Soil loss as a measure of carrying capacity in recreation environments

This article describes three applications of the Universal Soil Loss Equation for further defining differences between natural environments in terms of their suitabilities for recreation use. Physical capacity limits based upon vulnerability to erosion and loss of soil productivity are discussed. Examples include: (a) applications to site planning and comparison of existing campsites; (b) use of the methodology for setting limits of acceptable change; and (c) characterization of third-order or larger watersheds that compare ecological land type interpretations with those based upon application of the equation.     

Mount St. Helens: A case study of managing for change in wildland recreation

Mount St. Helens provides an interesting case study of a forest and wildland area that has been radically altered in recent history. As a result of volcanic activity, the recreation environment has changed with respect to the setting, climbing opportunities, and motivations for mountaineering. An evaluation process using both qualitative and quantitative methods was developed to determine what the motivations, demographic characteristics, and preferred management techniques were for the posteruption Mount St. Helens mountain-climbing visitor. Results suggest that changes have occurred in the “new” or posteruption climbing visitor. These changes have not all been congruent with those anticipated by management. For example, the climbing visitor is now less interested in climbing opportunities and more concerned with seeing the crater and other volcanic-related features. This article discusses the findings of this research in light of how resource managers might consider the issue of visitor changes in both demands and types of uses. For example, determining quota numbers based on sociological determinants (e.g., desire for solitude) need to be firmly grounded in who the visitors actually are rather than who they were. Consequently, management tools such as the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) and Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) may need to be altered to accommodate a changing resource or visitor base. These and other findings have implications for the future management practices of the Mount St. Helens area and other environments where the recreation resources have undergone rapid and profound change.     

Recreation impacts in some riparian forests of the Eastern United States

Ecological impacts on camp and picnic sites were examined in three National Park Service units along the Delaware and New rivers, in the eastern United States. All sites experienced pronounced impact to trees, groundcover vegetation, and soils. The nature and magnitude of impacts in these riparian forests were quite similar to those reported in wilderness areas in the mountainous western states and northern Minnesota, despite more favorable growing conditions. The relationship between amount of use and amount of impact and the importance of differences in type of use and environment were also roughly comparable. High-use sites were more heavily impacted than low-use sites, but differences were small when compared with differences in amount of use. The areal extent of impact was the major difference between sites in different environments and sites used by different clienteles. This suggests that the effectiveness of basic strategies for managing impact should not differ greatly between regions. Here, as elsewhere, actions taken to control the areal extent of impact appear to be particularly important.     

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING: Economic Values of Recreational Power Boating Resources in Pennsylvania

/ The travel cost method was used to estimate the economic value of seven major power boating resources in Pennsylvania. A significant relationship between number of visitor trips and cost per visitor trip existed for five of the seven water bodies. The annual total value for those five resources was $396 million, which was 2.5 times greater than the total out-of-pocket expenditures of approximately $157 million visitors spent to visit them. Research results can help resource managers plan and craft programs and policies that are founded on economic values of the natural resources involved.     

Managing Recreational Trail Environments for Mountain Bike User Preferences

N  = 406), highlight some important issues concerning the design and management of wildland recreation environments that are primarily used for mountain biking. For example, bikers were found to significantly prefer water bars above all other tested soil erosion management techniques; trail erosion factors, including the presence of rocks, roots, and gullies, all added to biking experiences on average; trail design factors, such as the presence of turns, bumps, jumps, and obstacles, all added to biking experiences in general. These findings were used to address questions that resource managers should consider when striving to effectively manage wildland recreation areas primarily used for mountain biking.     

浅谈关于建立特种设备责任保险制度

特种设备作为危险性较大的工业、民用设备,其发生事故所造成的影响,远远大于一般设施。保险作为消化风险、分化补偿的重要方式,尚未与特种设备建立起完善的事故责任保险制度。本文通过国内外相关制度的比较,探讨建立该制度的必要性及社会的迫切需求。     

Twenty Years of Change on Campsites in the Backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park

This article draws on three separate research and monitoring studies to describe 20-year trends in the number and condition of campsites in the backcountry of Grand Canyon National Park. Results are used to assess the effectiveness of a complex and innovative management program, adopted in 1983, that sought to concentrate use on designated campsites in popular places and disperse camping in more remote places. In 1984, conditions on 12 high-use campsites and 12 low-use campsites were carefully assessed. Conditions on 22 of these campsites were reassessed in 2005. In addition, campsite-monitoring surveys were conducted between 1985 and 1992 and again in 2003 and 2004. In these surveys, all campsites were located and their condition rapidly assessed. The detailed assessment of a sample of sites suggests relatively little change in condition during the 20-year period. The high-use sites were more highly disturbed than the low-use sites, but they did not change more during the study period. In contrast, changes at larger scales were dramatic. The total number of campsites more than doubled during the study period. Surprisingly, the proliferation of new campsites was greater in places where camping was only allowed on designated campsites than in places where camping was allowed anywhere. Concern that concentration of use on designated sites would cause unacceptable impact was unfounded. Management implications for other internationally significant protected areas that allow backcountry camping are explored.     

Addressing onsite sampling in recreation site choice models

Independent experts and politicians have criticized statistical analyses of recreation behavior, which rely upon onsite samples due to their potential for biased inference. The use of onsite sampling usually reflects data or budgetary constraints, but can lead to two primary forms of bias in site choice models. First, the strategy entails sampling site choices rather than sampling individuals—a form of bias called endogenous stratification. Under these conditions, sample choices may not reflect the site choices of the true population. Second, exogenous attributes of the individuals sampled onsite may differ from the attributes of individuals in the population—the most common form in recreation demand is avidity bias. We propose addressing these biases by combining two the existing methods: Weighted Exogenous Stratification Maximum Likelihood estimation and propensity score estimation. We use the National Marine Fisheries Service's Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey to illustrate methods of bias reduction, employing both simulated and empirical applications. We find that propensity score based weights can significantly reduce bias in estimation. Our results indicate that failure to account for these biases can overstate anglers' willingness to pay for improvements in fishing catch, but weighted models exhibit higher variance of parameter estimates and willingness to pay.     

An Approach for Recreation Suitability Analysis to Recreation Planning in Gölcük Nature Park

Gölcük Nature Park (GNP) is an area protected by law in Turkey. It is an important nature park with rich flora, fauna, geomorphologic forms, landscape features, and recreational potential in the region. However, GNP does not have a recreation management plan. The purpose of this study was to determine the actual natural, cultural, and visual resources of GNP, determine the most suitable recreational sites with multiple factors, evaluate the demands and tendencies of visitors, and suggest recreational activities and facilities for the most suitable sites of GNP. However, it was also conceived as leading to a recreational plan and design of GNP in the future and identifying the entire appropriate and current data of GNP with the creation of various maps. This study used multifactor analysis to determine the most suitable recreation sites of GNP. Used recreation factors were established including degree of slope, proximity to water resources, accessibility, elevation, vegetation, soil, climate, aspect, current cultural facilities, visual values, and some limiting factors in accordance with the characteristics of GNP. Weighting and suitability values of factors were determined by 30 local expert surveys. All obtained data were evaluated and integrated in the Geographical Information Systems base. Obtained maps were overlapped. Thus, recreational suitability zones map were created manually. However, the demands and behaviours from visitor surveys in GNP were focused on the most suitable recreation sites of the park. Finally, 10% of GNP was identified as the most suitable sites for recreational use. Various recreational facilities and activities (including picnicking, sports facilities and playgrounds, camping sites, walking paths, food and local outlets, etc.) were recommended for nine of the most suitable areas on the proposed recreational map.