All proposals should focus on outdoor recreation management and/or gateway community planning in the American West.
PRESENTATION TYPES
- Short oral presentations (15 min. + 5 min. Q&A)
- Longer panel discussions (35 min. + 10 min. Q&A)
- Posters
TOPIC AREAS
1 - Collaboration & Partnership
Managing outdoor recreation resources and planning for tourism-related challenges in gateway communities requires collaboration and partnership. Sessions submitted to this topic area should focus on building collaborative relationships or more formal partnerships to manage outdoor recreation resources and/or destinations. The specific purposes of the collaborative or partnership being presented on can vary widely (e.g., workforce housing, waste management, hazard response, shared communication/education efforts, etc.), but the content of the session should focus on why and how collaboration can be used to support outdoor recreation management or gateway community planning.
Example sessions could include:
- Collaborations between public land managers and municipalities/counties to manage human waste.
- Partnerships focused on educating recreationists and tourists about safe and responsible recreation.
- Collaborations to balance tourism promotion and resident quality of life.
- Partnerships between government agencies to address housing challenges in gateway communities.
2 - Visitor Management
Improving or managing how visitors access outdoor recreation resources is essential to providing high quality experiences while also mitigating impacts on natural resources and local communities. Sessions submitted to this topic area should focus on efforts to expand, improve, or manage access to outdoor recreation opportunities or mitigate the impacts of visitation to natural resources and/or destinations. Sessions could focus on efforts to expand or improve access to underdeveloped outdoor recreation opportunities or to monitor and manage access in heavily visited destinations. Sessions must showcase lessons learned and provide practical guidance to either outdoor recreation managers or gateway community planners.
Example sessions could include:
- Trail development for, and management of, ebikes.
- The perceptions and consequences of managed access to national parks.
- Proactive efforts to zone recreation to minimize conflict.
- Benefit agreements or non-monetary exchanges between governments and the private sector.
3 - Visitor Education & Destination Stewardship
Efforts to meaningfully connect outdoor recreationists and tourists to the communities they are visiting while also educating them on safe and responsible participation can be critically important to delivering satisfying experiences, protecting recreation resources, and preserving the identities of gateway communities. Education efforts can also instill a desire and willingness from visitors to steward outdoor recreation resources and support local livelihoods. Sessions submitted to this topic area should either highlight successful efforts to educate outdoor recreationists and tourists about safe and responsible participation or showcase novel destination stewardship and volunteerism programs used by outdoor recreation managers or gateway community planners.
Example sessions could include:
- Examples of building and maintaining sustainable tourism businesses.
- Efforts to develop and deliver responsible recreation messaging.
- Programs that have integrated public/community input into tourism marketing campaigns.
CONTENT TYPES
- Original research (Include details regarding the background, purpose, methods, results, and conclusions.)
- Case studies of successful programs or practices (provide details regarding why the case study is considered successful and what elements were important in its success.)
- Research syntheses (Clearly articulate how the synthesis contributes to one of the conference/workshop’s topic areas.)
- Emerging management challenges or research needs (Describe how addressing the emerging challenge or research need would lead to more sustainable outdoor recreation management and/or gateway community planning.)
DATES
Abstract Submission Opens: April 4, 2024
Abstract Submission Deadline: June 14, 2024