THE EFFECT OF SOUND AND CROWDING ON TOURIST EXPERIENCES IN A NATIONAL PARK SETTING

Understanding tourist experiences in national parks can assist park managers in meeting the goal of preserving resources while providing opportunities for enjoyment of them. In an effort to contribute to this understanding, this study focused on the effect of human sound and crowding conditions in a national park setting. Previous studies of sound in national park and wildland settings have focused primarily on sounds of aircraft or other mechanically-produced sounds. For this study, a multi-sensory research approach, based on visual methods for studying crowding, was developed to investigate the acceptability of varying sound and crowding levels in a slot canyon in Zion National Park, Utah. Results indicate that both sound level and the number of people have an effect on setting acceptability, with sounds perhaps having the larger effect of the two. The multi-sensory research approach provided valuable information about the acceptability of social conditions in a specific area. Similar studies conducted in the field may provide national park managers with useful information about social conditions in other areas which will allow for better-informed management decisions related to tourist experiences in national parks

Estimating Recreation Benefits from Zambia\u27s Side of Victoria Falls

Shared with Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and is Zambia’s major tourist attraction. Owing to its unique features, this natural wonder of the world has great potential to contribute significantly to Zambia’s tourism vision of being a major tourist destination that contributes to sustainable economic growth and poverty alleviation by the year 2030. With its inimitable attributes, the Victoria Falls receives enormous amounts of visitors. The continued demand for environmental quality as demonstrated by an increase in outdoor recreation increases the need for public resource mangers to obtain defensible measures of the relative economic value of outdoor recreation. Additionally, information on the economic value of recreational resources is fundamental for advancing the efficient allocation of resources. More so, such information is essential for spearheading natural resources management techniques that are geared towards boosting local economic development. Despite its popularity among local and international visitors, however, the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits is still poorly understood. Lack of such information limits our understanding of the benefits that can be derived from the utilization of this natural resource. Therefore, as a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, this paper estimates the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits using the Travel Cost Method. The Travel Cost Method is employed through an on-site survey distributed to 403 visitors. The visitors were comprised of local Zambia residents and international visitors. The econometric model used in this study is estimated using negative binomial regression with endogenous stratification. This regression model accounts for the truncated and overdispersed nature of the data including the oversampling of avid users since an on-site sampling method was executed in this study. Considering the multi-destination nature of visitors’ trips to Victoria Falls, this study includes a dummy variable in the econometric model to account for multi-destination trips. Data analysis for this study is still on-going. Besides estimating the economic value of Victoria Falls’ recreation benefits, the findings of this study shall be fundamental for resource management decisions regarding Victoria Falls

Centers of excellence or academic enigmas? A discussion of the pros and cons of establishing applied social science departments in natural resource colleges

Variously called Departments of Environment and Society, Environmental Social Science, Society and Conservation, and Conservation Social Sciences, several Natural Resource Colleges around the country have recently created departments focusing on the social sciences. Several more are in the process of creating such units. The goal of these departments is to promote scholarship and creativity, educational curricula, and outreach programs relating to the social dimensions of conservation and environmental protection. Ultimately it is hoped such departments will advance our understanding and management of complex ecological social systems and enhance human-environment interactions

Responsible Environmental Behavior: Metaphoric Transference of Minimum-Impact Ideology

This abstract represents a thesis research project that studied changes in National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) students\u27 attitudes, intentions, and behavior, as they pertain to the environment, resulting from participation in NOLS\u27 Wind River Wilderness course. It was hypothesized that an increase in these concerns would result from the metaphoric transference of minimum-impact ideology to daily life. Prominent theories from the fields of social psychology and environmental education relating attitudes, intentions, behavior, and other considerations were incorporated into the theo­retical framework of the study

Human Dimensions of Migratory Wildlife in Greater Yellowstone

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Winter visitors to Yellowstone National Park, their value orientations and support for management actions

The idea of a National Park contains a diversity of values and missions. This paper takes a multi-dimensional, context- specific approach to measuring the perceived values of Yellowstone National Park. It is an initial step in recording how perceptions of National Parks are changing over time. Responses of 1064 winter visitors to 24 park value items were factor and cluster analyzed to produce four groups. Examination of the relationship between cluster membership and support / opposition to a variety of management actions showed significant differences for all 19 proposed actions. Groups of visitors with different value orientations showed correspondingly different levels of support for management actions. The National Park Service (and other natural resource agencies) can, therefore, expect to encounter and manage for a diversity of perceived values and conflicting attitudes towards park management and planning