| Partnership Success Stories |
| Service First Initiative |
 Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA Forest Service have developed a successful process, known as “Service First,” to improve service to the public and streamline administrative costs by collocating field offices and developing common business practices. To date, the BLM and the Forest Service have collocated facilities in 21 locations in 9 States, and plan to combine an additional 22 offices by the end of 2005. This effort has improved service by allowing customers and the general public to visit a single office to obtain permits, pay fees, and obtain information. Examples of the Service First approach include:
• Portland, Oregon. The Forest Service Regional Office and the BLM State Office in Portland were collocated in 2002, which will result in closer coordination of staff offices and annual cost savings of more than $1 million in space leasing costs alone.
• San Juan, Colorado. The San Juan Public Lands Center is a collocated Forest Service-BLM office servicing the customers of the USFS San Juan National Forest and the BLM San Juan District Office. The Center provides one-stop visitor information services, common permits (firewood, Christmas tree permits, etc.), and also provides the public with joint National Environmental Policy Act processes and public input.
For more information, please visit the Service First website at http://www.fs.fed.us/servicefirst/index.htm.
June 2004
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