Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Travel Management Plan
For detailed study results see:
Where Do Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest Visitors Go and Which Roads Do They Use To Get There? An Analysis of the Spatial Data from the 2013 Sustainable Roads Workshops Prepared by: Rebecca McLain, David Banis, Alexa Todd, and Mike Psaris (Portland State Department of Geography) for the Wilderness Society/Sustainable Roads Cadre May 2014
See also:
Multiple methods of public engagement: Disaggregating socio-spatial data for environmental planning in western Washington, USA Journal of Environmental Management Volume 204, Part 1, Pages 61–74 (2017) Rebecca McLain, David Banis, Alexa Todd, and Lee Cerveny
The use of socio-spatial data for sustainable roads planning: A national forest case study, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 65:12 pp 2190-2213 (2022) Cerveny, L., McLain, R., Banis, D., and A. Todd..
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
With insufficient funding to maintain the current national forest road system, the US Forest Service adopted a Travel Management Rule in 2005 that required forests to analyze their road system by the end of 2015 and propose a travel management plan that is within the available budget. This analysis required each forest to identify roads likely be needed in the future and roads likely not needed, as well as make recommendations about possible upgrades, closures, decommissioning, and conversions of roads. The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (MBSNF) has approximately 2500 road miles and reportedly, the budget is sufficient to maintain only 25% of current road miles.
MBSNF officials implemented a public engagement process aimed at eliciting data about which roads the public used and the reasons they used them. The intent was to produce socio-spatial data that the MBSNF Interdisciplinary Team could incorporate into its Sustainable Roads Strategy and integrate with data from hydrologists, engineers, wildlife and aquatic biologists, recreation planners, and other technical specialists. The public road use data gathered using PPGIS methods would be analyzed along with these other data to prioritize which roads to maintain in the future as well as their levels of maintenance.
In response to concerns by local grassroots organizations about the prospect of losing access to forest roads, public engagement in the MBSNF was conducted in partnership with a loosely organized group of local stakeholders and community organizations known as the Sustainable Roads Cadre (SRC). Led by the Wilderness Society and the Washington Trails Association, the SRC included 45 organizations representing a wide variety of interests, including off-road vehicle users, timber companies, tourism providers, and pro-forest access voices.
The USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station and Portland State University collaborated with the MBSNF and SRC to collect PPGIS data using two public engagement methods. The first approach was a series of nine community workshops held from June to November 2013 in communities near the national forest. The intent of the workshops was to engage local stakeholders in constructive dialogue and to build trust while gathering information about forest road use. The second approach was an online survey hosted by the SRC that mirrored the questions asked during the workshops. The survey allowed participation from non-local stakeholders as well as local residents who could not attend workshops. The online survey was active from June to November 2013.
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
David Banis, PSU Geography, Center for Spatial Analysis and Research
Diane Besser, PSU Public Affairs and Policy PhD Candidate
Lee Cerveny, US Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station
Jenai Fitzpatrick, PSU BS Geography
Patrick Foster, PSU Graduate Certificate GIS
Rebecca McLain, PSU Institute for Sustainable Solutions, PSU Geography Affiliated Faculty
Mike Psaris, PSU MS Geography
Lindsay Spell, PSU MS Geography
Alexa Todd, PSU MS Geography