Beneficial outcomes approach improves management.

Throughout my career in a large federal agency involved in providing outdoor recreation opportunities, we have primarily engaged in Activity Based Management. Using the basic premise of "build it and they will come," campgrounds, picnic areas, swimming beaches, playgrounds and a host of other facilities have been built and managed based on how many people live within a certain radius of the facility, and assumptions of the types of activities they will engage in. The result? Many underutilized recreation areas have either become havens for undesirable behavior or have been closed. Other recreation areas are so overused that visitor conflicts are almost inevitable. And many potential user populations are ignored or severely under served.

Several years ago, I was introduced to the Beneficial Outcomes Approach to Leisure and Benefits-Based Management for Outdoor Recreation, as presented by Don Bruns of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Working with Dr. Bev Driver (now retired from the U.S. Forest Service) and Brian Hopkins of BLM, they have developed a system of implementing the Beneficial Outcomes Approach in outdoor settings.

Their approach challenges land managers to change their entire way of thinking about providing recreation facilities, concentrating on desired outcomes and experiences of the visitors rather than always on numbers of facilities, how short to mow the grass or how often to clean the restrooms. It also instills in these managers the need to involve others in the recreation delivery system: local community leaders, private concessionaires, local businesses, interested members of the public at large and representatives of specific user groups to name a few.

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to attend a three-day workshop presented by this research group and sponsored by the Natural Resources Management Training Coalition (NRMTC) with the help of the National Society for Park Resources (NSPR).

A group of 24 people from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gathered together. Many attending had their basic assumptions of outdoor recreation management turned upside down, and saw the real opportunity presented by the Beneficial Outcomes Approach in addressing the desired outcomes of recreation to better serve our customers.

It was apparent how this approach also closely ties to our mandate in the federal government to use performance measures and specific, measurable benefits to the customers in our programs and facilities. Using the Beneficial Outcomes Approach to Leisure is a great tool to more efficiently use our limited budget and manpower resources, provide for desired visitor experiences, limit undesirable activities and situations and provide for environmental protection of fragile natural resources.