Treesearch

Despite widespread efforts to minimize resource impacts, a number of remote areas continue to suffer from poor backcountry practices. Research to evaluate the effectiveness of low-impact communication strategies as they relate to recall of messages (Cole and others 1997) measured whether or not recreationists were aware of appropriate behavior given certain scenarios; it did not measure actual compliance. Partially in response to the results of that study, it has been hypothesized that a lack of information is not necessarily the only limiting factor in complying with specific low-impact...

Three criteria are used to assess how Yellowstone’s wilderness managers incorporate science into management: preciousness, vulnerability and responsiveness to management. Four observations are proposed. First, where scientists lead, managers will follow. Scientists that leave the best trail will be followed most closely. Second, managers need to refocus efforts on landscape-scale impacts, and they need scientists to give them the techniques to do this. Third, managers need to refocus efforts on impacts to visitors. Finally, managers need to refocus efforts to assess cumulative effects;...

Since its inception as a wilderness planning and management tool almost 15 years ago, the Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) process has stressed the importance of monitoring. Monitoring social conditions is critical to ensure that quality visitor experiences are maintained. Ten years of data collected from monitoring three river corridor-related social indicators in the Bear Trap Canyon Wilderness in Southwestern Montana are analyzed. Results indicate there is very little direct relationship between use levels of floaters and hikers and the ability to meet the LAC social standards. The...

New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest is well known for its mountain scenery and its diverse outdoor recreational opportunities. Within The Forest are two federally protected Class I wilderness areas, the Great Gulf Wilderness, and the Presidential Dry-River Wilderness. The expansive scenic vistas from these two wilderness areas are commonly impaired by regional haze, largely a byproduct of fossil fuel electric energy production upwind of the region. Consumer choice of electric suppliers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 1999 regional haze regulations, and other regional...

Despite clear legislative and policy direction to preserve natural conditions in wilderness, the maintenance of fire as a natural process has proven to be a significant challenge to federal land managers. As of 1998, only 88 of the 596 designated wilderness areas in the United States, excluding Alaska, had approved fire plans that allow some natural ignitions to burn; and even those areas with active natural fire programs continue to suppress many natural ignitions. As a result, none of the four federal wilderness management agencies have been able to restore fire to a level that even...

Wilderness areas of the Sierra Nevada, California contain thousands of lakes and ponds, nearly all of which were historically fishless. After more than a century of fish stocking, introduced trout are now present in up to 80% of larger lakes. These nonnative fishes have had profound impacts on native fishes, amphibians, and invertebrates. Several of these native species are either already listed under the Endangered Species Act, or are likely to be petitioned for listing in the near future. Reducing impacts to aquatic ecosystems within wilderness areas should be a high priority, and will...

To balance wilderness lake use between recreational fisheries and protected habitat for native species, managers need to understand how stocking non-native predaceous fish affects amphibian populations within a landscape. The goal of this paper is to help managers design and conduct studies that will provide such information. Desirable study characteristics include multiple-visit surveys of all wetlands within a watershed to provide information on amphibian distribution, abundance, breeding, recruitment and seasonal variation in habitat use. By identifying the distribution of critical...

The Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy and Program Review represents the latest stage in the evolution of wildland fire management. This policy directs changes that consolidate past fire management practices into a single direction to achieve multidimensional objectives and creates increased opportunities for wilderness fire management. Objectives previously accomplished through prescribed natural fire are now achieved through application of an appropriate management response to wildland fires. The 1998 fire season provided both a test of the policy and a clear indication of future...

Native and nonnative sport fish have been introduced into the majority of historically fishless lakes in wilderness, generating conflicts between managing wilderness as natural ecosystems and providing opportunities for recreation. Managers faced with controversial and difficult decisions about how to manage wilderness lakes may not always have ready access to research relevant to these decisions. To address this problem, and to expose scientists to the concerns and constraints of managers and wilderness users, a workshop was held in October 1998 at the Flathead Lake Biological Station in...

Winter use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks increased dramatically in the 1980s and early 1990s. That increase and the emphasis on snowmobiles as the primary mode of transportation brought into focus a host of winter-related issues, including air pollution, unwanted sound, wildlife impacts and the adequacy of agency budgets, staff and infrastructure to manage the burgeoning use. The increase has spawned several research and monitoring projects, five planning processes, two regulatory processes and, to date, two lawsuits. This paper is a case study of the ongoing planning,...