Recreational Development at Pelican Lake, Minnesota: An Analysis of Factors Affecting Site Selection

In order to better predict those areas whicd\u27 have the po tential to be developed more rapidly than others, research concerning physical land use character isti ;s which determine current lakeshore patterns needs to be implemented. This study is designed to assess which physics . land use/cover characteristics have affected lake home development at Peli can Lake in north central Minnesota. Analysis involves the interpretation of aerial photo graphs from the years 1939, I960, 1969, and 1978 which were used to map location and extent of land use/cover change in the Pelican Lake area. Archival data is utilized in order to determine number and location of recreational homes ex isting on the shoreline of Pelican Lake. Finally, correla tion and regression techniques are used in order to ascer tain relationships between the physical parameters of the watershed and location of lakeshore homes. Length of shoreline is found to be the leading indicator in number of homes in each section bordering Pelican Lake. Distance to nearest improved road also proves to be a sig nificant factor. Of the land use/cover data obtained from aerial photographs, only acres of that land covered by water and.acres in Pelican. Lake are determined to be of signifi cance in location of lakeshore homes