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AbstractRiungu GK, Hallo JC, Backman KF, Brownlee M, Beeco JA, Larson LR. 2020. Water-based recreation management: a normative approach to reviewing boating thresholds. Lake Reserv Manage. 36:139–154. Recreational boating is one of the major water-based recreation activities in the United States. Multiple public natural lakes and rivers are used for boating, but these waterways are a limited natural resource. The building of dams and their associated reservoirs have increased opportunities for boating, but even these areas at times remain quite crowded. In order to ensure that both resource and experiential capacities are not exceeded, density-related thresholds for boating, measured in surface acres of water per watercraft, need to be determined. Despite thresholds specifying the minimum acceptable conditions for boating, agencies managing waterways often apply thresholds that are not site-specific or evidence-based, and fail to solicit input from the public. Therefore, thresholds for boating capacity vary widely. Social norms have been widely applied in park and outdoor recreation management, and hence are likely to enhance the consistency, objectivity, and accuracy of estimation of boating capacity and the utilization of this capacity. This study applied normative approaches to estimate utilization of boating amenities and to update boating thresholds at 2 reservoirs in Washington State. Additionally, the study found visitors’ perceived level of crowding was a significant predictor of their perceptions of safety and security at both reservoirs. Therefore, there is a safety-related need for waterway managers to determine and implement crowding-based boating thresholds derived from visitor perceptions.

•Qualitative interviews with baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, explored reasons for shuttle ridership in Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.•Despite literature suggesting otherwise, many baby boomers visiting the parks seemed to use or be interested in riding the shuttle bus.•Perceived loss of transportation freedom – the ability to stop wherever and whenever you like – reduced ridership for some visitors, but the shuttle provided greater freedom and enjoyment for others.•Better communicating the perceived benefits of the shuttle system may be an effective mechanism to further increase ridership among baby boomers, who will continue to be a primary target market for the national parks.

The U.S. population continues to age, and the large baby boomer cohort is a major influencer. The activity selection of baby boomer visitors to national parks is therefore explored. The literature suggests baby boomers are a group with diverse outdoor interests. Some are interested in adventurous pursuits, while others are interested in more tame forms of recreation. A quantitative study was conducted in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) in California to see if this cohort is unique in terms of outdoor activity interests. In-person surveys collected at SEKI were used to obtain a sample of 403 individuals within the baby boomer age range. The findings suggest that a majority of baby boomers prefer to participate in outdoor activities in SEKI. They see themselves as healthy and active, and enjoy participating in moderate to strenuous, somewhat risky outdoor activities.

AbstractRenewable energy initiatives are increasing and many locations selected for offshore wind farms are close to recreation resources. Public involvement processes to assess project support are standard in offshore wind energy planning. However, often missing from these assessments are investigations into subpopulations, such as marine recreationists. Using mixed methods, researchers evaluated a scale that measures marine recreationists' (n= 483) attitudes toward offshore wind energy. Researchers also examined the relationships between place attachment and opposition and support for the proposed projects. Results suggest that place attachment can assist in predicting attitudes toward offshore wind energy development, but the explanatory power and the nature of the relationships differed between two communities. Implications for communication, outreach, and recreation management are discussed.

AbstractThe independent travel market is not homogeneous. As smartphones and mobile navigation devices became ubiquitous, independent travellers are now allowed to explore the destination without making detailed plans. The purpose of this study is to explore tourists' preferences for the level of structure vs serendipity in their travel experience, and investigate how different styles of independent travel relate to other tourist behaviour. Findings showed that independent travellers, overall, had a higher preference for serendipity than following a structured itinerary. Respondents who were more ‘serendipitous’ participated in more activities, particularly sightseeing and outdoor sports, while those who preferred ‘structured’ travel took part in fewer activities, in spite of their planning. As predicted, the ‘structured’ respondents spent more time on travel planning and were more likely to look for specific information, such as price and location. The ‘serendipitous’ respondents, however, did not wander without knowledge. Searching for more general information about the area, they in fact used more information sources than those who preferred ‘structured’ travel.

This study engaged key stakeholders in an economically and environmentally fragile region in Kenya in a unique, interdisciplinary, and integrative approach to explore the extent to which the use of smartphone technology helps access the environmental values and sustainability perspectives of the people of the Maasai land. The results of the study indicate that the participants' environmental values and sustainability perspectives, exposed through photovoices, pertain mainly to issues regarding livestock grazing, deforestation, soil erosion, wildlife and human co-habitation, waste management, afforestation, and the conservation of the natural vegetation. A common theme permeating the participants' photovoices was their awareness of the intertwining effects of these major environmental issues on the environment. The results also suggest a strong understanding of ecological compositions and connections in the environment by the participants.

Overflights, especially low-level flights, have a measurable impact on the acoustic environment of the areas they traverse. This is of particular concern to protected areas with a mission of protecting natural resources, cultural resources, and the visitor experience. Yet, understanding overflight travel patterns at parks and protected areas has proven difficult to determine. Recent technology makes it possible to collect accurate overflight data allowing researchers to quantify travel patterns across a protected area. Location data, including x, y, and z data, can be used to quantitatively assess effects of overflights and to inform solutions to protect resources and the visitor experience. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to spatiotemporally quantify overflight travel patterns at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park using data derived from Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology. Location data, a digital grid, and hot spot clustering were used to identify spaces with a statistically-significant high volume of overflights. Some of these spaces overlap with terrestrial visitor attraction locations, suggesting potential for degraded visitor experience. Specifically, results indicate a spatial trend of low-flying overflights along the eastside of the park, a high volume of overflights near Nāpau Trailhead and Nāpau Crater, and spatial clustering of overflights varies across hour of the day. The described methods provide a foundation for future research and the results are useful for informing the designation of lateral and minimum altitude parameters for low-level overflights such as air tours.

AbstractRecreation that involves learning about nature, or viewing, observing, studying, identifying, or photographing nature may be termed appreciative recreation.The purpose of this study was to investigate the on-site phase of an appreciative recreation experience and, specifically, to identify how time spent in a nature-based environment influences the environmental focus of participants. The researchers collected data from visitors (adjusted N= 158) at Congaree National Park using a version of the Experiential Sampling Method. Data analysis consisted of a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Multi-Level Modeling. The researchers concluded that time spent at the park does have a significant influence on an appreciative recreation experience and that there are three phases of the experience: preparation, immersion, and separation.

Managers of parks and protected areas can use information about visitor travel patterns to conserve the biophysical resource and provide opportunities for quality visitor experiences. Visitor travel patterns are affected by the unique context of each park and protected area and can be assessed in a multitude of ways. Consequently, researchers have used numerous operationalizations and associated methods to understand visitor travel. However, during previous investigations, management input has not been fully taken into consideration to identify which spatiotemporal variables are the most important for understanding visitor travel patterns. In this study, the research team conducted semi-structured interviews and surveyed managers at Theodore Roosevelt National Park to determine which spatiotemporal variables were deemed the most important for understanding visitor travel patterns at the park, and distributed GPS data loggers to day visitors. Next, the spatiotemporal variables identified by managers were used to cluster travel groups using data collected by the GPS data loggers. Travel attributes of these groups were compared to gain more understanding of visitor travel patterns. Lastly, 3D geovisualizations that are intuitive and easy to understand were created for management purposes. A significant finding produced by this research was that managers at Theodore Roosevelt National Park identified three temporal variables as being the most important for understanding visitor travel patterns: total time spent at attraction areas, total time spent at the visitor center, and total time spent in the park.