Search

Explored coping mechanisms in outdoor recreation in response to crowing and conflict, measuring perceived changes in amounts and types of recreation use occurring at one national park and the extent to which park visitors adopted coping mechanisms. People near the park adopted coping mechanisms at relatively high levels. Coping related to perceived changes in amount and type of outdoor recreation. (SM)

National parks are an important manifestation of the United States’ democratic ideal and attract more than 300 million visits annually. However, racial/ethnic minorities are substantially underrepresented among visitors, and this has led to three hypotheses—marginality, subculture, and discrimination—designed to help explain this pattern of visitation. Moreover, research suggests that the awareness of and visitation to national parks may relate to several variables, including race/ethnicity, socio-economic characteristics, and childhood visitation history. To investigate these issues, an online general population survey of New York City residents was conducted. Study findings suggest that (1) racial/ethnic minorities are underrepresented at some types of parks but not others, (2) Hispanics and Blacks generally have lower rates of awareness about national parks than Whites, and (3) awareness and childhood visitation history significantly affect visitation to national parks. These findings suggest potential approaches to enable and encourage diverse racial/ethnic groups to engage with national parks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has potential to substantially affect the availability and quality of snow and thus has potential to affect snow-dependent winter recreation activities. Research has shown that participants in these recreation activities are adapting to climatically changed conditions and are likely to continue to adapt in the future. This study explores these issues as they apply to snowmobiling in Vermont, identifying a suite of climate change manifestations, investigating their salience to the snowmobiler recreation experience, and assessing how these manifestations may impact the snowmobile participation rate and quality of experience. Climate change manifestations are informed by climate change models, helping to define the future conditions and supply of snowmobiling opportunities. Social science research on how snowmobilers may adapt to these changing conditions helps define the future demand for snowmobiling. We conducted an online survey of snowmobilers in Vermont, asking respondents if and how they would change the amount of snowmobiling they do in response to climate change manifestations that may impact snowmobiling conditions. Study findings suggest that the amount of snowmobiling in Vermont is already declining and that these declines are likely to become more substantial. For example, 44.7% of respondents have noticed declines in the length of the winter season during which there is enough snow to snowmobile, and 30.7% of respondents have decreased their amount of snowmobiling in response. Moreover, study data define the future relationship between climate-related changes in snowmobiling conditions and changes in amount of snowmobiling. For example, with 150 days of adequate snow cover, the amount of snowmobiling will increase 36.9%, but with 25 days of adequate snow cover, the amount of snowmobiling will decrease 44%. The length of season threshold for participation in snowmobiling is estimated at 79 days; more than 79 days will cause snowmobiling to increase from current levels, and fewer than 79 days will cause a decrease. Given the climate change sensitivity of snowmobiling found in this study, along with the predictions of climate models for Vermont, snowmobiling may ultimately be unsustainable. This will decrease the benefits of snowmobiling, including the enjoyment of locals and tourists who participate in the sport, the economic contributions, and the culture of the state. Substitution of other winter season recreation activities is a potential adaptation to declining opportunities for snowmobiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is an increasingly important issue in Vermont and around the world, and has implications for many forms of outdoor recreation. The scientific and professional literature is illustrative of the ways participants in a number of outdoor recreation activities are adapting to climate change, including the ways in which these adaptations are likely to increase in the future. This study explores these issues as they apply to visiting Vermont state parks. Climate change models developed in the physical and natural sciences offer insights into future climate-related scenarios in the Vermont state parks (thereby helping to define the supply of state park recreation opportunities). We used social science to complement these models by examining how visitors may adapt to these changing conditions (thereby helping to define the demand for recreation in the state parks). We conducted an on-site survey of visitors to three representative state parks, describing a range of climate changerelated recreation conditions and asking respondents how they would adapt. Three types of adaptations were included in the study: 1) changes in the amount of use, 2) changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of use, and 3) changes in recreation activities. Study findings suggest that most climate-related changes included in the study will: 1) decrease the amount of use; 2) shift substantial amounts of use to more northerly parks and parks at higher elevations, and shift use to earlier and later in the conventional state park season; and 3) shift participation among the 10 recreation activities included in the study, though the pattern of these shifts is complex. Study findings suggest that visitors are likely to make substantial adaptations in their use of the Vermont state parks in response to climate change, and that state park management will also have to adapt accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parks include environmentally and historically important areas of America that are to be both preserved and enjoyed by the public. Moreover, national parks are a manifestation of American democracy and should be accessible to all Americans. Transportation is an important component of national park planning and management; transportation serves as a means of access to national parks, and also provides a range of transportation settings that offer diverse recreational opportunities. This study adapts the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS), a longstanding conceptual framework in parks and outdoor recreation, to management of transportation in national parks in the form of a Transportation Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (T-ROS). On-site visitor surveys were conducted in five National Park Service units ranging from urban to rural recreation settings to identify transportation-related indicators of quality, a vital component of the ROS and proposed T-ROS frameworks. Indicators are measurable, manageable variables that are proxies for management objectives. Indicators were identified for three important contexts of transportation in national parks. The first context was mode of transportation; national parks offer a wide variety of modes of transportation, and indicators are likely to vary across these types of transportation. Driving through national parks is supported by a system of iconic roads that connect many of the parks' scenic features. However, visitors increasingly experience national parks on public transit and along bikeways. The second context was type of park. There are more than 400 units of the national park system, and these areas vary across a spectrum from rural to urban; transportation-related indicators may vary across this spectrum of parks. The third context was race/ethnicity of visitors. Visitors to national parks vary in many ways, including their race and ethnicity. Minority racial/ethnic groups have been historically underrepresented in the national parks. This suggests that it is important to explore how transportation-related indicators might vary across racial/ethnic groups as a way to encourage more diverse visitors to the national parks and advance the democratic ideal of the national park system. Study findings identify a number of transportation-related indicators that can be used to build a T-ROS system. Findings also suggest that these indicators often vary across mode of transportation, type of park, and race/ethnicity of park visitors. Based on these findings, a T-ROS conceptual framework is proposed. Study results extend the ROS framework to transportation-related recreation opportunities, provide quantitative measures of the diversity of transportation-related recreation experiences, and strengthen the linkage between transportation and recreation for racial/ethnic minority groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic composition of the United States is increasingly diverse, but racial/ethnic minority groups are substantially underrepresented in visiting national parks. Transportation is needed to provide access to national parks but may not be equally accessible to all groups in society. This study uses a general population survey of New York City residents to examine the role of transportation in visiting national parks by three racial/ethnic groups (Hispanic, Black, and White). Principle study variables were perceived barriers to visiting national parks and the importance of transportation-related incentives in encouraging visits to national parks. Study results identified three categories of barriers: comfort and safety, expense, and accessibility; Hispanics perceive higher levels of barriers than do Whites and Blacks. Transportation incentives may increase national park visitation, especially by Hispanics. Survey findings partially support the marginality and discrimination hypotheses, and suggest potentially effective strategies to increase park visitation by minority racial/ethnic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative transportation systems (ATS) have become increasingly important as a means to address issues of crowding, congestion, and environmental sustainability in national parks and related areas. In 2010, a shuttle bus system was implemented at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, a small unit of the national park system located on the outskirts of the historic village of Woodstock, Vermont. This ATS consists of one electric fuel vehicle known as the Full Circle Trolley (FCT). The FCT is powered by electricity generated from methane gas derived from decomposition of cow manure from local dairy farms. This ATS project, which was funded through a federal grant administered by the National Park Service, was designed to reduce congestion on area roads, encourage parking outside of Woodstock village, improve environmental sustainability, and establish a successful transportation partnership that could be a model for future collaboration. In 2012, we conducted interviews with shuttle partners (stakeholder groups such as local chamber of commerce) (n = 9) and administered a questionnaire to shuttle riders (n = 143) to assess the program's success in meeting its objectives. Our findings suggest that the objectives of the FCT program are being met, though some are being more fully and directly met than others. For example, the survey found that some shuttle bus riders would probably have driven into Woodstock (contributing to traffic congestion) and parked on the village streets if there had been no shuttle bus service (exacerbating parking shortages). However, given the small scale of the trolley system, some partners questioned the magnitude of the trolley's impact on traffic congestion and parking. Challenges to long-term shuttle service include availability of future funding, low ridership levels, and the limitations (e.g., battery charging time) of environmentally sustainable (in this case, electric) vehicles. Results from this study contribute to and corroborate findings from other studies of ATS in national parks and related areas. Based on this growing body of research, a number of principles or best management practices are offered for planning and managing ATS in parks and related areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to increased use of parks and outdoor recreation related areas, transportation legislation passed in 1998 required the Departments of Transportation and Interior to assess transportation needs and develop planning procedures for congestion management in parks and on public lands. One year later, the National Park Service responded by publishing its Transportation Planning Guidebook. This publication used a number of case studies to illustrate a range of park management strategies for addressing traffic congestion. A common theme throughout the guidebook was implementation of alternative transportation systems, including shuttle buses and bicycle/pedestrian facilities, in addition to roads. Together, this integrated infrastructure and the forms of transportation accommodated are known as multimodal transportation networks. These networks provide managers opportunities to disperse visitor use over space and time, a strategy for addressing congestion and crowding. As this strategy is more widely used, multimodal transportation is an increasingly important component of the experience of visitors to national parks and related areas. While conventional transportation planning uses a levels of service (LOS) framework to measure and manage many modes of transportation, it lacks measures of visitor experience critical in park and outdoor recreation contexts. Indicators and standards of quality, a framework widely used in the field of park and outdoor recreation management, give explicit consideration to visitor perspectives and incorporate them into management. Using Acadia National Park as a study site, this paper illustrates that LOS and indicators and standards of quality can be integrated to provide a more holistic approach to transportation management in park and outdoor recreation contexts. Furthermore it develops a series of potential standards for density of use on roads, in shuttle buses, and along shared-use paths. These standards provide a rational basis for informed planning and management of alternative transportation in parks and outdoor recreation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Sustainability of parks for outdoor recreation is a long-standing and increasingly urgent issue. Sustainability is an intuitively appealing concept, but it is often seen as so broad that it can be daunting to define and manage in an operational way. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that management-by-objectives frameworks used in contemporary park and outdoor recreation management can be useful in defining, measuring, monitoring, and managing the sustainability of parks for outdoor recreation. The paper presents and describes a generalizable management-by-objectives framework that can be used for this purpose. This framework requires 1) formulating indicators and standards, 2) monitoring indicators, and 3) managing to ensure that standards are maintained. This approach is informed by principles derived from the broad environmental and sustainability literature, including carrying capacity, common property resources, ecosystem management, adaptive management, environmental justice, and ecotourism. Defining, measuring, monitoring, and managing sustainability can be supported by a program of natural and social science research, and this paper offers examples of how research can support formulation of indicators and standards, monitoring and management. Given advances in addressing the sustainability of parks for outdoor recreation--a set of environmental concepts and principles to draw on, an associated management-by-objectives framework, a growing set of research approaches, an array of management practices, and a number of hopeful case studies-- application of sustainability to parks and outdoor recreation should move ahead more deliberately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With increasing public interest in wildlife watching, there is a need to develop methods to better inform management of quality viewing opportunities. In this study, normative methods using indicators and standards of quality are applied at two diverse parks/protected areas: a popular national park in Alaska and a lesser known wildlife refuge in New Hampshire. Three potential indicators of quality are identified that can be used to help define and manage wildlife viewing opportunities, and a range of potential standards of quality are developed for these indicator variables. In general, normative standards of visitors to the two study areas were salient and moderately to highly crystallized. Furthermore, study findings indicate that visitors are currently experiencing high-quality wildlife viewing at both sites. Wildlife viewing indicators and standards developed at these diverse study locations may be applicable at a wide range of parks and protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Leisure/Loisir: Journal of the Canadian Association for Leisure Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this study was to quantitatively identify the cultural heritage tourist to determine differences between other types of visitors and the cultural heritage tourist. Differences were measured on various dimensions of travel behavior and demographics, including activities participated in, expenditures, information sources used, and lodging preferences. Visitors to Vermont were surveyed between 1999 and 2000 to determine their visitation behavior and demographic profile. It was found that cultural heritage visitors were indeed different from other visitors on most measurements, implying that heritage planners and marketers should take these differences into consideration when planning and promoting cultural heritage tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the contribution of disciplinary theory and associated empirical methods to applied research in leisure studies. This illustration is built around the issue of carrying capacity of parks, wilderness and related outdoor recreation areas. A series of theoretical constructs and empirical methods taken from the disciplines of sociology, economics, computer science and statistics are applied in helping to analyze and manage this long-standing issue in leisure studies. Management of parks, wilderness and related areas is an important branch of the applied field of leisure studies. Resource and social impacts of recreation constitute long-standing and pervasive issues in the field of park and wilderness management and these issues are often addressed within the context of carrying capacity. Normative theory and techniques, developed in sociology, offer a conceptual and methodological approach to help define and measure normative standards of quality of park and wilderness visitors for relevant indicator variables. There are potentially important trade-offs between indicator variables, such as solitude and access and indifference curve analysis, developed in economics, provides a conceptual and methodological framework for quantifying such trade-offs.

Based on theoretical and methodological similarities between research on recreationrelated norms and contingent valuation, three methodological issues—question format, starting point bias, and information bias—are explored as they apply to measuring crowding-related norms of visitors to two national parks. Few statistically or substantively significant differences in crowding-related norms were found to be associated with these methodological issues. Study findings suggest that measures of crowding-related norms may be relatively "robust,"and this may add weight to the "validity" of the theory and methods associated with crowding-related norms in outdoor recreation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimating Day Use Social Carrying Capacity in Yosemite National Park Carrying capacity has been a long‐standing issue in management of parks and outdoor recreation. Contemporary carrying capacity frameworks rely on formulation of indicators and standards of quality of the recreation experience to define and manage carrying capacity. This paper describes a program of research to support application of carrying capacity to Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of Yosemite National Park, USA. Research included (1) a series of visitor surveys at selected sites within Yosemite Valley to identify indicators and standards of quality, (2) development of computer simulation models of visitor use at study sites to estimate maximum daily use levels without violating standards of quality, and (3) a park exit survey to determine the percentage of day users at study sites. Study findings are used to estimate a range of day use carrying capacities at study sites and for Yosemite Valley as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Crowding is a perennial and challenging issue in the management of parks and outdoor recreation. However, a substantial scientific literature has been developed on crowding and its application in parks and outdoor recreation. This paper begins by reviewing theoretical research on crowding, with special emphasis on normative theory. Normative theory makes an important distinction between use level and crowding, outlines variables that influence crowding judgements, and suggests that visitors to parks and outdoor recreation areas may have normative standards regarding appropriate use levels of such areas. A second section of die paper empirically applies this theoretical framework to the carriage roads of Acadia National Park, Maine. Normative standards of visitors for appropriate use levels are measured, and variables that influence crowding are illustrated, including type of visitor, type of visitor encountered, and section of the carriage roads. A final section of the paper explores the management implications of theoretical and empirical crowding research, and their application to the carriage roads. Managers must be careful to determine when increasing use of parks and related areas is judged by visitors as "crowding", and how crowding manifests itself in a variety of outdoor recreation contexts. Approaches to managing crowding include measurement of crowding norms; application of crowding and related carrying capacity frameworks, including Limits of Acceptable Change, Visitor Impact Management, and Visitor Experience and Resource Protection; formulation of crowding-related standards of quality and related restrictions on public use; zoning conflicting uses; educational programs designed to modify visitor behavior; and provision of a diversity of recreation opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study measures environmental values and ethics and explores their relation ships to attitudes toward national forest management. The principal research methods were literature review and a survey of Vermont residents concerning man agement of the Green Mountain National Forest. Descriptive findings suggest respondents (1) favor nonmaterial values of national forests, (2) subscribe to a diversity of environmental ethics, including anthropocentric and bio-/ecocentric, and (3) support emerging concepts of ecosystem management. Environmental values and ethics explain approximately 60% of the variation in attitudes toward national forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on crowding-related standards of quality increasingly has focused on personal and social norms. Several norm-measurement approaches have been developed. This study compares and evaluates three issues related to alternative norm measurement approaches: numerical versus visual approach, long versus short question format, and evaluative dimension. Study data are drawn from a multiphase program of research on crowding on the carriage roads of Acadia National Park, Maine. Differences in crowding norms developed from alternative measurement approaches are described and discussed. Study findings suggest that commonly used norm-measurement approaches may lead to crowding-related standards of quality that are overly conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]