Search

Campsites represent highly sought after recreational amenities in the national parks of the United States. Equitable allocation of scarce recreational resources has long been a key management issue in U.S. national parks, but has become increasingly difficult in an era of increasing demand. At present, a growing number of national park campsites are allocated through an online reservation system well in advance of a camper's arrival at a park. Compounding the challenge of allocating these campsites is a long history of exclusivity within national park camping--institutionalized through campground design and predicated on a legacy of the leisure class's affinity for camping in national parks. Given national park camping's history of exclusivity, this exploratory study seeks to explore how online reservation systems may impact the demographics of national park campers. Using mobile device location data, estimated demographics were calculated for campers in five national park campgrounds in the U.S. that each contained some sites requiring reservations and some sites available on a first-come, first-served basis. We detail results from analyses of variance between campsites requiring reservations and those that are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Results suggest that for each of the five campgrounds, those campers camping in sites that require reservations came from areas with higher median household incomes, on average. In three of the five campgrounds, this difference was significant. Additionally, in an urban-proximate setting, those camping in sites requiring reservations came from areas with a higher portion of White residency than those campers in campsites not requiring reservations, on average. We conclude with discussion that includes management implications concerning the growing prominence of online reservation systems for outdoor recreation amenities, and a brief research agenda for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as they relate to campgrounds. Principally, the former group of implications includes the realization that online reservation systems present the unintended consequence of excluding low-income, and perhaps non-White, would-be campers--a conclusion drawn from the results of this exploratory study. This discussion includes an analysis of the distributive justice of online reservation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trophy hunting (TH) tourism plays an important and often controversial role in wildlife conservation and community livelihood in many African countries. Despite its potential social and economic benefits, TH can have a negative impact among the locals and pose critical challenges in governance. However, research on the local community perspective of TH and how it is linked to empowerment of locals and wildlife conservation in Namibia remains limited. Therefore, to address these gaps, our study explores how communities of Namibia's Bwabwata National Park perceive TH and how TH supports or hinders empowerment of local communities and their relationship with wildlife. Through semi-structured interviews with community members, this study elucidates the economic benefits and inequities, cultural impacts from lack of traditional hunting, perceived relationship to poaching, and limitations of governance and distrust among stakeholders. This research innovatively applies empowerment theory to TH tourism and thus, can strengthen and inform sound governance and sustainable practices of TH at local, national, and international levels by providing the local perspective that has largely been absent from the TH debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS), also referred to as drones, has increased in popularity over the past decade for professional and recreational purposes. Public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the National Park Service (NPS) offer opportunities for the use of drones as unique monitoring tools as well as videography to enhance visitor experiences or connect with remote populations. However, there are many concerns regarding privacy and impacts to resources. While drone technology has advanced rapidly, there are inconsistent policies regarding public use of drones and a need for further research on the professional and recreational use of drones on USFS and NPS lands. Disjointed policies from the local to national scale create challenges for maximizing opportunities and mitigating concerns associated with drones. We propose a research agenda to integrate the social, ecological, and managerial aspects of professional and recreational use of drones on USFS and NPS lands to stimulate discussion that is timely and relevant and can inform multi-scalar and multidisciplinary research and effective policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese outbound tourism is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide, and with this growth, there has been a surge in international tourism to national parks. For example, 40% of Chinese travelers visited a national park during their U.S. travels (Office of Travel and Tourism Industries [OTTI], 2016). As one of the most popular national parks in the world, Yellowstone National Park (YELL) has swelled in Chinese visitation (Resource Systems Group [RSG], 2017). Despite positive economic aspects of increased tourism, parks and communities are faced with challenges that can impact management and the tourists' experience. There is extremely limited research on Chinese tourism to U.S. national parks, and this study addresses these gaps through a case study in West Yellowstone, the most popular gateway community of YELL. Through over 50 interviews with Chinese tourists, tour operators, and local business owners, specifically, we aim to gain a greater understanding of: 1) Chinese travel trends and motivations for visiting national parks, 2) Chinese tourists' perceptions of park resources, 3) Chinese tourists' modes for communication and information exchange, and 4) perceptions and strategies implemented by businesses in gateway communities to adapt to Chinese tourism. Major findings of the study include that Chinese tourists at YELL primarily obtain their information from friends, family, and Chinese websites with limited tourists visiting or using the National Park Service (NPS) YELL website. Our findings suggest that national park and gateway community communications on social media apps such as WeChat are a major area for growth and opportunity. Finally, the gateway community of West Yellowstone is experiencing changes due to an influx of Chineseowned businesses and tourists, and offer insight for how to adapt to change. This study addresses a largely understudied topic despite the growing trends of Chinese tourists to national parks and protected areas globally. The study's findings will be of interest to other parks and protected areas around the world that are experiencing or are anticipating Chinese tourism growth, and offers implications for Chinese tourism communication and marketing outside the national park setting. Finally, our exploratory study presents an opportunity for researchers and practitioners to further study Chinese tourism to national parks and gateway communities in diverse settings, which can lead to comparability of findings and also support dialogue around tourism planning, marketing, communication for protected areas and their gateway communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-motorized outdoor recreation contributes significantly to the U.S. economy by providing over six million jobs and $88 billion in federal and state tax revenues (Southwick Associates, 2013). Participation in non-motorized wildland recreation, defined in this paper as non-motorized outdoor recreation that is dependent on the natural resources of an undeveloped natural setting, has increased in recent years with half of Americans participating annually (Outdoor Foundation, 2017). There has been a growing field of evidence demonstrating the relationship between natural settings and human health (e.g., Frumkin, 2001). This research suggests that the qualities and characteristics of setting may enhance or inhibit health outcomes (e.g., Kellert, Heerwagen, & Mador, 2011). Wildland settings (e.g., national parks, national forests, refuges) have unique characteristics that are thought to contribute to human health through the activities that take place in these settings. Similar to the components outlined by Hammitt, Cole, and Monz (2015), our study focuses on wildland recreation and explores the potential relationships between recreation on wildlands and physical and mental health. To date, there has not been a comprehensive and systematic review of the literature exploring how recreation that takes place in wildland settings influences physical and mental health and if these health outcomes differ from recreation in other more urban and exurban outdoor settings (e.g., urban green space). This is particularly important because society faces a range of chronic and acute health challenges and many argue that outdoor recreation in wildland settings offers an important antidote to many of these health challenges. Yet, without investigating and summarizing the results of peer-reviewed investigations, we have little understanding of the potential for wildland recreation improving mental and physical health. To address this gap, we conducted a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed empirical studies of wildland recreation activities and assessed physical and mental health outcomes. We investigated whether wildland recreation positively contributed to a range of physical and mental health outcomes, the type of recreation activity, where the activity occurred, and if outcomes were positive, why the health benefit occurred. Our analysis explores aspects and focus areas wildland recreation health research (i.e., most studies focused on hiking; how recreational activities impact mental and physical health; and aspects of the physical setting, the recreational activity, and the social atmosphere that influence health). We discuss these trends and outline recommendations for future research to expand our understanding of the linkages between wildland recreation and human health. Our research has implications for managers and researchers. For researchers studying the connections between wildland recreation and human health, this review facilitated identification of trends and gaps which can inform and strengthen this area of research. For managers of wildlands and individuals working to address physical and mental health, our study offers empirical evidence of the connections between wildlands and human health, and can inform how best to manage such lands to promote health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]