TY - JOUR
T1 - Whether they return
T2 - Modeling outdoor recreation behaviors, decision-making, and intention-to-return in congressionally designated wilderness
AU - Ferguson, Michael D.
AU - Caraynoff, Alexander R.
AU - Ferguson, Lauren A.
AU - Barcelona, Robert J.
AU - Evensen, Darrick
AU - Knox, Holly
AU - Pytlik, Steven
AU - Grosz, Donna
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: The funding for this research was generously provided by the USDA Forest Service, grant numbers 110357.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/6/28
Y1 - 2022/6/28
N2 - Visitation to parks and protected areas (PPAs) has become increasingly widespread in the United States. This increased visitation is especially concerning within congressionally designated wilderness areas where federal agencies are tasked with the dual mandate of preserving wilderness character while simultaneously providing high-quality outdoor recreation experiences. This study investigated the influence of social, situational, and ecological factors on outdoor recreation visitor behaviors and decision making within the Lye Brook Congressionally Designated Wilderness (LBW) area in Vermont, USA. An on-site intercept survey (n = 576) was employed to collect data from LBW visitors in the summer of 2021. Descriptive and multi-variate statistics (e.g., binary logistic regression, structural equation modeling) indicated that visitor behaviors (e.g., coping, substitution) and decision-making (e.g., intention-to-return) were significantly influenced by social (e.g., conflict), situational (e.g., litter, access), and ecological (e.g., trail conditions, weather) impacts. Moreover, the presence of various weather conditions was found to significantly influence the severity of perceived social, situational, and ecological impacts. Study results indicated that outdoor recreation experiences are multifaceted, necessitating a suite of social, situational, and ecological considerations, especially when examining the relationship between visitor coping behaviors and intention-to-return. This research advances the coping framework, provides empirical support for future examination of social–ecological system (SES) theory, and emphasizes the utility of employing an adaptive systems approach for sustainable PPA management.
AB - Visitation to parks and protected areas (PPAs) has become increasingly widespread in the United States. This increased visitation is especially concerning within congressionally designated wilderness areas where federal agencies are tasked with the dual mandate of preserving wilderness character while simultaneously providing high-quality outdoor recreation experiences. This study investigated the influence of social, situational, and ecological factors on outdoor recreation visitor behaviors and decision making within the Lye Brook Congressionally Designated Wilderness (LBW) area in Vermont, USA. An on-site intercept survey (n = 576) was employed to collect data from LBW visitors in the summer of 2021. Descriptive and multi-variate statistics (e.g., binary logistic regression, structural equation modeling) indicated that visitor behaviors (e.g., coping, substitution) and decision-making (e.g., intention-to-return) were significantly influenced by social (e.g., conflict), situational (e.g., litter, access), and ecological (e.g., trail conditions, weather) impacts. Moreover, the presence of various weather conditions was found to significantly influence the severity of perceived social, situational, and ecological impacts. Study results indicated that outdoor recreation experiences are multifaceted, necessitating a suite of social, situational, and ecological considerations, especially when examining the relationship between visitor coping behaviors and intention-to-return. This research advances the coping framework, provides empirical support for future examination of social–ecological system (SES) theory, and emphasizes the utility of employing an adaptive systems approach for sustainable PPA management.
KW - outdoor recreation
KW - visitor use management
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - social-ecological systems
KW - visitor behaviors and decision making
KW - parks and protected areas
KW - weather impacts
U2 - 10.3390/f13071018
DO - 10.3390/f13071018
M3 - Article
SN - 1999-4907
VL - 13
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - Forests
JF - Forests
IS - 7
M1 - 1018
ER -