1. Forest Coordinator Training – Technical Terms & Proxy Codes
National Visitor Use Monitoring
Forest Service

2. Technical Terms National Forest Visit Site Visit Trip Site Type
The NVUM program uses terms, codes, and acronyms that you should be familiar with. Definitions are also listed in the NVUM Guidebook
National Forest Visit
Site Visit
Trip
Site Type
Proxy Code

3. 1. National Forest Visit
Entry of one person upon a NF to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time.
Can be composed of visits to multiple sites.
Visiting different districts on the same NF is still just one National Forest Visit

4. National Forest Visit cont.
Begins and ends depending on where the visitor spends the night.
IF the visitor spent last night off your NF, then the visits starts this morning,
IF the visitor spent last night on your NF, then the visit started yesterday or earlier.
Page 2 of Interview Form concerns the NF Visit.

5. 2. Site Visit
Entry of one person onto a NF site or area to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time.
Site is DUDS, OUDS or Wilderness
Area is GFA (dispersed recreation)
Page 1 of Interview Form concerns the Site Visit.

6. Site Visit cont.
A National Forest visit can be made up of multiple site visits.
A campground, a picnic area and hiking = three site visits, one National Forest visit.

7. Site Visit Example 1
Joe skis at Telluride (a ski area on NFS lands) during the day,
Then he spends the night in a hotel in the town of Telluride
And skis again the next day at Telluride.

8. Site Visit Example 2 Jane skis at Telluride during the day,
Then she spends the night at the lodge located on NFS lands,
And skis again the next day at Telluride.

9. 3. Trip
Is from the time a visitor left their home until they return home.
The visit to the NF may have only been a small part of a larger trip away from home.
Page 3 of Interview Form concerns the Recreation Trip.

10. 4. Site Types There are 5 site types.
Each may require different procedures &/or different parts of the interview form.
Site types were defined in the inventory design (don’t guess).
One site could be identified as more than one site type.

11. Site Types cont. what are they?
Day Use Developed Site (DUDs)
Picnic areas, interpretive sites, ski areas etc.
Overnight Use Developed Site (OUDs)
Campgrounds, cabins, ledges & resorts
Wilderness (W)
Designated Wilderness
General Forest Area (GFA)
Undeveloped – outside Wilderness: trail use, hunting, dispersed camping, river use, recreation residences
Viewing Corridors (VC)
State highways, byways, interstates, etc. outside NF

12. 5. Proxy Codes
Sites where a direct count of something is taken that represents visitation.
All visitors to the site must be required to fill out proxy data (fee enveloped, permits).
Sites were identified as proxy in the inventory design (don’t guess).
You do not need to set out a traffic counter for proxy sites.

13. 5. Proxy Codes what are the codes?
DEFINITION
WHAT TO REPORT
Variations dependent on # after Code
DUR
Day Use Records
# sites occupied FE
Fee Envelopes
# fee envelopes FR
Fee Receipts
# tickets or fees sold MA
Mandatory permits
# people or permits
PTC
Permanent Traffic Counters
# people or vehicles (one-way) RE
Registration Forms
# people based on registration ST
Skier Tickets
# tickets or passes sold SV
Skier Visits
# total skier visits
SUP
Special Use Permits
# permits issued TB
Toll Booth
# tolls collected (per person or vehicle)
Non-Proxy sites don’t have codes.

14. Questions… 1

15. Next… Fieldwork & Backup Schedule Background Overview Resources Costs
Technical Terms and Proxy Codes
Fieldwork & Backup Schedule
Preparing for Fieldwork
Managing the Fieldwork
Preventing Mistakes