alaska a third time period is added to capture use during the extensive summer daylight hours. There are a few exceptions to the assigned survey times:

During the winter when there is less daylight the shift can be adjusted so interviewers are not in the field in the dark. For example, change the PM shift (2-8) to 1100 to 1700 or the AM shift (8-2) to 1000 to 1600.

At proxy sites you should pick the interview time according to when most people will be leaving the site for the last time. AM or PM will not appear on the sample calendar for proxy sites for this reason.

For proxy sites at cabins and group camps – if there is no one at these sites on the assigned interview day, go to the next day the cabin or group camp is reserved. You do not need to use the backup calendar.

At nonproxy campgrounds where the checkout time is 2pm or sooner the interview time should be 8-2 UNLESS there is extensive day use at this site. If this is the case then the assigned AM and PM is used.

Using the Backup Calendar

The Backup Calendar is a list of survey sites and dates that may ONLY be used in specific cases on your Forest. The forest program manager should make the decision on when and if to use it. To use the Backup Calendar, first identify the site type missed and the use level missed. Then looking through the Backup Calendar, find the first day that has not already passed that matches both the site type and use level. You cannot “shop” for a makeup day on the missed district or missed site. The four instances when the Backup Calendar can be used are:

1. For Recreation Special Events – if a recreation special event is planned to occur at or near your sample site AND it will bring the site into a different use range (say High from Low) then you should pick a backup day from the Sample Calendar and not sample during the special event.

2. For Strategic Purposes – You are planning survey work and find double sample days back to back for a week and cannot possibly get all the equipment and interviewers to all the locations.

Use the Backup Calendar to alleviate the burden.

Do not do this unless all other options have been exhausted.

3. Sick Interviewer – At the last minute your interviewer is sick and there is no one else trained and available that day. Use the backup calendar.

4. Proxy Sites – Since the goal at proxy sites is interviewing as many last exiting visitors as possible, use the Backup Calendar to replace missed proxy days.

For NONPROXY days you CANNOT use the Backup Calendar for any of the following reasons:

Bad weather – bad weather over the course of a year is not unusual. Go to the interview site and see if anyone is there or just take a “0” use day and fill in the daily summary form as…