ELKINS, W.Va., – The USDA Forest Service is partnering with West Virginia University to conduct visitor use surveys on Monongahela National Forest from October 2018 through September 2019. The survey is voluntary and all information collected is confidential.
This on-going survey has already been conducted three times on every National Forest in the country. It has been five years since the survey was last conducted on Monongahela National Forest. The data will be used to show recreation trends over time. About a third of visitors contacted will be asked to complete a confidential survey on recreation spending.
The survey provides National Forest managers with an estimate of how many people actually recreate on federal lands, what activities they engage in, how satisfied people are with their visit, and the economic impact of recreation visits on the local economy. The information is also useful for forest planning and local community tourism planning.
For more information about the National Visitor Use Monitoring Program visit: https://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum/.
For information about the survey on Monongahela National Forest contact Forest Recreation Manager W.J. Cober at (304) 635-4436.