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This repo contains early discovery and planning documentation for an improved United States Forest Service (USFS) Special Uses permitting process. This information was prepared by a team of folks at 18F with support from a team of subject matter experts at USFS.

State of things

As of October 4, 2024: 18F's initial ~24 week engagement has concluded. 18F has delivered a round of user research, findings and recommendations, a roadmap, and early working software built around a modestly scoped slice of functionality.

There are discussions under way for a possible follow-on engagement that would begin in 2nd quarter FY25.

Vision statement

We are developing a user-friendly digital tool to guide proponents through the special uses application process. Our work will help reduce back-and-forth and build trust between proponents and permit administrators.

Problem statement

Applying for a special use authorization can be complicated, and authorization proponents often need guidance from administrators. Administrators are often resource-constrained and unable to provide the level of guidance needed in the time required, which in turn leads to growing backlogs of unprocessed applications. These conditions risk unauthorized use (and subsequent resource damage), burnout and employee attrition, and corrosion of public trust in the Forest Service. 

A successful solution would result in more efficient, accurate, and transparent processing of special use authorizations thus reducing errors and appeals, improving compliance with regulatory requirements and business standards, easing the burden on administrators, and enabling responsible access to National Forest Service lands.

Risks

Description	Mitigation	Criticality	Status
Permit admins will need to be trained on a new system. We've heard different things from different admins: some are fatalist ("what's one more system to learn?") while others are resistant to adding anything new to their workflows.	Hand off to partner: opportunity for partner to own documentation and training of permit admins. Incremental training: both in features and in forests	2	Not started
Lack of product owner. The biggest, riskiest aspect of this project.	Continued advocacy for product owner. Provide stakeholders with resources about product ownership. Make noise on a regular basis, especially in weekly ships. Speak with executive stakeholders who have influence on PO decision-making.	4	In progress
Past engagements have demonstrated an institutional inertia towards change. Several modernization attempts have faltered, with funding drying up and/or PO positions not being filled. There is a risk here that this effort could suffer a similar fate.	Hard to determine how likely this is, and our ability to mitigate this is limited. Continued advocacy and bolstering relationship with our executive sponsor are immediate next steps.	4	Derisked
Upcoming gap between engagements means the PO will be unsupported for an important, early part of their involvement. Follow-on risk includes the missed opportunity to demonstrate early successes that help build confidence around the PO role. Lack of early success could lead to loss of confidence which could in turn jeopardize continued funding for the position.	We will have a gap. What will the PO do between the end of our engagement and the start of our next one? Mitigation strategy includes pairing with the PO before the end of our engagement and providing initial coaching services and capabilities assessments. Additionally, we could/should deliver a very lightweight "curriculum" for the PO to follow in their onboarding. Finally: are there opportunities to pair the PO with another PO in the organization to help guide/coach/learn?	2	Not started
Misaligned timeline expectations from executives	Establish a well-defined MVP and communicate with leadership on progress.	2	Derisked
The project could get shut down by the CIO for security reasons	Meet with CIO early and at key development points to ensure requirements are met. Understand ATO requirements early in the process.	4	Not started
Low prioritization of these efforts. The core responsibility of USFS is stewardship of the public lands. Increasingly, this requires resources dedicated to fire mitigation and other unpredictable climate-related variables. Additionally, shifting priorities in presidential administrations and/or congressional funding can negatively impact the priority of this effort.	These are climate-based (some, literally) risks. We don't have control over them.	3	Monitor
Our current executive sponsor is rolling off, which means we are losing our single biggest advocate for 18F and human-centered design in the org. The risk here is that we don't locate a new executive sponsor and/or we fail to recruit them as an ally and advocate for the work to be done. Loss of executive support leads to diminishing will leads to budget cuts which leads to project failure.	We need to locate an executive sponsor ASAP. Who is Brian Schwind handing us off to? How can we transfer the good will? Another limitation is that the project is winding down imminently and we don't have a lot of time to establish this. It may need to be picked up by the next team.	3	Not started

Index of documents

Document	Notes	Type	Date
18F USFS Special Uses Discovery/Prototyping Closeout	Final presentation, shared w/ USFS stakeholders. Covers second half of engagement and the work ahead.	Comms	10/3/2024
Roadmap	Lays out work-to-be-done, organized around the activites we want permit seekers to be able to do and/or be able to do better. Describes what we've discovered to date, but is not "complete".	Strategy	9/25/2024
Landing, submit, and confirmation page copy	Working copy for landing, submit, and confirmation pages of prototype	Content design	9/16/2024
"Who" section version flow diagram	Shows the conditional logic for the first section of the prototype	Content design	9/15/2024
"Who" section copy	Working copy for first section of prototype	Content design	9/12/2024
USFS Problem Statement and Visioning	Drafting problem statements w/ SMEs	Strategy	8/30/2024
Form content mapping	Suggests a content flow for first section of our prototype---How can we get the information requested on SF-299 in a more user-friendly way?	Content design	8/30/2024
Decision record: USFS special uses prototype scope	Documents rationale for narrowing the scope of the prototype.	Strategy	8/28/2024
Permit seeker pre-contact journey	Based on audit of forest sites, extends the user journey map to include permit-seekers' actions before initiating a permit request.	Content design	8/20/2024
Editorial guidance (running list)	Lists some common terms relevant to this project, and our stylistic approach to writing those terms.	Content design	8/20/2024
Forest site audit	Later/more complete review of forest websites for user jounrey. Not directly shared with partners. Informed journey mapping and scope definition. "Surfaced resources" tab lists content that may be useful as a writing reference in later work.	Discovery	8/16/2024
Mapping out SF299	Breaks down the SF299 form into distinct components. Helps inform content design for web-based form and prioritization of features.	Discovery	7/29/2024
RECOMMENDATIONS report	Our midpoint recommendations report	Comms	7/25/2024
USFS Special Uses (2024) research readout	Synthesis of research as of midpoint	Comms	7/25/2024
FOR SHARING: USFS Special Uses Midpoint check-in	Midpoint presentation shared w/ USFS stakeholders	Comms	6/24/2024
History of USFS modernization efforts	Desk research of past USFS/18F projects. Became Appendix 2 in recommendations report	Discovery	5/22/2024
USFS pre-mortem	Capturing some hopes/fears and risks with SMEs	Discovery	5/20/2024
Problem statement exercise	Brainstorming problem statements w/ SMEs	Strategy	5/13/2024
USFS special uses journey maps (current state)	Journey mapping exercise that we conducted with our SMEs	Discovery	5/1/2024
USFS special uses journey maps (future state)	Journey mapping exercise that we conducted with our SMEs	Discovery	5/1/2024
USFS Special uses org chart	From a stakeholder mapping exercise that we conducted with our executive sponsor. Valid as of spring 2024	Discovery	4/25/2024
Research "nuggets"	Salient selections from our research interview notes labelled with the participant number and the related insight. "Forest Service 6" is not present in the data as it ended up being a more technical background conversation, and "Forest Service 19" was labelled and numbered but ultimately cancelled, leaving a gap in the numbering system.	Discovery	10/04/2024
Interview guide	A generic version of the interview guide we used for discovery research. We used different base questions depending on the audience, and adapted every conversation as needed.	Discovery