As Canada welcomes immigrants from around the world, planners increasingly strive for policies and initiatives that meet culturally diverse needs. In Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, park planners have directed more attention to wilderness use by ethnic minority groups, particularly the Chinese population. Nowhere in Canada are people of Chinese ancestry more prominent than in Greater Vancouver, where they comprise 47% of the visible minority population and 17% of the total population. However, the rate of Chinese participation in wilderness recreation is less than that of the general population. This exploratory study examines the cultural nuances and institutional barriers that impede Chinese participation in wilderness recreation activities. It is primarily based on 51 in-depth interviews with members of the Chinese community in Greater Vancouver during 2002. Recruitment was by a hybrid convenience-purposive-snowball sampling method, which resulted in a non-random sample. Interview questions addressed views about wilderness, outdoor recreation and wilderness experience, awareness of local recreation opportunities, means to retrieve park information, and preferences for park settings and facilities. The Vancouver Index of Acculturation was used to measure participants' levels of acculturation. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, and information from field notes and transcripts were organized into main themes and triangulated with secondary data sources for analysis. Results indicate that Chinese who are more acculturated to Canadian culture ('High Mainstream Chinese') visit a greater number of parks and are willing to travel a further distance to access them. They also tend to visit parks more often, stay longer, and tend to be attracted to more physically demanding or 'hard adventure' activities, whereas less acculturated individuals ('Low Mainstream Chinese') are inclined to more passive outdoor activities. The study points to reasons that explain why Low Mainstream Chinese ? particularly recent immigrants ? are participating less in wilderness recreation. Factors include fear of the wilderness environment, preference for more highly developed parks, a lack of awareness of wilderness opportunities, and inadequate access to park information. Subtle aspects of the Chinese subcultural identity, such as importance of cleanliness, emphasis on academics, priorities on work, and clannishness, also play a role in Chinese under-participation. Thus if park planners want to facilitate Chinese use of designated wilderness areas, they should address issues such as safety, level of park development, availability of information, and awareness of wilderness opportunities in a culturally sensitive way. Doing so would promote more equitable access to a public resource. Increased awareness and appreciation of wilderness by ethnic minority groups may also help garner political support for future conservation initiatives and build a stronger local economy.

As Canada welcomes immigrants from around the world, planners increasingly strive for policies and initiatives that meet culturally diverse needs. In Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, park planners have directed more attention to wilderness use by ethnic minority groups, particularly the Chinese population. Nowhere in Canada are people of Chinese ancestry more prominent than in Greater Vancouver, where they comprise 47% of the visible minority population and 17% of the total population. However, the rate of Chinese participation in wilderness recreation is less than that of the general population. This exploratory study examines the cultural nuances and institutional barriers that impede Chinese participation in wilderness recreation activities. It is primarily based on 51 in-depth interviews with members of the Chinese community in Greater Vancouver during 2002. Recruitment was by a hybrid convenience-purposive-snowball sampling method, which resulted in a non-random sample. Interview questions addressed views about wilderness, outdoor recreation and wilderness experience, awareness of local recreation opportunities, means to retrieve park information, and preferences for park settings and facilities. The Vancouver Index of Acculturation was used to measure participants' levels of acculturation. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, and information from field notes and transcripts were organized into main themes and triangulated with secondary data sources for analysis. Results indicate that Chinese who are more acculturated to Canadian culture ('High Mainstream Chinese') visit a greater number of parks and are willing to travel a further distance to access them. They also tend to visit parks more often, stay longer, and tend to be attracted to more physically demanding or 'hard adventure' activities, whereas less acculturated individuals ('Low Mainstream Chinese') are inclined to more passive outdoor activities. The study points to reasons that explain why Low Mainstream Chinese ? particularly recent immigrants ? are participating less in wilderness recreation. Factors include fear of the wilderness environment, preference for more highly developed parks, a lack of awareness of wilderness opportunities, and inadequate access to park information. Subtle aspects of the Chinese subcultural identity, such as importance of cleanliness, emphasis on academics, priorities on work, and clannishness, also play a role in Chinese under-participation. Thus if park planners want to facilitate Chinese use of designated wilderness areas, they should address issues such as safety, level of park development, availability of information, and awareness of wilderness opportunities in a culturally sensitive way. Doing so would promote more equitable access to a public resource. Increased awareness and appreciation of wilderness by ethnic minority groups may also help garner political support for future conservation initiatives and build a stronger local economy.

Once the founding site of the city of Toronto and its second largest watercourse, the Garrison Creek and its original landscape of dense forest and deep ravines have disappeared beneath an aggressive process of development and growth. Yet, despite attempts to subdue the creek, it continues to reveal itself through a collection of buildings, sites and structures, here collectively referred to as artefacts, that mark its path. This thesis presents the lost stories of the Garrison Creek as an investigation into the circumstances surrounding its burial and the city’s futile attempts to control its wilderness. Recounted as an historical narrative through the pairing of archival photographs and stories, this thesis exhibits a catalogue of the politics, betrayal, confusion, characters, voices, lessons and synchronicities that have emerged through the burial of the creek. The structure of this thesis is intended to draw out a definition that describes the tenuous, conflicted and complex relationship between a major North American city undergoing rapid change and the wilderness from which it emerged.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-143).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 137 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-76).

The Wilderness Act of 1964 states the purpose of the National Wilderness Preservation System is "to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness." But, how to accomplish this mandate is a complex task. The application of the Ecosystem Services model is ideal for facilitating the complex duel goals of securing benefits and preserving wilderness resources. Ecosystem Services directly addresses benefits derived from a landscape, even if the specifics of the benefits change over time. This dissertation employs Ecosystem Services as a framework to provide a more complete understanding of wilderness values. In three separate studies conducted in wilderness areas in Southern Arizona, (Assessing Border-Related Human Impacts at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Linking Visitor Flows and Patterns of Use with General Management Planning in Saguaro National Park and Monitoring and Estimating Visitor Use at the Madrona Ranger Station and Surrounding Landscape) elements of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are illuminated.I found that the more holistic epistemology of Ecosystem Services allowed for the inclusion of better scientific data in the management process. The inclusion of quantitative, repeatable, defensible studies of user behavior in wildlands allows for dynamic management options that are rooted in real conditions (mutable, undesirable or unique). Specifically Cultural Ecosystem Services address the value and significance of the unique landscape of wilderness. Previous models for wildland management sought specific metrics of carrying capacity to limit use and control impact. Ecosystem Services combines diverse scientific fields to provide real understanding of the landscape. The addition of ES to manager's decision processes allows for better understanding of real conditions.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Running Fence, begun 1972 and installed in 1976, and Niki de St. Phalle’s Queen Califia’s Magical Circle, dedicated 2003, in northern and southern California respectively, reexamine the ways landscape art historically shaped ideological constructs, lived experience, and cultural economics. Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and St. Phalle draw on well known representations of the frontier and American West from the nineteenth century including, antebellum landscapes such as Thomas Cole’s The Oxbow, 1836 and Emmanuel Leutze’s Westward the Course of Empire, 1862 as well as Reconstruction Era landscapes including Andrew Russell’s The Golden Spike, 1869 and John Gast’s American Progress, 1872. When Christo, Jeanne-Claude, and St. Phalle’s West Coast art are viewed together, questions about history and tradition, the relationship of economics to cultural production, and aesthetics informed by place and environment, emerge as salient. Through the artists’ interest in time, place, and environment, as well as sustained engagement with community, Running Fence and Queen Califia’s Magical Circle construct representations of the local and interpret the histories and cultures of Sonoma and Marin Counties and Escondido. Running Fence and Queen Califia’s Magical Circle critically engage with artistic convention, state construction, capitalism and cultural production, and the construction of race, gender, and sexuality. As art historian William Truettner explained historical representations of the western frontier as “national pictures,” so too Running Fence and Queen Califia’s Magical Circle reinterpret historical images of the American West through an emphasis on community and place rather than nation-building and nationalism.

Wilderness therapy is a unique approach to therapy that incorporates nature and experiential learning as a part of the therapeutic process. Wilderness therapy has proven to be a successful means of treatment, but research suggests the importance of family involvement for sustainable change post-wilderness therapy treatment. Wilderness family therapy was created as a result of this research; however, limited research reflects the experience and outcomes of wilderness therapy that includes more intense family involvement. Moreover, research lacks data collected from the therapists within the wilderness family therapy programs. Because the therapist plays an integral role in the success of treatment, it is important to consider the therapist’s experience of providing wilderness therapy, especially wilderness family therapy. The present study used a qualitative phenomenological approach to reach a greater understanding of the experience of wilderness family therapists. Results revealed six major themes that describe this experience including personal background, the role of a wilderness family therapist, positive and affirming experiences, difficult and challenging experiences, advantages of a wilderness family therapy approach, and limitations of a wilderness family therapy approach. Finally, a description was provided that portrays the essence of the experience of a wilderness family therapist.

Once the founding site of the city of Toronto and its second largest watercourse, the Garrison Creek and its original landscape of dense forest and deep ravines have disappeared beneath an aggressive process of development and growth. Yet, despite attempts to subdue the creek, it continues to reveal itself through a collection of buildings, sites and structures, here collectively referred to as artefacts, that mark its path. This thesis presents the lost stories of the Garrison Creek as an investigation into the circumstances surrounding its burial and the city’s futile attempts to control its wilderness. Recounted as an historical narrative through the pairing of archival photographs and stories, this thesis exhibits a catalogue of the politics, betrayal, confusion, characters, voices, lessons and synchronicities that have emerged through the burial of the creek. The structure of this thesis is intended to draw out a definition that describes the tenuous, conflicted and complex relationship between a major North American city undergoing rapid change and the wilderness from which it emerged.

Thesis (M. Env. Studies)--University of Adelaide, 1981. / Includes appendices. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-147).