USDA Forest Service

Date: August 1, 2011

Call Number: IORT-PR-2011-1

Researcher(s): Steven W. Burr, Douglas Reiter, Chase Lamborn, Taral Hull, Jascha Zeitlin

Summary: Outfitters and guides provide the opportunity for a chaperoned recreation experience that may be desired or needed by the visitor for a variety of reasons. Outfitters and guides provide these services as an extension of the USFS mission, and outfitting and guiding have become an important segment of visitor days for the visitor, agency, resources, and the economy. Federal regulations require that commercial outfitters on National Forest lands be authorized through a Special Use Permit (SUP), and a needs assessment is required for this authorization in order to determine the public “need” for a service to aid visitors in experiencing National Forests. This research is intended to provide baseline information that will help the National Forests in Region 4 conduct National Forest specific needs assessments. This research was accomplished in three phases. Phase One involved analysis of the Special Use Data Base for Region 4. Phase Two utilized multiple methods to determine potential uses relating to outfitting and guiding on National Forest lands. Sixty-three USFS personnel and 155 outfitters and guides were interviewed by telephone for this phase of the project. Phase Three involved the development of an estimation of selected recreation outfitting and guiding criteria for USFS Region 4 National Forests based on data generated from an internet survey in which a total of 78 outfitters and guides responded. Gathering such information enables SUP administrators to develop their own “spectrum of permitting opportunities” that would be relevant at the district and National Forest level. 

Date: October 2009

Call Number: IORT-PR-2009-2

Researcher(s): J.C. Norling, Paul Bowman, and Edward Ruddell

Summary:This report provides analysis of data collected from the Outdoor Recreation Center (ORC) backcountry yurt rental program at Utah State University during the spring semester 2008 (January through April). This study was prompted by a number of discussions between the researchers and avid backcountry non-motorized recreationists (skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers) and ORC yurt users, all of whom suggested that they experienced conflict with snowmobile users at or near the yurts. The present study sought to identify whether or not the winter recreation travel plan for the Tony Grove/Franklin Basin area had effectively zoned out conflict by successfully separating the user groups.

 

Conflict Management Through the Implementation of a Collaborative Process: Travel Management Planning on the Logan Ranger District of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Date: September, 2008
Call Number: IORT-PR-2008-3
Researcher(s): Douglas Reiter, Steven W. Burr, Elliott Hinckley, and Taral Hull
Summary: A collaborative process was used by USU researchers and recreational stakeholders to create a survey to inform Travel Management planning on the Logan Ranger District of Utah's Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Motorized/non-motorized recreation conflicts have been an obstacle to effective recreation planning in this area. The collaboratively created mail survey was administered to area residents targeting data on  demographics, recreational use of the area, opinions on motorized and non-motorized trail availability, implementation of user fees, and increased law enforcement on the district.

 

Date: May, 2008
Call Number: IORT-PR-2008-2
Researcher(s): Adam Neidig, D'Jenane Dias, Doug Reiter, and Steven W. Burr
Summary: Utah State University’s Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism (IORT) entered into an agreement with the USDA Forest Service to conduct the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program for the 2007 fiscal year on the Ashley, Uinta, and Wasatch-Cache National Forests. Contractually, IORT was required to conduct the field work and deliver the raw data to the Forest Service. Therefore, the content of this report critiques the processes, methodologies, and provide recommendations for the administration of future NVUM projects. The Forest Service implemented the National Visitor Use Monitoring program in 2000, in order to obtain a better understanding of recreational users on the National Forests. Results from NVUM are designed to show show amounts and types of recreational use, the lengths of visitors' stays on the National Forests, and visitor satisfaction (NVUM Program National Project Results Jan 2000-Sept 2003). There are many different uses for the results from NVUM. By gathering data ranging from a forest level down to a site level, the Forest Service uses the information to make more informed strategic decisions and management plans. NVUM results are used for Congressional reporting and as a basis for the allotment of funding for the National Forests. Results from NVUM are also used by private interests, academia, and state and local governments.

 

• Executive Summary

 

Summary: On January 9-10, 2004, over 40 people, including motorized recreationists, non-motorized recreationists, and natural resource managers from federal and state agencies, gathered in Soda Springs, Idaho, to participate in a Collaborative Learning Workshop regarding recreational travel management planning on the Soda Springs and Montpelier Districts of the Caribou National Forest. The workshop was sponsored by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and facilitated by Utah State University’s Department of Environment and Society and Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism. These proceedings report on this Collaborative Learning workshop and responses from individual workshop participants and different stakeholder groups.