Alan E. Watson

Beyond the commodity metaphor: Examining emotional and symbolic attachment to place

Abstract In contrast to the dominant multiattribute commodity view of outdoor recreation settings, wilderness users are described as having emotional and symbolic ties to the setting that are manifested as attachment to the site and the wilderness concept. Data from four wilderness areas show stronger place and wilderness attachment to be associated with previous visits, rural residence, a setting (as opposed to activity or group) focus, visiting alone and on weekdays, hunting in the area, and sensitivity to site impacts and horse encounters. Place attachment is also associated with a lack of nonwilderness substitutes and lower income and education. Wilderness attachment is associated with membership in wilderness and conservation organizations, visits to more wilderness areas, a preference for longer visits, participation in nature study, and sensitivity to sight and sound intrusions and hiker encounters. The importance of understanding emotional and symbolic values of natural resources is discussed in r...

An hermeneutic approach to studying the nature of wilderness experiences.

The most prevalent approach to understanding recreation experiences in resource management has been a motivational research program that views satisfaction as an appropriate indicator of experience quality. This research explores a different approach to studying the quality of recreation experiences. Rather than viewing recreation experiences as a linear sequence of events beginning with expectations and ending with outcomes that are then cognitively compared to determine experience quality, this alternative approach views recreation as an emergent experience motivated by the not very well-defined goal of acquiring stories that ultimately enrich ones life. Further, it assumes that the nature of human experience is best characterized by situated freedom in which the environment sets boundaries that constrain the nature of the experience, but that within those boundaries recreationists are free to experience the world in unique and variable ways. Therefore this alternative approach seeks a more context specific description of the setting/experience relationship that is intended to complement more general management frameworks (e.g., the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum) developed in conjunction with the motivational research program.

Defining acceptable conditions in wilderness

The limits of acceptable change (LAC) planning framework recognizes that forest managers must decide what indicators of wilderness conditions best represent resource naturalness and high-quality visitor experiences and how much change from the pristine is acceptable for each indicator. Visitor opinions on the aspects of the wilderness that have great impact on their experience can provide valuable input to selection of indicators. Cohutta, Georgia; Caney Creek, Arkansas; Upland Island, Texas; and Rattlesnake, Montana, wilderness visitors have high shared agreement that littering and damage to trees in campsites, noise, and seeing wildlife are very important influences on wilderness experiences. Camping within sight or sound of other people influences experience quality more than do encounters on the trails. Visitors’ standards of acceptable conditions within wilderness vary considerably, suggesting a potential need to manage different zones within wilderness for different clientele groups and experiences. Standards across wildernesses, however, are remarkably similar.

Understanding Place Meanings on the Bitterroot National Forest, Montana

This study describes local personal and community relationships with the Bitterroot National Forest, Montana. Using a rapid appraisal research approach, a range of personal and community values was identified. Participants were asked to identify places they valued on the forest and why they valued them. Study results indicate that local relationships exist on several scales. First, people differentiate the set of values they ascribe to places they have visited from those places they have not. Two sets of values, at two very different scales, emerged in their descriptions of places they visit and those they do not. Community residents were also asked about things that influence their response to fuel management treatments. Managers and planners can benefit from understanding local relationships with public lands through narratives that describe why some locations are more important to residents than others and anticipate reactions to planned projects that may alter those relationships.

The Nature of Conflict Between Hikers and Recreational Stock Users in the John Muir Wilderness

The purpose of this research was to determine the extent of conflict between hikers and recreational stock users in a Sierra Nevada wilderness and to test the relative importance of various hypothetical predictors of conflict using multiple conflict measures. A survey of hikers and recreational stock users of the John Muir Wilderness in California revealed the ability to predict expression of conflict was high using measures of definition of place, specialization, focus of trip/expectations. and lifestyle tolerance. The strongest relationship, however, was between hypothesized determinants and attitudes hikers maintain toward encountering stock groups, rather than between hypothesized determinants and a goal interference measure of conflict.

Economic Impacts of Recreational Spending on Rural Areas: A Case Study

Researchers, planners, and policymakers are becoming increasingly interested in the rural economic development potentials of outdoor recreation. Empirical evidence evaluating this economic development potential, however, is almost nonexistent. In this article, results of a study that examined local economic effects of spending associated with outdoor recreation in selected rural areas are reported. Recreational expenditures were collected as part of the Public Area Recreation Visitors Study (PARVS). Economic impacts of these expenditures were estimated using regional input-output models developed from the USDA Forest Service input-output model and data base system (IMPLAN). Results indicated that recreational spending contributed substantially to gross output, income, employment, and value added in the studied rural areas. These results suggest that outdoor recreation may be a viable rural economic development strategy.

The influence of past experience on wilderness choice

A study of Southern Appalachian backcountry hikers tested the hypothesis that recreationists with high experience levels would have greater differentiation of site attribute values when making recreation choices than would individuals with low experience. Contrary to cognitive development theory, a simulated laboratory choice study found that more experienced subjects employed fewer and broader attribute value categories than did their less experienced counterparts. This surprising finding might be explained by the nature of the judgment task. Cognitive development theory suggests that greater experience leads to greater perceptual distinction along a range of attribute values, but social judgment theory suggests fewer attitudinal or preference distinctions along the range of attribute values with increased involvement with the issue or object. Leisure planners, managers, and programmers must decide what type of judgment they are asking recreationists to make when they attempt to influence choice through provision of information.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF STATE PARKS ON STATE ECONOMIES IN THE SOUTH

The economic impacts of recreational visits to state parks on the economies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee were estimated using the U.S. Forest Service IMPLAN input-output modeling system. Recreational expenditure data associated with state parks were obtained from the Public Area Recreation Visitors Study (PARVS). Results suggest that recreational spending may stimulate a considerable amount of economic activity in the state economies studied. Hence, future research into the economic development potential of outdoor recreation seems warranted.

Developing Computer-Based Participatory Approaches to Mapping Landscape Values for Landscape and Resource Management

The last 50 years or so have seen a steady increase in the rate of destructive wildfires across the world, partly as a result of climate change and partly as a result of encroachment of human settlement on fire-based ecosystems (Russell et al. 2004; Westerling et al. 2006). Years of active fire suppression in such areas has inevitably led to the build-up of hazardous fuel loads, creating ideal conditions for destructive wildfires (Johnson et al. 2001). Recently, serious wildfires have occurred in Australia, southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, as well as those occurring in the USA in California, Montana, Idaho and Alaska. Current thinking on fire management is very much focused on re-instating natural fire regimes and allowing fire, as nearly as possible, to function in its natural ecological role (Miller 2006), thereby reducing the occurrence of destructive fires. Mechanical fuel treatments (e.g. thinning) and prescribed burning are being used to reduce fuel loads to near natural conditions, after which natural fire regimes can be allowed to operate. There are two main types of thinning that either remove selected trees to create a more widely spaced forest consisting of trees of different sizes/ages or remove all smaller trees and brush within the understory to leave a more uniform forest of more widely spaced older trees. Prescribed burning uses small managed fires, rather than mechanical means, to achieve the latter. This is a long and involved process and often has the potential to create conflict between the different management regimes associated with adjacent lands and between the different inhabitants and stakeholders affected in the short to medium term. This requires a high degree of collaboration and participatory planning if acceptable fuel reduction strategies and management plans are to be developed.

Defining past‐experience dimensions for wilderness recreation

Abstract The past experience of wildland recreation users has been investigated in hypotheses of both causal and associative relationships. In the past, experience has been measured by asking visitors multiple questions about their past wildland recreation participation. These multiple items have then often been combined into unidimensional scales for hypothesis testing, without consistency in standardization or weighting methods. In this article, we describe the use of data from Cohutta Wilderness visitors to demonstrate principal‐components and factor analysis techniques to define the experience construct for hypothesis testing. These approaches offer two ways to develop linear combinations of experience variables that maintain the multi‐dimensionality of the experience construct during hypothesis testing and avoid questionable weighting and other combination processes. Factor analysis also offers the opportunity for understanding the underlying dimensions and theory building, if these are study objectives.