In August of 2012, the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to designate the Greater Canyonlands National Monument (GCNM). The proposed 1.4 million acre national monument would surround the already present 337,570 acre Canyonlands National Park, and would include public lands/waterways from five Utah counties. The OIA’s goal for the GCNM is to preserve the landscape for quality outdoor recreation by decreasing the amount of off-highway vehicle use and to eliminate the possibility of oil/gas drilling and mining. Given the proposal highlights outdoor recreation use benefits as the main catalyst for justification of additional conservation/protection of lands surrounding Canyonlands National Park, this study surveyed recreationists in the Indian Creek Corridor—an area within the boundaries of the proposed GCNM—to explore their attitudes toward the GCNM and the management of the area. This study examined how environmental orientation, place dependence, place identity, residential proximity, and recreational activity type related to attitudes toward the GCNM. Environmental orientation and residential proximity were both good predictors of attitudes toward the GCNM and the management of the Greater Canyonlands area. More biocentric-oriented people, and people who lived farther away from the Greater Canyonlands area, were more likely to have favorable attitudes toward the GCNM and were more opposed to land uses such as mining and energy development. In addition, visitors were largely “unsure” if the GCNM should be designated. Visitors felt most strongly that if the GCNM is going to be designated, the process of designation, the land that would be included, and management of the GCNM should be agreed upon by stakeholders before the monument is designated. This suggests a quick designation via public proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906 could largely exacerbate the already present conflict over public land management in the region, which would create an even more difficult environment for federal land managers.

Naturalistic exhibits have become popular among zoo designers as well as zoo visitors. However, one problem associated with naturalistic exhibits is that many times visitors cannot see the animals. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of this lack of visibility on visitor experience. Other goals of this study were 1) to theorize the relationship between visitor experience and exhibit design, 2) to present the implications of this study on current practices in zoo exhibit design, and 3) to provide a series of design recommendations which will enhance current design practices. The results of this study suggest that there is a significant relationship between animal visibility and visitor experience. Most importantly, the results indicate that animal visibility can significantly influence how visitors use the interpretive materials associated with the exhibits. These results are important because a primary zoo objective is visitor education through sign readership. The most valuable contributions made by this study are 1) the theory proposed in this thesis which provides designers a stronger theoretical foundation from which to begin the design of zoo exhibits, 2) the findings provide additional empirical data in identifying qualities of exhibits which stimulate visitors to read, and 3) the findings provide researchers additional evidence concerning what factors of an exhibit are most significant in influencing visitor attitudes. / Master of Landscape Architecture