Informing planning and management through visitor experiences in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
August 1, 2019
Policies mandate that managers at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument must balance recreational opportunities with a variety of resource management and utilization activities across a vast and diverse landscape containing numerous Wilderness Study Areas and other lands containing spectacular resources. This balancing act is stressed by increasing levels of use and recent changes in management direction and policy. An understanding of visitor preferences and current social conditions is an essential component of recreation management; however, scant social science data exist for the Monument. This study used semistructured qualitative interviews to describe Monument visitors’ motivations, experiences, and perceptions to determine existing social conditions. Results can help inform possible indicators of quality that can be used for long-term monitoring and adaptive management of the Monument’s unique wilderness resource.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2019 |
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Title | Informing planning and management through visitor experiences in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument |
Authors | Derrick Taff, Jeremy Wimpey, Jeffrey L. Marion, Johanna Arredondo, Fletcher Meadema, Forrest Schwartz, Ben Lawhon, Cody Dems |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | International Journal of Wilderness |
Index ID | 70210074 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Patuxent Wildlife Research Center |