Welcome
Six federal agencies—the Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—collaborate on the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council. Council collaboration is designed to increase awareness of and commitment to proactive, professional, and science-based visitor use management on federally-managed lands and waters. Providing a consistent approach to visitor use management better serves the public by creating seamless connections between lands and waters managed by different federal agencies.
What Visitor Use Management is:
Visitor use management is the proactive and adaptive process for managing characteristics of visitor use and the natural and managerial setting using a variety of strategies and tools to achieve and maintain desired resource conditions and visitor experiences. Proactive planning for visitor use helps federal land and water agencies provide access, improve experiences, and protect resource conditions and values. Proactive planning can also create opportunities for engagement and participation from the public, and other involved partners, in subsequent implementation and stewardship activities.
What Visitor Use Management isn't:
Managing visitor use does not always lead to permitting, regulations, or other use rationing. The framework encourages using management strategies that effectively address the specific needs of a project. A variety of strategies (e.g., providing information about visiting and/or making changes to facilities) may be implemented to ensure that use remains within the goals for the area. Visitor use management is not only for areas where there are concerns about crowding or visitor experiences. Visitor use management goes beyond just visitor experience and includes strategies to ensure that natural and cultural resource conditions, and the visitor experiences they provide, are protected. Also, the managers are able to ensure efficient operations and facilities.
Announcements
The Interagency Visitor Use Management Council (the Council) is excited to release new guidance and training!The Desired Conditions Guidebook: The Heart of Visitor Use Management, Edition One. The Desired Conditions Guidebook, in combination with the council’s Visitor Use Management Framework, Monitoring Guidebook, and Visitor Capacity Guidebook provides specific guidance for developing desired conditions related to visitor use that can be incorporated into existing agency planning and decision-making processes.
Read the guidebook: Coming Soon
The first of several on-line, on-demand training modules that introduce managers and practitioners to the concepts of visitor use management in a fun and interactive way.
Start the training: IVUMC Visitor Use Management Framework Module 1
Webinars
Interagency Visitor Use Management Council members and technical advisers presented a webinar co-hosted by IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group and the council. The presentation focused on implementing the Visitor Use Management Framework into ongoing projects. A brief overview of the Visitor Use Management Framework was provided followed by case studies using the Petroglyph National Monument Visitor Use Management Plan and USFS Pike National Forest Bear Creek Watershed Restoration Project.
Presenting the new Visitor Use Management Framework VUM Part 1: https://youtu.be/MFGBmB2uArI
Presenting the new Visitor Use Management Framework VUM Part 2: https://youtu.be/Ld3MZiNzJMQ
In the following podcast, Jennifer Reed (USFWS) from the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council Executive Committee explores the basic principles and strategies of visitor use management, and the simple, accessible tools you can use to effectively tackle projects involving visitor use of protected areas. Learn how you can use the Council’s tools to help you connect people with our healthy landscapes while insuring the landscapes continue to thrive now, next summer, and 50 years into the future.