James Freeman has been leveraging his environmental and outdoor experience to improve and streamline natural resource management since 2005. His experience includes Federal and international work with the US Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and the Direccion General Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre (DGFFS; Forestry and Wildlife Directorate) of Peru. James’ experience also includes supporting outdoor recreation non-profits in planning and research including the National Off-Highway Vehicle Association, American Trails, and the Professional Trailbuilders Association, and the Pennsylvania Office of Outdoor Recreation. Recent work includes: 

  • An analysis of visitor conflict on the Pacific Crest Trail for the US Forest Service;

  • Public involvement work including surveys and public meeting facilitation on trails assessments for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Atlanta, GA, and the Huron-Clinton Metroparks in Detroit, MI;

  • A business process improvement analysis for the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation council including development of a branding, marketing, and communications strategy, tactical recommendations for implementation of the strategy, and redevelopment of their website, http://nohvcc.org;

  • A pilot study with the US Forest Service and American Trails to examine the processes for creating and operating trail partnerships with external stakeholders;

  • A multi-year research project with the US Forest Service and National Parks Service to examine the factors that lead to trail partnership success and failure, how agencies and partners define successful trail partnerships; and models for how trail partnerships fit into the larger public private partnership frameworks.

  • Working with the Pennsylvania Office of Outdoor Recreation and nation-wide stakeholders to develop a visioning strategy for a future “Natural Surface Trails Innovation Hub” for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designed to advance the art, science and practice of natural surface trails construction, to empower local outdoor recreation economic engines, and to create trails capacity. .

His specializations include:

  • Recreation Partnerships

  • Interdisciplinary Teamwork and Leadership

  • Strategy and Planning

  • NEPA Efficiency and Success

  • Social Science Research and Data Analysis

  • Public Involvement, Comment, and Comment Response

  • Communications

  • Training and Change Management

In his spare time, James does improvisational comedy and gets outside as much as possible!

Need help? Contact us!

We live and work out of Arlington, VA, giving us excellent access to our nation's leaders and policy makers, but we are willing to travel anywhere!

Light reading from James' library: 

How Trust Manifests in a Natural Resource Partnership (2026; Sorice, Stern, Freeman, Armatas)

Exploring Drivers of Success in Partnerships that Support Federal Trail Management in the United States (2026; Freeman, Sorice)

Interdisciplinary Collaboration within Project-Level NEPA Teams in the US Forest Service (2011; Freeman, Stern, Mortimer, Blahna, Cerveny)

Forest Service Interdisciplinary Teams: Size, Composition, and Leader Characteristics (2011; Cerveny, Blahna, Stern, Mortimer, Freeman)

The Use of Recreation Planning Tools in US Forest Service NEPA Assessments (2011; Cerveny, Blahna, Stern, Mortimer, Predmore, Freeman)

The Trail Partnership Research Project Final Report

The Trail Partnership Research Project Final Report Appendicies