Recreation Facility Analysis

Public Participation

Your participation is important to ensure that the results of the RFA process meet visitor needs and offer the best recreation opportunities in places important to people.

Forest recreation managers invite you to work with them to identify how to best address these sites and specifically react to their proposed programs of work. We recognize the importance of these sites and welcome your comments and suggestions during this process. For more information about RFA, or to contact a national forest recreation manager, please refer to the More Information box on the right side of the screen.

Recreation Facility Analysis is a process of national scope with local forest emphasis. Each national forest will use this process to develop a 5-year proposed "Program of Work" to better manage and improve the quality of recreation sites. All forests are scheduled to complete this initial phase of the Recreation Facility Analysis process by the end of 2008.

This process was called Recreation Site Facility Master Planning (RSFMP). However, the Forest Service recognized, as a result of the findings of a team chartered specifically to review the public participation efforts associated with this analysis process, that the term "master planning" could imply that this is a decision-making process as opposed to an analytic one. Therefore, based on a recommendation from that team, the Forest Service decided to refer to the analysis of recreation facilities more accurately and simply as Recreation Facility Analysis (RFA).

Background

Many of the developed recreation sites in California's national forests were built 30-50 years ago. Since then, visitor preferences and demographics have changed. Some sites no longer serve projected recreation demand; some facilities are in poor shape and do not meet visitors' expectations.

To respond to these conditions and national direction, national forests in California and throughout the nation, are implementing the Recreation Facility Analysis (RFA) process for developed recreation sites.

The result of RFA is a proposed program of work with a list of prioritized actions to more effectively manage recreation sites on each national forest.

What is RFA?

RFA is an analysis tool developed nationally to help forests align their developed recreation sites with the unique characteristics of the forest, projected recreation demand, visitor expectations, and revenue. RFA is driven by three strategic goals:

1. Provide recreation opportunities best suited to each national forest;
2. Operate and maintain recreation sites to meet national quality standards;
3. Eliminate/reduce recreation-site deferred maintenance.

A seven-step process is used to evaluate and prioritize sites for action. The results are contained in proposed 5-year programs of work. Public feedback is sought to ensure that these actions are sound and responsive to visitor needs. Annually, phases of the programs of work are implemented; additional public participation is conducted at that time. The national deadline for preparing programs of work for implementation is December 31, 2007.

Contents

• Seven Step Process
• RFA Overview
• Glossary of Terms

More Information

• Region 5 RFA Links and Contacts
• National RFA webpage

Contact Information

If you would like to learn more about Region 5's (California) Recreation Facility Analysis (RFA) process please contact the Regional RFA Coordinator at: