ACCESSIBILITY
ACTION PLAN
Accessibility
to USDA Forest Service Programs and Facilities
Accessibility is an issue
that does or will affect each person, either directly or through one’s family
or friends.
In the early 1990s the Access to America’s Great
Outdoors initiative helped the USDA Forest Service to become aware and to
move forward in the area of accessibility.
The USDA Forest Service has worked since that time to integrate
accessibility into its programs and facilities. We have made many improvements,
however in recent years the rate of that progress has slowed.
The USDA Forest Service must rededicate itself to ensuring equal opportunity for all people. Accessibility is a service delivery issue. As stated in the USDA Forest Service Strategic Plan (4.f), as an agency we will “ensure that NFS lands and USDA Forest Service programs and facilities are accessible to all Americans”.
In addition, the Secretaries of Agriculture and the
Interior were directed (PL 105-359) by Congress to complete an independent
study of “ways to improve access for
persons with disabilities to outdoor recreation on Federally managed lands” by
June 30, 2000. The study, conducted by Wilderness Inquiry, evaluated the
accessibility of USDA Forest Service programs, services, facilities, and sites
and reported the findings along with recommendations in the Improving Access
to Outdoor Recreational Activities on Federal Lands report. The study found it is not possible to
separate accessibility to recreation opportunities from the accessibility to
all other programs and facilities.
The strategic direction and the implementation of
the recommendations of that report give the agency an opportunity to take
significant steps toward the integration of accessibility into all of our
programs, services, facilities, and sites.
To accomplish this work a USDA Forest
Service taskforce was formed to develop an Accessibility Action Plan using strategic and tactical
actions to both implement the recommendations in the report and to help shift
the agency’s culture. This Accessibility Action Plan has been widely embraced
by the agency, reaching beyond recreation, to ensure that the USDA Forest
Service is moving forward to make the inclusion of accessibility an integral part
of the way in which we do business.
Through
alignment of agency philosophy and resources, and effective utilization of
emerging technologies, community-based solutions, and partners, the USDA Forest Service can continue to provide
equal opportunity for all people, including persons with disabilities.
The USDA Forest Service has proven many times that we are capable of doing what we set our minds to. We must make equal opportunity to enjoy the public lands and to participate in the agency’s programs a reality in the USDA Forest Service regardless of a person’s age, culture or ability.
ACCESSIBILITY ACTION PLAN
Beginning in 2001, the USDA Forest
Service will place significant priority on accessibility by providing:
·
Leadership Commitment and Involvement
·
Completion and implementation of transition Plans
·
Communication of Information to the Public
·
Leadership Support
·
Integration of Accessibility Training into Existing Forums and
Training Opportunities
·
Program Leadership
·
Accountability and Oversight of All Units and Leadership
·
Focused Actions within Budget Priorities
Commitment and Involvement by
Leadership:
USDA Forest Service leadership will:
·
Emphasize commitment to equal opportunity for all people,
including persons with disabilities, and support for the accessibility that
commitment will necessitate.
·
Lead
the USDA Forest Service by integrating accessibility into all USDA Forest
Service policies.
·
Revise
the USDA Forest Service Manuals and Handbooks to integrate accessibility into
all USDA Forest Service programs and facilities.
·
Emphasize the hiring and retention of persons with
disabilities, and their involvement in the decision making process at each decision
level (i.e. national regional, forest, and station leadership teams).
·
Coordinate efforts with the USDA Forest Service
Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Employees with Disabilities Assessment Team
(FS-SACED).
Completion and Implementation of
Transition Plans:
·
Complete the assessment of the accessibility of USDA Forest
Service programs and facilities and develop transition plans for all programs
and facilities that are not currently accessible. These Transition Plans are then to be implemented.
·
Data compiled about the status of implementing transition plans
will be carried in INFRA.
·
All Capitol Investment Project (CIP) approval processes will
include accessibility as a key component.
CIP applications will also, as warranted, address the project’s
relationship to transition plan implementation.
Communication of Information to
the Public:
· Integrate accessibility into
the national templates for web-based information to ensure consistent
information and accessible format, in compliance with Section 508 standards, at
the national, regional and other unit levels.
·
Provide web-based information in hard copy and alternative formats
(for example, large print, Braille, audio tape, etc.).
·
As trails managed for pedestrian use are constructed, reconstructed
or evaluated for accessibility, provide trail information, based on steepest
gradient, steepest cross slope, narrowest tread width, trail surface and
highest tread obstacle.
Provide support for leadership on issues:
·
Provide information and
resources for the field dealing with
accessibility related issues.
Integrate Accessibility Training
into Existing Forums and Training Opportunities:
·
Present Awareness Level training to all employees (30 minutes) to
be presented by the accessibility specialists at the district, forest, regional
and national levels
·
Incorporate accessibility into existing core competency training
for recreation, engineering, public affairs, special uses, etc.
·
Develop and present partner/permittee training (1 hour) in group
format on the local unit as a portion of partner/permittee training, or train
partners / permittees individually preliminary to the compliance review
process. The forum should be determined by the local unit
All training/materials will be developed
by the National Accessibility Program Manager working closely with specialists
in each area (for example recreation, engineering, public affairs, special
uses, civil rights) and at all levels of the agency. This training should be under the umbrella of Corporate Training.
Program Leadership:
·
Reestablish national leadership for accessibility by filling and
supporting a
full-time National Program Manager for Accessibility on the RHWR staff. This position will lead the implementation of
the Accessibility strategy and coordinate and provide expertise across
disciplines.
-
Establish Regional level accessibility coordinator position (25
percent collateral duty at minimum).
These regional positions should become full time.
- Establish Forest level
accessibility coordinator positions (20 percent collateral duty at minimum).
-
Establish accessibility coordinator positions (10 percent
collateral duty at minimum) at stations, the area and the IITF.
Focused Actions Within the Budget
Priorities:
·
Integrate accessibility as core criteria in CIP in FY2001 and
successive fiscal years.
·
Use existing highway authorities such as TEA-21 and future highway
acts to improve accessibility to public roads. Integrate awareness of opportunities
to improve adjacent accessibility into TEA-21 training programs.
·
Integrate accessibility into tourism focus.
·
Focus and integrate accessibility/universal design as a priority.
Emphasis will be on the Recreation Strategy and accessibility to our national
forests, thereby also including Deferred Maintenance.
- Making significant CIP investments in planning, design and rehabilitation of aging recreation facilities to bring them up to current accessibility standards.
-
Making capital investments in recreational trails, scenic
overlooks, and other day- use sites to fully integrate current accessibility
guidelines, based on completed assessments and transition plans.
-
Promoting equal opportunity to participate in all programs.
-
Making investments in all unit administrative facilities to bring
these areas of employment and public services up to current accessibility
standards, based on completed assessments and transition plans.
-
Play a vital collaborative role in working together in
partnerships with permit holders, service providers, and affiliated community
organizations to improve USDA Forest Service units and to develop a
“seamless" visit experience for all people, including people with
disabilities.
-
Focus social and technical research on accessible recreation and
technological advancements to improve access of all people.
Accountability and Oversight of
All Units and Leadership:
·
Include accessibility reviews in all national and regional program
and facility reviews such as general management, functional assistance, and
compliance reviews.
·
Report the accessibility accomplishments in each Senior Executive
Service (SES) annual performance review.
·
Establish Accessibility Accomplishment Award at the National,
Regional, Station, Area, and IITF levels and State and Private Forestry.
Published 11 April 2002