Records |
Author |
English, D.K.; Zarnoch, S.J., White, E.M. |
Title |
Estimating Daily Existing Traiffic from National Forest recreation Sites Using Short-Term Observations Counts |
Type |
|
Year |
2018 |
Publication |
Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas – ABSTRACT BOOK |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 9 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
252-254 |
Keywords |
MMV9 |
Abstract |
Our goal was to develop estimates of daily (24-hour) exiting traffic volume using just the 6-hour observational count of exiting traffic and two variables from the interviews. More exactly, our goal was to develop 24-hour estimates from the 6-hour counts that were equivalent to the estimates generated from the current NVUM method. If our work was successful, we could eliminate the data quality issues and costs of the mechanical counters without appreciably changing the resulting estimates of visitation. We present our analytic process and results, and an evaluation of how well the process worked. |
Call Number |
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Serial |
4123 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
English, D.B.K.; Kocis, S.M.; Arnold, J.R.; Zarnoch, S.J.; Warren, L., |
Title |
Visitor Use of USDA Forest Service Recreation Areas: Methods and Results from the National Visitor Use Monitoring Effort |
Type |
|
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 1 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
246-251 |
Keywords |
MMV1 |
Abstract |
One stratum of survey sites in the USDA Forest Service’s National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) effort contains agency-managed elements of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Two related methods are used to estimate the amount of visitation that occurs in these areas. One utilizes annual information on the number of use permits at the sites where these are mandatory; the other employs a double-sampling approach to estimate visitation. In both cases, on-site visitor sampling is required to obtain the information necessary to estimate actual visitation. A few additional questions on the survey enable us to describe visitor demographics, evaluate customer satisfaction, and estimate economic values and impacts of these visits. The presentation discusses development of the sampling design as well as calibration issues for both use estimation methods. A comparison of the statistical accuracy and cost of each is made. Because the sample design is based on the spatial-temporal combination of Wilderness exit points and the days they are open, some analytic adjustment to the sample survey data is required (beyond simple sample means) to get results that describe the visiting population. The analytic framework is presented, along with some empirical results from the first year of sampling at six selected National Forests to give the flavor of the managerially-relevant information we have so far obtained. The presentation concludes with a discussion of how we plan to extend the analysis that can include issues such as developing models of visitor flows and relating visitation levels to perceptions of crowding. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 486 |
Serial |
2306 |
Permanent link to this record |
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|
Author |
English, D.B.K.; Kocis, S.M.; Zarnoch, S.J., |
Title |
Characteristics and Use Patterns of Visitors to Dispersed Areas of Urban National Forests |
Type |
|
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Policies, Methods and Tools for Visitor Management |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 2 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
179-184 |
Keywords |
MMV2, Urban forests, use patterns, visitor perceptions, crowding, visitor characteristics, demographics, wilderness |
Abstract |
Public recreation areas near large urban centers are experiencing increasing pressure from visitation, especially in undeveloped and wildland areas that are close to expanding population centers. Understanding the use patterns, characteristics, and perceptions of recreation visitors is critical to managing these areas for maximum sustainable benefits. Of the over 120 National Forests in the United States, eighteen have been officially designated as ‘Urban’, because of their proximity to large metropolitan areas. Sixteen of these forests have designated Wilderness areas within them. This paper examines the recreation visitors to the undeveloped portions of those National Forests. Key market segments of visitors are identified with respect to demographics, residence, annual use frequency, and visit duration. In addition, visitor perceptions of crowding and safety and their relationship with visitation levels are examined. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 366 |
Serial |
2391 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
English, D.B.K.; Zarnoch, S.J.; Bowker, J.M., |
Title |
Trap shyness in onsite visitor surveys; evidence from the U.S |
Type |
|
Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Management for Protection and Sustainable Development |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 4 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
135-138 |
Keywords |
MMV4, Estimation bias, onsite surveys, recreation visitation, trap shyness |
Abstract |
In onsite surveys of visitors, whether the purpose is estimating visitation volume or characteristics of the visit population, those who visit the area multiple times per year are candidates to be surveyed more than one time. In such surveys, each visit represents a unique sampling unit. However, individuals may be unwilling to be surveyed after the first contact. The phenomenon is similar to ‘trap shyness’ in wildlife studies wherein an animal learns to avoid traps after the initial experience. If trap shyness exists, it has the potential to bias the results for either or both visitation estimation or describing the average visit characteristics. There is some anecdotal evidence that trap shyness does exist, and could be problematic for long-term surveys such as the National Visitor Use Monitoring program used by the US Forest Service. This paper describes the conceptual framework for how trap shyness can affect both visitation estimates and visit characteristics, identify empirical hypotheses to be tested that provide evidence of trap shyness, present results for the hypotheses, and describe possible improvements to sampling processes that could determine it existence and extent. Data for the paper come from onsite surveying collected during the period October 2004 – September 2007 for about three dozen National Forests. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 948 |
Serial |
2595 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Zarnoch, S.J.; English, D.B.K.; Kocis, S.M., |
Title |
A Model for Evaluating Dispersed Outdoor Recreation Use Estimation |
Type |
|
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Policies, Methods and Tools for Visitor Management |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
MMV 2 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
100-105 |
Keywords |
MMV2 |
Abstract |
An outdoor recreation use simulator (ORUS) has been developed to simulate dispersed recreation survey data similar to that collected by the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) Project’s survey of the national forests of the U.S.A. Statistical distributions are used to represent the various behaviors of recreationists during their visit to a dispersed area. The beta distribution is used to model arriving times and last exiting times. The number of intermediate exits from a site is determined by the Poisson distribution while their times are selected randomly according to the uniform distribution. Finally, three trap shy behaviors are assigned to the recreationists to quantify their probability of capture by the interviewer. The arriving and last exiting beta distributions are fitted to the NVUM data. The functioning of the simulator is demonstrated with a simple example with explanations of each recreationist’s actions with respect to the sampling methodology. The utility of ORUS in evaluating the bias and coefficient of variability of various estimating scenarios is also presented. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 364 |
Serial |
2390 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
Kocis, S.M.; Zarnoch, S.J.; English, D.B.K., |
Title |
Affects of Road Sign Wording on Visitor Survey – Non-Response Bias |
Type |
|
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Policies, Methods and Tools for Visitor Management |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 2 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
34-37 |
Keywords |
MMV2 |
Abstract |
On-site visitor interviewer data collection is a key component of the USDA Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) program. In many areas, especially higher speed roads and roads with non-recreation traffic, many vehicles may not stop for an interview. Wording on the sign may condition non-recreation visitors to self-select as to whether or not they decide to stop for an interview. Since the primary purpose of the interview is to calibrate a mechanical traffic counter, such behavior can lead to bias in the resulting visitation estimate. Non-response bias of national forest traffic was examined by using four different wordings for road signs during NVUM interview days. The experiment was performed using a randomized block design with each treatment (sign) being applied to five different road locations (blocks). Statistical analysis was performed to determine if any particular sign wording significantly affected (1) the rate of visitor response and (2) the mix of visitors who stopped for interviews. Data analysis show that the total number of all interviews obtained, the proportion of interviews obtained to overall traffic, and the proportion of non-recreation interviews obtained were different using different sign wording. The total number of recreation interviews obtained and the proportion of recreation interviews obtained were not different statistically. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 380 |
Serial |
2398 |
Permanent link to this record |
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Author |
English, D.B.K.; Zarnoch, S.J.; Kocis, S.M., |
Title |
Designing a Sampling System for Concurrently Measuring Outdoor Recreation Visitation and Describing Visitor Characteristics |
Type |
|
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Policies, Methods and Tools for Visitor Management |
Abbreviated Journal |
|
Volume |
MMV 2 - Proceedings |
Issue |
|
Pages |
28-33 |
Keywords |
MMV2, National Visitor Use Monitoring, onsite sampling, sampling plan, use estimation, visitor characteristics, sample allocation |
Abstract |
Two primary information needs for managing recreation areas and the visitors to those areas are: (1) good estimates of visitation volume, and (2) accurate descriptions of visitor characteristics, such as length of stay, frequency of visit, and primary activity. For National Forests in the United States of America with large undeveloped areas, efficient sampling for the two types of information may be to a large extent incompatible. Sampling plans that address visitation volume issues allocate most of the sample days to the largest and most internally variable strata. Sampling plans for studies of visitor characteristics allocate sampling effort to locations that most efficiently provide visitor information, such as at developed sites. Additionally, sampling plans for studies of visitor characteristics may need to ensure spatial or temporal dispersion of the sample, in order to ensure adequate representation of different visitor sub-groups. A method is demonstrated for allocating days into sampling strata which balances the contribution of sample days in improving the accuracy of the total visitation estimate with the contribution of the sample day to maximizing the quantity and dispersion of visitor information. The resulting sampling allocation provides an optimal solution to address both of the information needs through a single data collection effort. A second phase of the method addresses how to ensure spatial and temporal dispersion of sampling effort. Examples of applications on National Forests in the United States are provided. |
Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 378 |
Serial |
2397 |
Permanent link to this record |