Treesearch

Using data from a study conducted in the Cranberry Wilderness area, this paper describes how the Importance-Performance approach can be used to prioritize wilderness indicators and determine how much change from the pristine is acceptable. The approach uses two key types of information: (1) indicator importance, or visitor opinion as to which wilderness indicators have the greatest influence on their experience, and; (2) management performance. Performance is determined by comparing actual conditions to visitor standards using the Indicator Performance Estimates (IPE) approach. The results...

As more and more of our population move from rural to suburban to urban to metropolitan settings, the connections between people and the land of which they are a part become less obvious, less immediately important and less clearly understood. The contrast between a complex, highly structured social and cultural urban environment and the natural world seems bipolar. The urban dweller, accordingly, sees only a continuous natural landscape. The implications of this difficulty need to be examined and understood by urban wilderness managers.

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted at Moraine Hills State Park outside of Chicago, which is one of the few Illinois state parks that gets a high level of use by ethnic minorities. Personal interviews were conducted with 310 fishermen at two sites within the park: the McHenry Dam, a highly developed recreation area on the Fox River, and Wilderness Lake, a beautiful and very rustic lake in the park's interior. Results indicate that, despite the aesthetics and cleaner water of Wilderness Lake, Black, Hispanic, and Asian fishermen were more likely to fish at the dam, they...

Many people from a variety of backgrounds believe that Mt. Shasta is a major spiritual center. Although these "spiritual users" value the area's natural features, their spiritual and social activities, including construction of sweat lodges, medicine wheels, altars, meditation pads, trails, and campsites, are leading to rapid ecological degradation. This situation is not compatible with the solitude and pristine conditions called for in the Wilderness Act. Participatory management of Mt. Shasta by cultural resource users offers a possible solution.

Service delivery has become an increasingly important part of managing public lands for recreation. The range of preferences held by ethnically diverse users of recreation sites may warrant the development of more than one service delivery strategy. Two questions were examined: (1) Are there differences in site perceptions that can be identified on the basis on ethnicity? and (2) If so, how many service delivery strategies are necessary to meet the needs of the site users? Three ethnic groups were identified, but most differences were found between Anglos and Hispanics. These results...

With increased public concern for public lands resource steward-ship, the Bureau of Land Management is more and more expected to make what is perceived as "right decisions." The ethical dimensions of often highly complex decision making processes have become more and more apparent. The baseline research presented here is designed to promote a land ethic awareness among a wide spectrum of bureau employees who contribute to the daily management of the public domain. Throughout history philosophers have made more profound changes in civilization than all of the conquering armies. Ideas in...

Many of the Aleuts, Inuits, and Indians of Alaska continue to live a traditional lifestyle. Eighty-eight percent of the land they use for subsistence activities, however, is managed by federal or state agencies. Clear communication across cultures is essential if Native people are to be represented in agency land management decisions. Problems in communication relate to the differences between Native and Western cultures and language. Five solutions are proposed: defensible participation program, support of translator training, terminology workshops, term glossary, and use of Native terms...

This presentation explores a model of service delivery ranging from direct service provision to advocacy and reports findings on the delivery mode most prevalent in park and recreation departments that serve Asian groups in their community. The implications of the role of the professional, the range of service delivery, and the manner in which ethnic groups are excluded are discussed.

Much of the early work done within the realm of ethnic group participation in outdoor recreation has focused on understanding what was seen as underparticipation utilizing two possible explanations: marginality and ethnicity. Rather than characterizing these explanations as competing, it may be more fruitful to characterize them as being two parts of the larger social structural framework of which individuals are a part. This paper focuses on understanding the demographic characteristics of the Hispanic individuals (primarily of Mexican and Central American descent) recreating on the...

This presentation explores theoretical reasons for the underutilization of services, discusses types and problems of access which may be both inadvertent and institutionalized, and discusses policy implications of this work. Data suggest that individuals from distinct ethnic populations, particularly Hispanic, African-American, and Native American, tend to underutilize social and human service programs available to them.