Road Accomplishment Reports (RARs) 2006-2011 (updated 11-16-11)

Road Accomplishment Reports (RARs) are the Forest Service's primary accounting method for their roads. We have been collecting and analyzing RARs for quite a few years and have posted the last five years worth on this webiste.  If you are interested in earlier data, contact our office.  Because the agency regularly changes their RAR data sheets, it can be challenging to compare from one year to another.  Here's a breakdown of the data attached to this web page (all years listed refer to Fiscal Years, not calendar yeas):

2006 - RARs individually posted for each region in the country.

2007 - Excel spreadsheet using pivot tables (all regions in one spreadsheet)

2008-09 - Excel spreadsheet using pivot tables with both years in one file (you can analyze the annual data separately)

2010 - Excel spreadsheet/pivot tables

2011 - Excel spreadsheet/pivot tables for the primary data, plus a separate excel spreadsheet with a regional analysis

Please note that most of these excel spreadsheets include multiple worksheets as tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  Some include more worksheets than can be displayed at one time, so use the left/right arrow keys nex to the tabs to view all available worksheets.  In addition, even though the FS has used pivot tables for the last 4 years, the tables are not the same each year, nor is the exact data.  With pivot tables, you can select what data to view.  For example, for the 2008-09 file, you can choose to view 2008 data, 2009 data, or 2008-09 data combined.  If you are using the RARs to conduct regional, national or forest specific analysis, you must be sure that you are selecting the proper data to view in the pivot tables.  Finally, to post these to our website, we had to disable the macro capabilities on the FY10 and FY11 spreadsheets.  We don't think this will cause any problems, but if you have trouble with the data, contact our office and we can send you the original files.

We have also posted an explanation of how to read and understand an RAR - How to Read a Road Accomplishment Report.  We highly recommend that you read that document first before trying to read the RARs themselves.  Finally, we have posted the "Code List" which lists the numerical code attached to each forest across the country.  (For 2011, we made two additions to the FS document - we added in a totals column into the "miles by operational maintenance level" worksheet, and we typed in the name of each forest on that  worksheet so you don't have to refer back to the code list).  All RARs starting in 2007 use codes instead of names.  Some forests have been combined since this code list was first created, but you can easily determine which forest is which). 

* There are two exceptions to the RARs as explained:

1) The 2006 Region 2 RAR is in PDF, not excel format.  We did not receive the excel format from the U.S.F.S.

2) The "2006" Region 4 RAR is actually from 2004.  We did not receive a 2006 RAR from Region 4, but we did receive individual forest RARs for 2006.  Please contact Sarah Peters to request additional RARs from 2006 (or before).  

One additional note: Prior to 2011, the Forest Service did not consider the RAR data to be final and it was sometimes updated in a different database before being finalized and used in the annual President's budget. According to the Forest Service, if a discrepancy exists between the RAR data and the data in the President's Budget Justification, defer to the President's budget data.  It is our understanding that the FY11 data has been finalized, and should be consistent with what will be includedin the FY13 President's Budget Justification when it is released in 2012, but again, if there are discrepancies, defer to the President's budget data once that is available.

Again, if you have questions about how to read or use RARs, please don't hesitate to contact our office for assistance.

Abbreviations:

Here are a few of the key budgetary line item codes used in the attached spreadsheets:

CMII - Capital Maintenance Infrastruture Improvement

CMLG - Capital Maintenance Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative 

CWFS - Cooperative Work/deposits from commercial operators

HTER - Highway Trust Fund, Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads

HTAP - Highway Trust Fund, Aquatic Organism Passage

HTCN - Highway Trust Fund, Construction Fund

PEPE - Purchase Elect