Guidance for Implementing Secretary's Order 3339 Increasing Access to Extended Outdoor Experiences for Under-Resourced Youth
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240-0036
http://www.blm.gov
June 1, 2016
In Reply Refer To:
2930 (250/420/610) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 06/01/2016
Instruction Memorandum No. 2016-103
Expires: 09/30/2019
To: All Field Office Officials
Attn: Recreation Leads, Youth Leads, Public Affairs Officers
From: Deputy Director, Operations
Subject: Guidance for Implementing Secretary’s Order 3339 – Increasing Access to Extended Outdoor Experiences for Under-Resourced Youth
Program Area: Education, Interpretation and Partnerships; Recreation and Visitor Services; Public Affairs
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) establishes guidance for implementing the Secretary’s Order 3339 (Order) and reiterates existing regulatory and policy flexibilities available to Authorized Officers under 43 CFR 2930. In addition, this IM provides tools to increase outreach, to improve communication with eligible groups, and to capture important reporting metrics. The attached Implementation Plan was approved by the Secretary’s Office and provides additional background and shows the connection from the Order to this policy.
The purpose of the Order is to increase access to the outdoors for disadvantaged and under-resourced youth. To further this goal, this policy will help the BLM decrease barriers for obtaining permits or access to Interior-managed lands and waters for individuals and organizations that support and engage disadvantaged and under-resourced youth in outdoor experiences.
The BLM’s Implementation Plan for the Order identified nine key actions by which the BLM will encourage increased engagement to reach new and diverse populations, and facilitate opportunities to provide outdoor experiences for under-resourced and disadvantaged youth while providing for public safety and stewardship of public lands and resources. The policies and actions in the following section will correspond to those nine actions in the Implementation Plan.
Policy/Action: This IM applies to the review and processing of recreational and educational use proposals submitted by eligible individuals and organizations as outlined in the Order. The criteria for eligibility (Implementation Plan Action #8) are:
- Program participants are all under 26 years of age.
- The trip is an overnight or multi-night recreational/educational excursion.
- Attendees are paying no more than shared actual expenses directly attributable to the trip.
- 70 percent or more of the participants are economically disadvantaged and under-resourced youth and meet at least one or more of the following criteria:
- Out of school youth
- Currently in foster care, or aging out of foster care
- Limited English proficiency
- Homeless or have run away from home
- At risk of leaving secondary school without a diploma
- A former juvenile offender, or at risk of delinquency
- Youth with disabilities
All State and Field Offices are instructed to prioritize the review of use proposals subject to the Order’s criteria. All State and Field Offices will identify any barriers to expedited reviews and implement process improvements by June 15, 2016 to reduce those barriers (Implementation Plan Action #1). State Offices will report their successes, lessons learned, and how they have incorporated these steps into their best management practices to WO-250 by September 30, 2016. If regulatory issues arise during implementation, they should be reported to WO-250 immediately.
Individuals and groups qualifying under the Order should also qualify under 43 CFR 2932.12(d), which describes when special recreation permit requirements may be waived. More specifically, to qualify for waiving permit requirements under 43 CFR 2932.12(d), the individual or organization must not be commercial, as defined by 43 CFR 2932.5. Additional examples and descriptions for employing these flexibilities are found in BLM’s policy implementing handbook H-2930-1 Recreation Permit and Fee Administration, Chapter 1. Individuals and groups under the Order will be treated like the general recreating public, with the exception of new reporting requirements detailed below (Implementation Plan Action #2).
Current permittees operating under a commercial special recreation permit may offer services to the target demographic. A commercial fee is not applicable for services a current permittee offers to qualifying populations at no cost or through a sharing of actual expenses for an outdoor experience. However, it is important to note that salaries or other compensation received automatically renders an activity commercial as defined; as such the activity would not qualify under the Order, and a permit and associated fees would then be required (Implementation Plan Action #3).
Special area fees (43 CFR 2930.5) may only be waived if consistent with guidelines for the general public, as described in applicable local management plans. Whenever special area management plans are updated or renewed, States and Field Offices are directed to incorporate flexibility in use limits or allocations established through the planning process in order to better facilitate use for underserved, educational, and diverse populations under-represented in current use allocations (Implementation Plan Action #4). Local offices with limited use allocation areas should identify alternate public land areas suitable for use by no later than August 1, 2016, including, if applicable, Federal lands that are managed by other agencies. Authorized Officers should work closely with adjoining Federal land managers to identify public lands available for use, and to coordinate reviews of use proposals that cross administrative boundaries, in order to expedite processing times and to ensure a consistent approach and visitor experience (Implementation Plan Action #7).
Interested individuals or groups seeking to qualify under the Order should contact the local BLM office in the area where they plan to recreate. After consultation with the BLM, a Self-Certification Letter (SCL) should be addressed to the Authorized Officer describing the individual or organization, location of use, planned activity, dates of use, the criteria in the Order that are met, and any other information requested by the BLM. If Authorized Officers have resource concerns or otherwise need to document terms of understanding with the sponsoring individual or organization, they should use a Letter of Agreement (LOA). The LOA serves to document that a permit is not required and specifies additional parameters deemed necessary by BLM resource specialists to protect resources and experiences. . Either the SCL or LOA is sufficient for internal reporting (see below). Also refer to the H-2930-1, Appendix B3a “Using a Letter of Agreement for Organized Groups where a special recreation permit is not required” (Implementation Plan Action #5).
States and Field Offices will use outreach strategies to engage with under-resourced youth/organizations to facilitate their access to public lands. The attached Communication Plan provides key messages and talking points, along with a sample of the Washington Office outreach rollout plan, to serve as the primary communications tool for this effort. State Offices should develop similar, individualized, outreach rollout plans that identify key contacts and audiences (Implementation Plan Action #6).
The Order requires the BLM to provide the Secretary annual updates on implementation progress. In order to track progress, local offices are requested to report the following through the Recreation Management Information Database (RMIS) (Implementation Plan Action #9).
- # of Self-Certification Letters
- # of Letters of Agreement
- Permittee Use Reports
In the event that the Department develops additional metrics related to the Order, those will be reported either in RMIS or in the SharePoint data collection system managed by the Division of Education, Interpretation, and Partnerships. Additional information will be included in the annual fiscal year-end RMIS data call IM.
Timeframe: This policy is effective immediately. Key implementation dates identified herein:
- June 15, 2016: All State and Field Offices will identify any barriers to expedited reviews and implement process improvements.
- No later than August 1, 2016: Offices with limited use allocation areas should identify alternate public land areas suitable for use.
- September 30, 2016: State offices will report their successes, lessons learned, and how they have incorporated these steps into their best management practices to WO-250.
- September 30, 2016: Year-end RMIS data call entry deadline for SCL, LOA, and permittee use reports.
Budget Impact: There will be additional processing time and costs associated with activities that previously would not have necessitated the coordination and reporting required by this IM. Implementation of the Order will require the development of additional reporting tools, training modules, communications strategies and database components.
Background: See attached Secretary’s Order 3339 and the BLM’s Implementation Plan.
Manual/Handbook Section Affected: None.
Coordination: Development of this IM was coordinated among the Division of Recreation and Visitor Services, (WO-250), Division of Education, Interpretation and Partnerships (WO-420), and the Division of Public Affairs (WO-610).
Contact: For questions about recreation permitting please contact David Ballenger, Recreation and Visitor Services Division by email at dballeng@blm.gov or by phone at 202-912-7642. For questions about youth organizations and outreach, please contact Betsy Wooster, Education, Interpretation and Partnerships Division by email at ewooster@blm.gov or by phone at 202-912-7454. For questions on outreach strategy or rollout plans, please contact Safura Saeed at ssaeed@blm.gov or by phone at 202-430-0794.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Steven A. Ellis Robert M. Williams
Deputy Director, Operations Division of IT Policy and Planning,WO-870
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