Dr. Rachel Collins

visitor use management specialist, NPS

Dr. Rachel Collins is a visitor use management specialist with the NPS Visitor Use Management Team and a technical advisor to the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council (IVUMC). She has been integrally involved in many complex plans such as Yosemite’s Merced River Plan, Acadia’s Transportation Plan and others. Rachel’s key interest is in creative problem solving processes that lead to novel solutions that enhance the visitor experiences of our national parks while protecting resources. In her free time Rachel can either be found on her skis or in her canoe with her husband and kindergartener.

Abstract

Six federal agencies – NPS, BLM, USFWS, USFS, ACoE, and NOAA – collaborate on the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council (IVUMC). Council collaboration is designed to increase awareness of and commitment to proactive, professional, and science-based visitor use management on federally-managed lands and waters. This session will begin with a brief overview of the Council’s goals and products with a focus on the Visitor Use Management Framework. We will discuss examples of how the VUM Framework is being used in an interagency context to provide common ground for a range of partnerships.