Responsible recreation planning in Gatineau Park, Québec

Abstract

Outdoor recreation management increasingly occurs in messy situations that are typified by contested or ambiguous goals and lack of agreement on cause–effect relationships. In Gatineau Park, Canada, a shift in park purpose from a nature park as presented in the 1990 Master Plan to a conservation park as presented in the 2005 Master Plan has created a dichotomy between park visitation and conservation and it has sparked significant discord about how to manage recreation in the park. In response to this messy situation, a recreation management planning process was initiated in 2008 and a modified rational/transactive planning approach was developed to guide phase one of the planning and public consultation process. Using Gatineau Park as a case study, the purpose of this article is to critically assess its utility for recreation management. The results provide lessons related to satisfying the dimensions of successful planning, increasing shared ownership, collecting negative feedback, testing proposed management actions and fulfilling Canada's public service bilingual requirements.