Cows Don’t Get A Voice in Forest Survey

If you drive, hike or picnic in the Coconino National Forest, you may discover a volunteer with Friends of the Forest and a ranger conducting a National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey. (NUVM) The yearlong process will provide answers to who visits the forest, why they visit, and how satisfied they are with the facilities and services.

Recently Chuck Jenkins, the new president of Friends, was out on Schnebly Hill working at one of the 12 survey sites in this district for March. In April, 27 sites will be surveyed.

“From the point of view of the Friends, it’s vital that we support the Forest Service in this critical endeavor,” Jenkins said. “Most people want to express their opinions of our forest, and usually those are positive opinions.”

With Jenkins was Justin Loxley, NVUM Field Coordinator for the Red Rock Ranger District. “As public servants, we always want to speak with visitors, but due to the nature of our jobs, we can’t do that often,” Loxley said. “But with NVUM, I can engage the forest user on a one-to-one basis. The statistics from this survey will provide tangible data to the people in Washington about our areas of need for funding. As a ranger, it gives me a good sense of what our users across the district are doing and what recreation trends are increasing or decreasing. Then we can be more proactive as resource managers.”

But the opinion of cows can’t count.

Loxley and Jenkins smiled as they said that this survey was the only one (so far) that they conducted in the middle of a “cattle drive.” Four cows had wandered down the rode, and cowboys were rounding them up. Cars, which have axels, are counted in the survey.

“However,” Jenkins mused, “the horses didn’t have axels. But with a stretch of the imagination, the cowboys’ spurs are a type of axle.”

It’s situations like this that can make a long, dusty, hot day fun.

Many members of Friends and the Forest Service are doing surveys. Both groups hope that the results will enable Washington to allocate more money to the Red Rock Ranger District, since visitor usage is up every year.

And whether it’s on a hot, dusty day on Schnebly Hill, a bone-chilling rain at the Beaver Creek picnic area, or a freezing morning at Bear Mountain, surveyors have three things in common: smiles on their faces, a willingness to answer all questions, and a heartfelt love of the forest.

So come on out and meet Helen Campbell, Suzie Dunn, Buck Packard, Dennis Parker, Barbara Saul, Rusty Swavely and Mike Vitek. And maybe even a cow.

Story and Photo by Susan Vitek