Abstract
Understanding and managing the biophysical and social impacts of recreation in wilderness is an important component of effective stewardship. Understanding visitor use patterns can help managers determine where to focus limited resources and make informed decisions about appropriate actions. Large wilderness areas, short field seasons, and a lack of standardized protocols challenge managers to develop effective methods of data collection. Where surveys have been completed in the past they can be challenging to analyze, as protocols have varied over time and data collected on written forms may not be available in a database. As part of the Chief’s 10 Year Wilderness Stewardship Challenge (10YWSC), the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Region of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) has made great strides in completing recreation site surveys in wilderness. A contributing factor to this success was the use of spatial technology for data management and analysis. Understanding visitor use patterns can help managers determine where to focus limited resources and make informed decisions about appropriate actions.
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References
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Machnik, L.K., Ewer, J., Erickson, J. (2016). The Use of Spatial Technology in United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Wilderness Recreation Site Surveys. In: Carver, S., Fritz, S. (eds) Mapping Wilderness. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7399-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7399-7_4
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