A research strategy for enhancing sustainable recreation and tourism on public lands

Abstract

Recreation and tourism on public lands benefit visitors through improved health, enjoyable experiences, and enrichment from our natural and cultural heritage. Public land managers play a critical role by providing opportunities for high-quality outdoor experiences while protecting ecosystems, recognizing cultural and historical connections, sustaining local economies, and promoting resilient communities. The challenge of stewarding public lands and meeting increasing public demands in an era of decreasing fiscal resources, conflicting public values, and significant environmental changes has overwhelmed our existing recreation management model. Public land management agencies can benefit from consideration of the entire social-ecological system, stepping outside the public land boundary to create a resilient socioecological community. Such work can be guided by research, data, and science-based tools and planning frameworks that have been tested in the field. As demographics, technologies, and consumer preferences shift, there is a need for relevant and timely information and forward-thinking research to help managers anticipate change and manage sustainable visitor use across public lands.     In 2018, a collaborative initiative called Igniting the Science of Outdoor Recreation (ISOR) convened researchers, managers, industry leaders, and other practitioners across multiple agencies and sectors to discuss management concerns and identify research needs for the management of outdoor recreation and tourism on public lands. This national research strategy for outdoor recreation and tourism, focusing on public lands, is a product of ISOR’s work. The strategy serves as an organizing and synthesizing document and is the first step toward a reinvigorated national recreation and tourism research program for public lands. Its aim is to shape future scientific inquiry related to outdoor recreation and tourism and to create a robust, relevant, and timely body of information and tools to inform the work of public land managers. This report outlines the vision, objectives, and scope of the research strategy and presents eight research focus areas and three implementation strategies to guide future research. These proposals by government and academic researchers, public land managers, nonprofit organizations, private industry groups, outdoor recreation user groups, and other strategic partnerships were designed to leverage collective knowledge, resources, and energies around sustainable approaches to managing recreation and tourism on public lands.

Citation

Cerveny, Lee K.; Derrien, Monika M.; Miller, Anna B., eds. 2020. A research strategy for enhancing sustainable recreation and tourism on public lands. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-991. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 102 p.