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OGDEN — The next time you visit the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Ashley National Forest, you may be asked about your trip.
Forest Service employees and contractors, wearing a bright-colored vest, are surveying forest visitor use. The information gathered is useful for forest and local community tourism planning.
“Outdoor activities are important to Utah residents and to the visitors who use local hotels, restaurants, or buy groceries and gasoline in the communities in and around the national forests,” said Liz Close, intermountain region director of Recreation, Heritage and Wilderness Resources. “We want to provide quality recreational experiences and real economic and social growth for generations to come.”
The U.S. Forest Service’s National Visitor Use Monitoring report released in August 2011 shows outdoor recreation activities on Utah’s national forests contributed $407 million annually to local economies with over 11 million visitors to the state.
Forests in Utah offer outdoor recreation opportunities such as hiking and biking along the Wasatch Front, boating on Flaming Gorge and riding ATVs through the red rocks of southern Utah.
National Forests in Utah account for 15 percent of national forest recreation nationwide.
