On-Site Social Surveys and the Determination of Social Carrying Capacity in Wildland Recreation Management

Patrick C. West

doi:10.2737/NC-RN-264

Treesearch

On-Site Social Surveys and the Determination of Social Carrying Capacity in Wildland Recreation Management

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Patrick C. West

Year:

1981

Type:

Research Note

Station:

Northern Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2737/NC-RN-264

Source:

Research Note NC-264. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station

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Download (PDF 1.11 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/11851.pdf

Abstract

It has been suggested that on-site surveys of user fail to measure crowding accurately because long time users who knew the area before the "crowds" came tend to feel the most crowded, and thus do not return. Such "displaced" users would not be included in current on-site survey samples. Results from a limited test at the Sylvania Recreation Area in Michigan do not support this "displacement thesis." However, further research is needed in other settings to test this hypothesis more fully.

Keywords

Wilderness areas, social carrying capacity, social surveys, displacement, crowding

Citation

West, Patrick C. 1981. On-Site Social Surveys and the Determination of Social Carrying Capacity in Wildland Recreation Management. Research Note NC-264. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station