Master of Science / Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources / Ryan L. Sharp / Visual-based methods are vital tools within outdoor recreation management. This method allows researchers to develop an empirical evaluation of social norms of outdoor recreationists. To better understand visitor’s perceptions, and provide usable information to site managers, researchers must better understand their methodology. This study assessed whether photograph order, within a visually-based method, in a field setting, creates differential results relative to a lab setting by comparing our results to previous literature. To accomplish this, a study was conducted at Buffalo National River (BUFF), Arkansas, USA. Visual-based methods were used in a field setting to determine whether there are order effects in perceptions of crowding between sequential and non-sequential photograph presentation order. Results indicated that study setting may influence whether order effects are present. This research will contribute to the growing body of work in the study of research methods for protected area and visitor use management.

The rock outcrops and cliffs of Shenandoah National Park provide habitat for several rare and endangered plant and animal species. The location of the world-famous ridgeline parkway, Skyline Drive, makes many outcrops and cliffs within the park readily accessible to the park's 1.2 million annual visitors. Consequently, visitor use of cliff areas has led to natural resource impacts, including marked decreases in size and vigor of known rare plant populations. Despite the clear ecological value and potential threats to the natural resources at cliff areas in the park, managers possess little information on visitor use of cliff sites and presently have no formal planning document to guide management. Thus, a park wide study of cliff sites was initiated during the 2005 visitor use season. As part of this research effort, the study presented in this thesis integrated data from resource impact measurements and visitor use observation to help assess the effects of recreational use on the natural resources of one heavily used cliff site in the park, Little Stony Man Cliffs. Results of resource impact measurements indicate that several nodal areas of high disturbance (bare soil) are present on the cliff-top and cliff-bottom. Additionally, visitor observation data point to several possible visitor use factors that may contribute to cliff-top impacts, including concentrated levels of use during certain times of day and days of the week, and frequent trampling of soil and vegetation by visitors. The information from the study presented in this thesis will help assist Shenandoah National Park staff in developing a cliff resource management plan that will protect park resources while providing opportunities for visitor enjoyment. / Master of Science

As the United States becomes increasingly urbanized, the importance of federally designated wilderness areas as places of reflection and refuge from city life becomes even more apparent. These wilderness areas provide visitors with opportunities for solitude, recreation, and connecting with nature. Wilderness has long been important to American society, influencing the likes of John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry David Thoreau. With the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the assurance that these areas would remain protected in perpetuity for the enjoyment of the American people was enshrined into law. While these wilderness areas remain protected by Federal law, increasing visitation rates and changing social norms may begin to threaten the so-called "wilderness experience," making it difficult for visitors to enjoy and experience the conditions set forth in the Wilderness Act. Wilderness managers must therefore seek to understand the attitudes, preferences, and motivations of wilderness visitors using these areas to ensure that management conditions provide for a high-quality wilderness experience. This study uses quantitative survey methods to explore differences in management preferences, wilderness conditions, and crowding perceptions between overnight and day visitors to wilderness areas. Visitors were surveyed at 30 trailheads throughout the Olympic National Park Wilderness during the summer of 2012. While wilderness visitors held many similar opinions on management preferences and wilderness conditions, there were differences in the degree to which they agreed or disagreed. Overnight visitors tended to be more sensitive to crowding than day visitors, both on hiking trails and at attraction sites, and were more supportive of management policies that limited access in favor of increasing opportunities for solitude experiences. This study supports the use of a management by objectives framework that incorporates indicators and standards of quality to ensure that certain conditions are met. Findings from this study can aid in the development of standards for crowding and the establishment of other management policies in Olympic National Park Wilderness to ensure that all visitors are provided with the opportunity for a high-quality wilderness experience.

Visitors to parks and protected areas within the United States and worldwide often visit these areas with a particular destination in mind, such as seeing Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone National Park or standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon in Grand Canyon National Park. These visitor use destinations, and the pathways leading to them, such as trails and roadways, see high levels of use, and as a result, impacts to soil, vegetation, air, water, soundscapes, and night skies that result from this use. The field of recreation ecology studies these impacts to park and protected area resources resulting from recreation use. Research conducted by recreation ecologists helps park and protected area managers prevent and minimize these impacts and preserve park resources for future generations. However, not all recreation use and impacts occur along designated pathways and at visitor destinations. The impacts that result outside of these designated areas often cause more damage to park resources such as vegetation and soil. The studies presented in this dissertation examine what factors are influencing visitor behavior outside of these destinations and pathways, such as when visitors travel off of designated trails. The results provide managers with a set of factors that may influence visitor behavior outside of visitors’ intended destinations. These factors will enable managers to better understand existing visitor spatial behavior patterns and associated resource impacts, and also predict where resource impacts may be likely to occur due to visitor recreation use, enabling prevention of future impacts from occurring.

Trails are essential transportation infrastructure supporting access to protected natural areas and providing recreation to hikers, runners, cyclists, equestrians, motorists, and many more worldwide. This research presents spatial studies intended to improve understanding of the environmental, managerial, and use-related factors that influence management of and physical and experiential conditions on long-distance hiking trails. The first study investigates a dataset from the Appalachian Trail (AT) to examine methods for using high resolution digital elevation models to measure terrain steepness near trails and along trails or potential trail routes. This analysis supports trail planning and assessment efforts because these terrain metrics strongly influence physical trail sustainability and are useful to evaluate the difficulty of travel along trails. The second study analyzes long-distance use patterns on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as depicted by a computer model developed from a survey administered to long-distance hikers, trail counters, observations, and registers. In addition to describing use patterns, the process is intended to inform the selection of methods for visitor use monitoring in response to the complexity and level of controversy of management needs. The third study examines the spatial relationships between the PCT, a national scenic trail, and other congressionally designated land areas including wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, and national monuments and how this complexity is manifested in camping management strategies and impacts along the trail corridor. This analysis supports managing for the multiple congressional mandates across the PCT landscape and improves understanding and management of interagency transboundary travel on the trail. / Doctor of Philosophy / Trails are essential transportation infrastructure supporting access to protected natural areas and providing recreation to hikers, runners, cyclists, equestrians, motorists, and many more worldwide. This research presents spatial studies intended to improve understanding of the environmental, managerial, and use-related factors that influence management and physical and experiential conditions on long-distance hiking trails. The first study investigates a dataset from the Appalachian Trail (AT) to examine methods for using high resolution digital elevation models to measure terrain steepness near trails and along trails or potential trail routes to improve digital trail assessment and planning. The second study analyzes long-distance use patterns on the PCT as depicted by a computer model developed from a survey administered to long-distance hikers, trail counters, observations, and registers. The third study examines the complexity of managing transboundary long distance trails by quantifying the spatial relationships between the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), a national scenic trail, and other congressionally designated land areas, and by reviewing camping impacts at high use locations on the trail corridor.