This research focuses on recreation impacts and management options for the eastern coast of Georgian Bay, a popular destination for summer tourism. Georgian Bay has a rugged coastline of barren rock islands and wind sept trees - a wilderness setting that attracts cottagers, campers and boaters alike. Franklin Island, close to the Town of Parry Sound, represents a microcosm of recreation management problems on the coast of Georgian Bay, including concerns about the ecological capacity for island recreation, social concerns about impacts, and some ongoing governance and management challenges for Crown Lands. This study uses Franklin Island as the site to assess the types and severity of recreation impacts at five different campsites. Vegetation surveys found that vegetation communities at the campsite scale and slightly beyond the campsite do not appear to be significantly altered or affected by the current intensity and types of recreation use. Since the most visible impacts (e.g., campfires, cut wood, and trampling) found in this study were not at a scale to alter the vegetation patterns and coverage of the area, within the campsite or outside of campsite boundaries, the discussion then distinguishes between various scales and types of impact (ecosystemic, ecological, and aesthetic) to determine whether measured impacts affect broader ecosystem functioning. Overall this study would suggest that these localized impacts are not having a significant impact to the functioning of the Franklin Island ecosystem. However, the mosaic structure of ecosystems in eastern Georgian Bay, with their high level of patchiness and inter-patch diversity, including large areas of barren rock, pose some unique challenges for an ecological assessment of recreation impacts. Some modifications to the sampling approach may assist future assessments of recreation impacts and long-term monitoring. Recreation on Franklin Island poses a challenge for environmental management because, while it is in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources as a formal Conservation Reserve, there are a number of factors that have contributed to a management vacuum, including limited resources for management, monitoring and enforcement by traditional authorities. As a result, governance for Franklin Island has shifted from formal government-led approaches to informal partnerships and community based collaborative approaches. However, it is unclear whether the collaborative governance approach for Franklin Island that undertakes specific management actions (e.g., a volunteer fire ban, latrine construction, site clean-up, etc.) are successfully reducing the potential risks from recreation to Franklin Island's ecosystems. This research concludes with a number of recommendations for managing recreation on Franklin Island and in eastern Georgian Bay.

This research focuses on recreation impacts and management options for the eastern coast of Georgian Bay, a popular destination for summer tourism. Georgian Bay has a rugged coastline of barren rock islands and wind sept trees - a wilderness setting that attracts cottagers, campers and boaters alike. Franklin Island, close to the Town of Parry Sound, represents a microcosm of recreation management problems on the coast of Georgian Bay, including concerns about the ecological capacity for island recreation, social concerns about impacts, and some ongoing governance and management challenges for Crown Lands. This study uses Franklin Island as the site to assess the types and severity of recreation impacts at five different campsites. Vegetation surveys found that vegetation communities at the campsite scale and slightly beyond the campsite do not appear to be significantly altered or affected by the current intensity and types of recreation use. Since the most visible impacts (e.g., campfires, cut wood, and trampling) found in this study were not at a scale to alter the vegetation patterns and coverage of the area, within the campsite or outside of campsite boundaries, the discussion then distinguishes between various scales and types of impact (ecosystemic, ecological, and aesthetic) to determine whether measured impacts affect broader ecosystem functioning. Overall this study would suggest that these localized impacts are not having a significant impact to the functioning of the Franklin Island ecosystem. However, the mosaic structure of ecosystems in eastern Georgian Bay, with their high level of patchiness and inter-patch diversity, including large areas of barren rock, pose some unique challenges for an ecological assessment of recreation impacts. Some modifications to the sampling approach may assist future assessments of recreation impacts and long-term monitoring. Recreation on Franklin Island poses a challenge for environmental management because, while it is in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources as a formal Conservation Reserve, there are a number of factors that have contributed to a management vacuum, including limited resources for management, monitoring and enforcement by traditional authorities. As a result, governance for Franklin Island has shifted from formal government-led approaches to informal partnerships and community based collaborative approaches. However, it is unclear whether the collaborative governance approach for Franklin Island that undertakes specific management actions (e.g., a volunteer fire ban, latrine construction, site clean-up, etc.) are successfully reducing the potential risks from recreation to Franklin Island's ecosystems. This research concludes with a number of recommendations for managing recreation on Franklin Island and in eastern Georgian Bay.

As population increases, the need for public recreation facilities and resources increases. The U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and other recreation providers are constrained by limited time and funding to plan for, and implement, recreational facilities for the areas that they serve. Poorly located and designed recreational trails increase maintenance costs, resource degradation, and the inefficient utilization of public resources. The potential application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to this specific type of problem is examined through the comparison of hypothetical trail routes generated by several different methods, existing trail field surveys, office design, GIS user-assisted design, and cost-path analysis design. Each method is compared statistically and qualitatively by GIS methods and office based methods. Each hypothetical trail is ranked according to effectiveness of design, providing insight into trail design methods. The office designed hypothetical trails were consistently ranked highest by an expert forest road designer. / Master of Science

Managing outdoor recreation requires that managers do the following: (1) consider the user experience, environmental and cultural resources, and type and intensity of management actions; (2) specify desired conditions to be maintained, monitor conditions, and take appropriate action if unacceptable impacts occur; (3) adapt to new conditions and information; and (4) exercise good judgment based on their professional experience and the best information available to them. Social science studies of visitors and studies of significant recreation resources like campsites are important sources of information for managers and are commonly used in parks and protected areas to support planning and decision-making. The studies presented here are designed to enhance our understanding of how visitors evaluate the acceptability of impacts to recreation resources and how we can more effectively analyze large campsite resource condition datasets to get meaningful results. A better understanding of impacts to cultural and environmental resources, the people who visit parks, and how they evaluate the acceptability of impacts will enable managers to make more informed decisions. This is an important part of the adaptive management of parks and protected areas.

Traditional trails near backcountry stream corridors are often designed with disregard to their potential ecological impact. Ecological and trail related literature show that riparian landscapes are sensitive to recreation impacts. This thesis examines concepts for designing trails in ecologically compatible ways near backcountry stream corridors. The synthesis of the literature regarding the biophysical processes of stream corridors and the effects of trails on the environment is used to help develop principles and guidelines for locating trails near backcountry stream corridors. In turn, these principles and guidelines assisted in the development of a trail assessment manual useful to scientists, planners, and designers. Seven trail impacts are assessed: excessive soil erosion, wet trails, water on trails, excessive trail widths, multiple trails, root exposure, and stream sedimentation. Three backcountry study sites from the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Province of Virginia are evaluated. A ranking and measurement procedure is developed to characterize environmental, use, design/siting, construction, and maintenance factors because each of these influence the degree of impacts along studied trails. Results show that many steep trail segments, especially those without proper drainage features have incised or eroded trail treads. Likewise, many trail segments without drainage features located along flat adjacent landforms have wet soil and water on trail impacts. Overall results show that as use amount or type increase there is a parallel in trail and environmental degradation. Finally, a stream crossing and trail drainage concept is developed illustrating ways to reduce sediment inputs into nearby streams. / Master of Landscape Architecture

This dissertation is an inquiry into two disciplines: recreation ecology and geospatial analysis. The dissertation consists of three journal article manuscripts focusing on the sustainability of recreational infrastructure components in backcountry and wilderness settings. Two articles focus on campsite conditions, nodal areas of visitor use and impact. The third article focuses on trail conditions, linear corridors of visitor use and impact. Campsites and trails comprise the most visited and impacted components of recreation infrastructure; locations where protected natural area visitors spend the majority of their time and where the majority of resource impacts occur. Resource conditions at these locations affect the quality of recreational experiences and are the focus of management and scientific efforts to measure and manage visitation-related resource impacts. The articles provide a strong scientific background to understanding ecological processes and better preparing recreation planners and managers for sustainable infrastructure management decision-making. The first article assesses the sustainability of campsites over thirty-two years of use in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in northern Minnesota. Differences in vegetation composition, tree cover and groundcover from 1982 to 2014 were measured. Paired t-tests analyzed significant ecological differences on campsites and paired controls over time. Best management practices for managing campsites for the long-term are suggested. The second article analyzes the extent of non-native plants on campsites over thirty-two years. Paired t-tests were used to look at cover and abundance on campsites and control areas between 1982 and 2014. This paper explores ecological benefits and degradation incurred by non-native plants on campsites over time and discusses implications for wilderness character at BWCAW. The third article is interdisciplinary, incorporating ground-based recreation ecology measurements with technical spatial analyses and modeling to improve understanding of erosional processes on trails. Fine resolution terrain data was used to examine terrain metrics as they relate to amount of soil loss. Multiple Linear Regression was used to test a number of variables taken from the field and derived from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software using a 1m Digital Elevation Model. This paper explores relationships between different terrain variables and soil loss observed on the Appalachian Trail. It provides insights on which terrain features influence erosion and provides recommendations to trail managers to design more sustainable trails. / Ph. D.

As an applied approach to recreation management, adaptive management allows researchers and protected area managers to cooperatively improve management policies, and achieve the dual mandate to protect natural resources and provide high-quality recreational experiences. Through an evaluation of the efficacy of campsite and campfire management policies, this research provides land managers with an empirical assessment to aid in the adaptation and improvement of their visitor management strategies. Results from the Shenandoah National Park camping management study suggest that an established camping visitor containment strategy succeeded in reducing the areal extent of camping impacts while minimizing restrictions on visitor campsite selection options. Findings from the campfire research in seven protected areas indicate that current campfire policies have been largely ineffectual at reducing resource damage, and may exact a heavy toll in visitor experiences via campfire restrictions. The incorporation of resource and social research in this research offers a holistic approach to the evaluation of management objectives and affords protected area managers a more balanced perspective on the assessment of their policies. The conclusions reached by this integrated research will provide land managers with germane and timely information that will allow them to adapt their policies to better achieve their recreation management objectives. / Master of Science

Outdoor recreation is an ongoing global trend that has been boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend has contributed to an increase in visitor numbers in protected areas in Sweden. This qualitative interview study aims at exploring how the increasing outdoor recreation trend can proceed alongside nature conservation. Semi structured interviews were conducted with eight visitor centre supervisors and six park managers in eight protected areas in Sweden. The results suggest that most protected areas have seen an increase in visitor numbers. The negative effects of an increase in visitor numbers experienced by the informants include trampling, effects on wildlife and littering. Preventive visitor management strategies are used by visitor centre supervisors and park managers to mitigate negative effects in protected areas. These include providing information about rules and regulation, physical presence, collaboration, physical measures and dispersal of visitors. Apart from these strategies, the result show that future action to mitigate the negative effects of high visitor numbers can include creating visitor engagement, performing studies on trampling effects and wildlife disturbance as well as bans and limitations. However, further research is needed to determine the effects and accuracy of these strategies.

No description available.

This dissertation contains two journal articles; the first article (Chapter 2) evaluates the relative influences of use, managerial and environmental factors on trail width, from a survey of all formal trails in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA. Regression analyses of trail width data focus on increasing our understanding of the relationships among visitor use, environmental and managerial factors and trail width. In particular, regression modeling was used to evaluate the relative importance of factors that influence trail width along hiking trails. ANOVA analyses demonstrate differences in trail width based on trail surface type, and the presence or absence of trail borders. A novel approach of comparing intended widths to actual widths enabled us to look specifically at the avoidable and undesirable impacts associated with having a trail that is wider than intended. Informal trails (visitor created) represent a threat to the natural resources of protected natural areas around the globe. These trails can remove vegetation, displace wildlife, alter hydrology, alter habitat, spread invasive species, and fragment landscapes. The second article (Chapter 3) examines informal and formal trails within Great Falls Park, VA, a sub-unit of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, managed by the U.S. National Park Service. This study sought to answer three specific questions: 1) Are the physical characteristics and topographic alignments of informal trails significantly different from formal trails, 2) Can landscape fragmentation metrics be used to summarize the relative impacts of formal and informal trail networks on a protected natural area?, and 3) What can we learn from examining the spatial distribution of the informal trails within protected natural areas? Statistical comparisons between formal and informal trails in this park indicate that informal trails have less sustainable topographic alignments than their formal counterparts. Spatial summaries of the lineal and areal extent and fragmentation associated with the trail networks by park management zones compare park management goals to the assessed attributes. Hotspot analyses highlight areas of high trail density within the park and findings provide insights regarding potential causes for development of dense informal trail networks. / Ph. D.