Education and Recreation Standards Handbook: I & R Programs--Outdoor Classrooms, Interpretation, Recreation, Programs Information, Dedicated Areas.

The educational and recreational programs of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are carried out to help achieve the overall mission of the FWS, which is to provide federal leadership to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuous benefit of people. A set of standards and related questions were developed to evaluate FWS interpretation and recreation (I&R) programs in terms of the FWS mission objective. This handbook, designed to be used with these standards and questions, explains the rational for the standards/questions, identifies resources for additional study, and offers suggestions for bringing an I&R program into compliance with applicable standards. Information is provided in three major sections which focus on planning, evaluation, and development. A list of the standards and questions is included. Each question is accompanied by one or more sources of additional information. These sources include sections in this handbook (identified by paragraph number), FWS policy and procedure issues in the "Interpretation and Recreation Program Management Document," information in the FWS "Refuge Manual," and information from other sources. (JN)