The study of race/ethnicity and leisure has been an area of great interest to researchers since at least the 1970s. Numerous studies have shown that differences exist in the ways people from different racial/ethnic groups participate in outdoor recreation. Most of these studies have found that racial and ethnic minorities (i.e. non-White groups) participate in many outdoor recreation activities at proportionally lower levels than do Whites. While these studies present numerous hypotheses to help explain this phenomenon, no study has been conclusive. In this dissertation, I present a theoretical framework and three empirical studies to investigate the nuances of this issue. The first study examines the theory of systemic racism (Feagin, 2006) and its utility to deepen our understanding of the factors that play into African Americans relationship with nature and outdoor recreation. The second study analyzes narrative and historical autobiographical accounts of African Americans from the three major racial eras in United States history in order to examine African Americans’ relationship with nature over time. The third study examines the racially related constraints of African Americans who are involved in serious leisure pursuits of activities generally considered outdoor recreation, as well as African Americans who are involved in nature related careers. The constraints I found with this group are reservations of family and friends regarding being in “the woods,” collective memory and fear, being the “only one, ” discrimination and “reverse curiosity,” assumption of novice status, and balancing identity between being Black, and “acting White.” In the fourth study I analyze this same study group, but explore their experiences of being involved in serious leisure and look at the negotiation schema that this group employed to sustain participation. These negotiation schema are childhood formative experiences, realizing deep connections to nature, transcendental experiences in nature, leaning on knowledge of nature, comfort with White people/places/groups, and positive experiences with White people in nature. The four studies in this collection represent a rethinking and deepening of our knowledge of African American participation in the outdoors.

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Thesis (M.S. - Watershed Management)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.L. Arch.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-92). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--California Polytechnic State University, 2009. / Title from PDF title page; viewed on June 24, 2009. "June 2009." "In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree [of] Master of Science in Agriculture, with Specialization in Recreation, Parks & Tourism Management." "Presented to the faculty of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo." Major professor: William Hendricks, Ph.D. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-94).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1994. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-123). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis--University of Wisconsin. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [256]-27l).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

It is becoming apparent that some issues in natural resource management do not lend themselves to the technical, 'value-neutral' approach to decision-making that has often characterized this function of government. One of these issues is outdoor recreation, which has become a resource use equally important to such traditional uses as water management, mineral extraction, and forest harvesting. Choices made with respect to recreational use of natural resources inevitably reflect the perceptions and priorities of those individuals who participate in making the choices. Resource managers who make decisions about the use of natural resources in the 'public interest’ must seek to optimize, that is, to choose that alternative course of action which yields the greatest net benefits to society. This study purports to assess how well the Provincial Parks agency of the Province of Alberta generates information which can lead to optimal decisions in recreation resource management. A discussion of the growing importance of outdoor recreational use of resources, and of the public nature of outdoor recreation opportunities provided by government agencies, precedes a brief analysis of a number of decision models. The latter analysis suggests that the generation of information about alternative choices is an important determinant of the outcome of the decision-making process. Accordingly, a number of criteria are proposed which will permit an evaluation of the provincial parks agency's approach to providing information for decisions regarding the management of outdoor recreation resources in the province. The provincial parks agency is described in terms of its administrative environment, its evolution since 1952, and the operation of the information generation process in the agency. Contextual information on the attitudes of provincial residents towards outdoor recreation is drawn from a survey of outdoor recreation behavior and perceptions carried out in the Peace River region of Alberta in 1972. The study concludes with the evaluation of the agency's operation in terms of the criteria proposed earlier in the study. For those aspects of information generation in which the criteria are not met, suggestions for improvement are offered. These include the definition, through public discussion, of the agency's role in providing a range of outdoor recreational opportunities for residents of, and visitors to, the province. Secondly, it is suggested that the scope of the agency's planning process should be expanded so that the provision of outdoor recreational opportunities can be considered a problem of supply as well as demand; information about the benefits and costs of alternative uses of recreational resources, and the benefits and costs of using resources that are suitable for recreation for other purposes, would be generated if such an approach was adopted. Finally, it is suggested that, in order to adequately reflect the full range of societal values in its decision process, the agency should institute a program of consultation with the public, whereby citizens would participate in decisions regarding such matters as general policy direction and major parks projects. The attachment of a permanent public advisory committee to the office of the Minister responsible for provincial parks is suggested as a medium through which Albertans may participate in planning their provincial parks. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate