Pasted below are the greeting words found at the USFS BUDGET internet portal. It is here where the agency's budget, budget justification and other related document can be found. These words are so extraordinarily Rovian*, I wanted to share them.

I also wanted to inform you that the President's 2007 budget not only called for cuts to both the Recreation (- 4%)  and the Trails (-19%) programs, it contained  a gem -- something  called:  "The Capacity Building Model for Sustainable Recreation". The Capacity Building Model, so I've discovered, was developed in partnership with PriceWaterHouseCoopers -- and that's significant.

PWC is not merely a sustaining member of the American Recreation Coalition and a major collaborator with the USFS on a wide range of recreation-related issues, they are amongst the world's leading facilitators of privatization currently assisting governments around the globe in the privatization of everything from water to national parks.

So with that introduction, here's a quote from the President's Budget.

  "Providing high quality recreation opportunities on the National Forest’s and Grasslands is of key importance to the Forest Service. This resource provides a direct connection to the American people, with 204.8 million visits occurring in 2004. The Forest Service continues working with the public to increase capacity to deliver recreation services. The agency is developing a programmatic plan, “The Capacity Building Model for Sustainable Recreation” that will identify efforts to build capacity to meet increasing demand. Tools will include partnership development, volunteerism, fee revenues, improved business practices and prioritization of recreation facility assets. Specific actions in 2007 will include: completion of recreation facility master planning to prioritize facility assets, completion of a feasibility study on fee retention of existing recreation special use fees, continued implementation of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act, working with private sector partners to create a web site on improved business practices including grant resources and volunteerism, and a skills assessment to address improved business and financial skills."

The importance of these words will be clear to those who follow these issues. I would just like to point out that the USFS refuses to furnish the public with current visitation data and claims their data collection methodology is incapable of providing an overall visitation number. Those who watchdog the agency believe visitation is continuing to fall.  It was thus of interest to see the USFS declare as fact that 204.8 Million visits occurred in 2004.  That figure represents a DECLINE in visitation since 2001 when the USFS claimed 209 Million visits.  It represents a dramatic decline from the days when the USFS claimed ONE BILLION visits!  Considering THE FACT that visitation is declining, one really should question the true purpose for this Capacity BUILDING program -- or so I would suggest.

In 2001, I posted a particularly important message in which,  I suppose you might say, I offered a prophecy -- a prophecy that can finally be tested. The message was titled:  "Three-quarters of a billion hikers vanish." Read it here.

Scott

 *"Rovian" --- as in Karl Rovian

--- begin quoted ---

Budget:  USDA Forest Service Fiscal Year 2007 Budget

The theme of the Forest Service budget for FY 2007 is advancing agency priorities while exercising fiscal discipline. The FY 2007 Budget reflects the President’s commitment to providing the critical resources needed for our Nation’s highest priorities: fighting the War on Terror, strengthening our homeland defenses, and sustaining the momentum of our economic recovery. The President's pro-growth economic policies, coupled with spending restraint, will keep us on track to cut the deficit by more than half by 2009. The President’s Budget demonstrates that the Forest Service can use collaborative approaches and operate with renewed efficiency and accountability in order to reduce costs while accomplishing its mission. The Forest Service will achieve this by 1) expanding collaborative efforts with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and non-governmental partners; 2) increasing the efficiency of Forest Service programs; 3) improving organizational and financial management; and 4) dealing strategically with threats to forest health and open space preservation in a changing global environment. Through these four strategies, the Forest Service will build on its past successes and advance its priorities for FY 2007.              

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