Transcript Lecture 8. Approaches to management

Lecture 5. Recreational
use of wilderness and
wildland
Outline:
 Wilderness recreation and benefits
 Economics and development
 Management of recreational use
 Workshop: developing a wildland
policy for England and Wales
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1. Recreational use and
benefits
 THE main use of wilderness
 Focus of much research and
management
 This lecture:
- estimating levels and benefits
- character and distribution
- management
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Estimating levels of use
- Difficult because:
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many access points - monitoring difficult
use is often dispersed over wide areas
use is light and variable
- Indirect methods of measurement:
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sample observations
electronic counters and cameras
trail registers and mandatory permits
guestimates!
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Quantifiable?
 Units of measurement:
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number of overnight stays (NPS)
number of visitor days (USFS)
visitor hours
number of visits (regardless of length)
total number of people at one time (PAOT)
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Which to use? - depends on purpose
 Impact of camping and camper
congestion:
- number of overnight stays
 Measure of solitude:
- number of visitor days
- PAOT
 Impact of overall visitor pressure:
- number of visitor days
- visitor hours
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Character and distribution
- Determined by variety of factors:
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length of stay
party size
method of travel
activities pursued
season of use
social/organisational groupings
visitor residence
etc.
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Characteristics of the individual:
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age
physical ability
gender
residence
income
occupation
education
membership of relevant bodies
etc.
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Question:
Who is the typical wilderness user?
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Who is the “typical” wilderness user?
 Results of US studies show:
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young (though older groups represented)
mostly male (3:1 ratio)
from nearby urban areas
moderately high income
professional-technical occupation
highly educated
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1. Recreational use and benefits
(cont’d)
 Uneven geographical distribution
- wilderness recreation varies in popularity
- inter-wilderness variations in use
• variations between wilderness areas
- intra-wilderness variations in use
• many people concentrated in a few places
• few people dispersed across many places
 Management concerns:
- extreme uneven distribution is undesirable
- variations in carry capacity mean even
distribution also undesirable
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2. Economics and development
 Planned management requires
knowledge of future trends
 Recent increase worldwide
 Current plateau in US usage
 Possible reasons:
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aging population
changes in population distribution
constraints on leisure time/transport costs
changing education and interests
expansion of NWPS
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2. Economics and development
(cont’d)
 Use projections
 Hampered by lack of suitable data:
- lack of longitudinal records
- poor quality
- incomparable (different standards, etc.)
 Attempts to predict future use vary
widely
 Need to be prepared
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3. Managing recreational
use
 The goal of wilderness management is
to:
“identify the desired resource, social and managerial
conditions to be maintained or restored in
wilderness, with these desired conditions expressed
as explicit, measurable standards. Thus the focus of
management attention shifts from defining
maximum use to identifying desired conditions and
managing use levels and/or other management
parameters so that impacts do not exceed these
conditions.” (Shelby and Heberlein, 1986)
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 4 basic considerations:
- determining impacts and possible implications is
dependent on natural resource, socio-political
and managerial factors
- recognition that recreational use inevitably
leads to change
- determining acceptable level of change involves
value judgement
- impacts related to factors other than amount of
use
• i.e. type of use, timing, location, visitor
behaviour, etc.
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Basic aims of wilderness management:
- manage to provide visitors with opportunity for
quality wilderness experience
- manage to limit impact of recreation on the
wilderness environment/resource to within
specified carrying capacities
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
The tragedy of the commons...
“Each man is locked into a system that compels him to
increase his [use of the commons] without limit - in a
world that is limited. Ruin is the destination to which
all men rush, each pursuing his own best interests in
a society that believes in the freedom of the
commons. Freedom of the commons brings ruin to
all.” (Hardin, 1972, p.255)
 Principles of wilderness management:
- manage under a non-degradation concept
- set carrying capacities to prevent unnatural change
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Definition of wilderness carrying
capacity:
“the amount, kind and distribution of use that can occur without
leading to unacceptable impacts on either the physical-biological
resource or the available wilderness experience.” (Stankey
et al., 1990, p.214)
- use an area can tolerate without unacceptable
change
- wilderness carrying capacity is limited
- Biophysical and socio-psychological components
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Biophysical carrying capacity:
- the amount and type of use an ecosystem can
sustain without undue evidence of unnatural
impact
- e.g. soil erosion and disturbance of wildlife
 Socio-psychological carrying capacity:
- the level of human use an area can
accommodate before solitude and other
experiential values are diminished
- e.g. concentration of visitors
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Over-use can destroy wilderness
quality
- e.g. too many people, trail erosion, devegetation
of popular campsites, etc.
“By anyone’s definition, wilderness has been lost when such
conditions prevail.” (Hendee, et al., 1990, p.215)
 Establishment of appropriate levels of
use is typically addressed through the
concept of carrying capacity
- fundamental principle of wilderness
management
- problem: determining carrying capacity
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Determining carrying capacity:
- simple concept - difficult to implement
- dynamic nature of ecosystems makes it difficult
to calculate
- it can be increased/decreased by management
actions/human use
- it is NOT a fixed value
- is different for different uses
- varies spatially and temporally
- product of value judgement as well as scientific
evidence
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Management implementation:
- biophysical and socio-psychological evidence
important only as decision aid
- based largely on value judgements
- determination of consensus view
- recognise that wilderness management is really
about managing wilderness users and their
impacts (Principle 9)
- political process
- Visitor Impact Management (VIM)
- Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC)
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
The LAC model
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Typical management paradox:
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impacts affect visitor experience
reducing these would improve experience
management of impacts restricts visitors
adversely affects visitor experience
 Quandry of management: can’t keep
everyone happy
- i.e. solutions rarely work without affecting
something else and/or creating problems
elsewhere
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Types of recreational problems:
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illegal actions
careless/thoughtless violation of regulations
unskilled actions
uninformed behaviour
unavoidable minimum impacts
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Question:
What kind of problems fit into these
categories?
- illegal
- careless
- unskilled
- uniformed
- unavoidable
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Illegal actions:
- direct contravention of regulations
- examples:
• motorised transport
• graffiti and vandalism
- incompatible with wilderness
- effects of motorised transport:
• disruption of wildlife
• disturbance of other visitors
• excessive erosion and noise pollution
- appropriate management response is law
enforcement
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Careless/thoughtless violation of
wilderness regulations:
- due to irresponsible actions
- examples:
• littering
• short-cutting of trail switchbacks
• building wood fires in prohibited areas
- manager must try to alter behaviour:
• persuasion
• making it easier to do the right thing
• discouraging the wrong thing
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Unskilled actions:
- many once recommended practices are now
considered inappropriate
- examples:
• burying rubbish
• ditching around tents
• building bivouac shelters
- most are unnecessary with modern gear
- management response:
• educate users in new ways
• enforce rules where necessary
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Uniformed behaviour:
- can intensify impacts
- examples:
• use of popular trails and access points
leading to concentration of use
• pursuit of certain activities in sensitive areas
- managers can:
• inform users of alternative areas to disperse
use
• set entry quotas at key access points
• inform users of sensitive areas
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Unavoidable minimum impacts:
- every visitor causes unavoidable impact
- examples:
• trampling vegetation
• going to the toilet
• disturbing/attracting wildlife
- managers can:
• encourage minimum impact practices
• move use to less sensitive areas
- If all other options have failed and impact
remains unacceptable then manager must
regulate to reduce/eliminate use
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Management parameters (aspects of
use that can be controlled or
influenced):
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amount of use
distribution of use
timing of use
method of travel
party size
length of stay
behaviour
effect on environment
effect on other visitor’s experience
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Question:
What problems are likely to
arise when attempting to
manage wilderness users?
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 General management approaches:
- direct management
- indirect management
 Direct management emphasises
regulation
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loss of experiential value
requires extra resources
set behavioural standards
prevent over use
 Indirect management emphasises
influencing or modifying visitor
behaviour through education
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3. Managing recreational use (cont’d)
 Guidelines for regulatory practices
are:
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use non-regulatory alternatives if possible
try to develop non-regulatory practices
explain regulations
regulate at minimum level needed
regulate at entry rather than activity level
monitor problem and effects of regulation
remember wilderness exists partly for visitor
use
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4. Examples
 Managing the impacts of recreations is
the main focus of most wilderness
management
 Main areas of management include:
- managing campsite impacts
- managing trail impacts
- managing horse-related impacts
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4. Examples (cont’d)
 Managing campsite related impacts:
- more time spent on campsite than anywhere
else
- impacts include:
• changes in vegetation and soil
characteristics
• due to trampling, collecting fire wood, etc.
- factors influencing impact include:
• amount and frequency of use
• type and behaviour of users
• environmental characteristics of site itself
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4. Examples (cont’d)
- management strategies include:
• limiting use
• changing type and behaviour of users
• shifting use to more durable sites
- encouraging minimum impact camping:
• use of proper equipment
• keeping party sizes small
• selecting resistant and appropriate sites
• being careful with fire
• avoiding ‘site improvement’
• minimising pollution (rubbish and human
waste)
• limiting length of stay
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4. Examples (cont’d)
 Managing trail impacts
- localised impacts but very visible
- costly to repair
- common problems:
• excessive erosion
• boggy areas in saturated soils
• proliferation of unplanned or impromptu
trails
- management options include:
• rehabilitation of badly eroded/multiple trails
• relocation of trails to more durable routes
• trail engineering
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4. Examples (cont’d)
 Managing horse related impacts
- use of horses still significant in certain areas
(e.g. USA, South Africa, Siberia, etc.) but
banned in others (e.g. Australia)
- impacts similar to hikers but more pronounced
and with behavioural differences
- management strategies:
• limit or reduce their use
• encourage less damaging behaviour
• discourage use during sensitive seasons
• encourage use in only resistant areas
• contain impacts to certain trails
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5. Summary
 Carrying capacity as a key concept in
wilderness management
- builds on Harding’s ideas re: the tragedy of the
commons
- practical application through LAC model
 General principles and approaches in
managing wilderness recreation
 Types of recreational problems
 Examples of recreation management
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Directed reading
Hendee et al., (1990) Wilderness
Management. Fulcrum Publishing,
Colorado. [Chapter 9]
Mitchell, B. (1979) Geography and
Resource Analysis. Longman, London.
[Chapter 7]
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Workshop
• Developing an wildland policy for
England and Wales
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Next week...
6. Non-recreational use of wilderness
 Hunting and fishing
 Forestry and forest products
 Water resources
 Minerals, oil and gas
 Agriculture
 Renewable energy
 Workshop: web poster development
Q&A session
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