Backcountry Trails Research Articles

Research Note: A Multi-Method Approach to Monitor Recreational Trail Usage in Complex Spatial Settings

Trail use by pedestrians has become more popular in the United States over the last decade although few studies explore the use of technology to monitor high use trails. Monitoring trail users is an important part of trail management and an optimal monitoring system usually depends on site-specific characteristics. The objective of this study was to demonstrate how using a multi-methods system to monitor backcountry trail usage in complex spatial settings can be a useful approach for collecting the information that trail managers need. Given the national growth in recreational hiking, we were particularly interested in exploring these issues for highly visited trails close to urban areas and selected a portion of the Larch Trail leading to the top of Multnomah Falls for the study. The multi-methods approach that we used included a combination of automated infrared sensor counts, manual counts, parking lot data from an inductive loop, and travel time estimates collected with low-energy Bluetooth sensors. We found that using multiple methods allowed for a cost-effective and rich data set that considered the site characteristics and the specific need of the trail managers. We expect that many backcountry trail settings have complex landscape and physical design without robust pre-existing baseline data and hope that our insights will aid trail managers as they strive for a sustainable balance between human use and landscape impact.

The influence of transportation and digital technologies on backcountry tourism and recreation in British Columbia, Canada

Sensitive backcountry environments are more accessible than ever due to technological innovation and a growing tourism sector in Western Canada. Current regulations and management practices must adapt as technology continues to change the way people access, travel on and experience backcountry trail networks. While existing literature discusses the ecological impacts of trail-based tourism, there are few resources available that foster comprehensive land management strategies of backcountry trails in British Columbia (BC). There are also a limited number of studies that are specific to the effects of transportation and digital technologies on backcountry tourism and recreation. A community-based participatory research methodology provided the foundation for this study. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were completed with key industry stakeholders who currently manage trails in backcountry environments throughout the province. We examine the challenges and opportunities that new forms of transportation and digital technologies offer to the management of backcountry trails, with a specific focus on the sport of mountain biking. Participants asserted that the multiple overlapping interests that compete for control of public land in Western Canada add layers of complexity to any discussion of backcountry tourism, recreation and conflict management. There was also an emphasis that unsustainable growth of trail-based tourism in numerous regions of BC increases the potential for conflict to occur between trail users. These findings inform the development of strategies to manage people, the lands, and the relationships with other stakeholders to mitigate conflict in these tourism economies. The results provide insight into the contemporary challenges trail managers face related to transportation and digital technological innovations and they identify opportunities for further trail user education to encourage more collaborative land management strategies. The example of how these technologies impact backcountry trails in BC has applicability for diverse rural tourism economies throughout Canada and internationally.

Potential for recreational restrictions to reduce grizzly bear–caused human injuries

In 2011, 2 hikers were killed by grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in separate incidents on backcountry trails in Hayden Valley, Yellowstone National Park, USA (YNP). Hayden Valley provides prime habitat for grizzly bears and is known to have high densities of bears. During 1970–2017, 23% (10 of 44) of all backcountry grizzly bear–inflicted human injuries and fatalities in YNP occurred in the valley even though it comprises only 1% of the park. In addition, 3 of the last 5 fatal bear attacks in the park occurred in the valley. We evaluated retrospectively whether restrictions and closures on visitor recreational activity would have prevented many of these injuries. We considered prohibitions on recreational activity during seasons when bears forage for specific high-quality foods; potential closures that coincided with the times of day and year bears were most active in the valley; and visitor use restrictions that would have prevented the most common human behaviors associated with grizzly bear–caused human injuries. The food-based closure that may have prevented the most human injuries occurred during middle to late summer when bears scavenge bison (Bison bison) carcasses that result from annual rutting behavior of bison in the valley. However, safety precautions such as hiking in groups of ≥3, remaining on maintained trails, and carrying bear spray would likely reduce the frequency of bear-inflicted human injuries more than most food-based seasonal closures. Our analyses provide broadly applicable findings regarding use of visitor behavior restrictions and seasonal closures to reduce the risk of bear-inflicted human injuries.

Results of a visitor survey of the acoustic environment at the Grand Canyon National Park

For the last decade, multiple studies have been conducted at nationalparks using the traditional uni-polar annoyance questions and the dose-response concept to determine the effects of aircraft noise on park visitors. This survey used pleasantness as a bipolar scale and breaks the hike into segments so as to understand the overall hike’s assessment through its parts. This survey was conducted on three different trails at the Grand Canyon: the Hermit trail, a backcountry trail with a large amount of aircraft noise; the Widforss trail, a backcountry trail with minimal aircraft noise; and the Bright Angel trail, a maintained trail with a small amount of aircraft noise but many hikers. Helicopter noise is found to be the only major unpleasant noise. Segments for which no aircraft are noticed are judged to be primarily very pleasant. The “average” judgment with helicopters noticed falls between neutral and slightly pleasant, which is a drop of almost three categories out of a total of seven. The study finds that visitor perception of pleasantness of the acoustic environment at the Grand Canyonis significantly, negatively affected by helicopter overflights near trails.

Visitor assessment of anthropogenic noise at Grand Canyon National Park

In the last decade, multiple studies have been conducted at national parks using the traditional uni-polar annoyance scale and the dose-response concept to determine the effects of aircraft noise on park visitors’ experiences. This survey instead uses a bipolar “pleasantness” scale and breaks each visitor’s hike into segments so as to understand the efficacy of the pleasantness scale as a metric for visitor perceptions of aircraft noise. This survey was conducted on three different trails at the Grand Canyon: the Hermit trail, a backcountry trail with a large amount of aircraft noise; the Widforss trail, a backcountry trail with minimal aircraft noise; and the Bright Angel trail, a maintained trail with a small amount of aircraft noise but many hikers. Many visitors began hiking before aircraft started flying so the use of segments allowed for a longitudinal study between segments with and without aircraft noise. Through the use of these segments, correlations are drawn and regression models fit between pleasantness and various metrics, such as Leq or percent time audible. The results to date show “pleasantness” to be a viable alternative metric to quantify visitor perceptions of aircraft noise in national parks.

Loveliness but with an Edge: Looking at the Smoky Mountains, 1920-1945

In addition to the infrastructural and commercial changes it wrought in Tennessee and North Carolina, the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park encouraged efforts to manage visitors' perceptions of nature. Organizations that shaped regional tourism after 1920 devoted themselves to making mountain recreation both an aesthetic and kinesthetic experience. Visitors were expected to earn their sightseeing while driving along scenic roads or hiking on backcountry trails. The attractive or inspiring scene—the photo opportunity—might have been the goal for many park guests, yet guidebook writers urged them to consider the sensations of their journey to the vista as the key to appreciating the outdoors. These were instructive landscapes, meant to teach travelers about natural history and beauty while training them to perform appropriately in wild environments. The engagement with landscape that regional promoters and outdoors groups supported was rigorous and required a certain level of affluence, technical proficiency, and aesthetic and ecological insights. This was, in other words, a vision quite distinct from scholarly and popular treatments of nature tourism as passive and packaged. Using hiking club records and boosters' marketing materials, this essay examines the practice and representation of leisure travel to reveal how class assumptions and professional orientations produced specific styles of sightseeing between 1920 and 1945.

A mixed-modes approach for estimating hiking on trails through diverse forest landscapes: the case of the Appalachian Trail

Many hiking trails traverse the forests and public lands across North America. It has therefore become important for federal management to gain an understanding of total use on these trails. However, there has never been a formal attempt to estimate hiking on these long, backcountry trails. This paper presents an approach that utilizes two survey instruments (exit-site tallies and a trail-user questionnaire) and two primary estimation components (standard and augmented sites) to estimate hikers over a spatial and temporal span. For illustrative purposes, the methodology is applied to a 175 km segment of the Appalachian Trail from 1 June through 14 August 2007. Two alternative estimation methodologies are presented and compared. The model-based approach may be preferred to the design-based approach when sample size is small because it smoothes erratic strata estimates and yields smaller standard errors. However, the design-based approach relaxes an assumption and is more appropriate as sample size increases. In our survey of the Appalachian Trail, there was a 5.6% difference between the visitation estimates based on these two approaches, and such stability reinforces confidence in the methodology.

Dinosaur Highway: A History of Dinosaur Valley State Park (review)

420Southxvestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary ing of the monument movement. Nearly half of them were erected between 1900 and 1915. In part she attributes this delay to the economy of the South, which forced Texans and other southerners to work first at rebuilding dieir lives. On the other hand, she recognizes that the majority of the monuments were built at a time of severe economic and social upheaval. Agrarian society was experiencing depression and political turmoil. At the same time, the modernizing trends of urbanization and industrialization challenged the old economic, social, and racial order. The monuments were a response, reasserting traditional values and assuring citizens of continued white supremacy and die solidarity of die white race in the face of the disruptive forces. Sacred Memories is not die definitive work on the Civil War monument movement in Texas and clearly was not so intended. The insights offered by the author in the short introduction, however, are diought provoking and hopefully should encourage even closer examination of this important cultural movement in Texas. University ofArkansas at Little RockCarl H. Moneyhon Dinosaur Highway: A History ofDinosaur Valley State Park. By Laurie E.Jasinski (Fort Worth: TCU Press, 200g. Pp. 224. Illustrations, maps, appendix, notes, bibliography , index. ISBN 9780875653754, $ig.gs paper.) In her earlier book, Hill Country Backroads: Showing tL· Way in Comal County (Texas Christian University Press, 2001), audior LaurieJasinski crafted a compelling story ofearly tourism efforts in the Texas Hill Country using her grandfather's pioneering work as a central theme from which to introduce a broader perspective . In her recent book, Dinosaur Highway,Jasinski again makes a contribution to Texas recreation history, although this one has a much different feel and flow. It is an institutional history of Dinosaur Valley State Park near Glen Rose in Somervell County, and so like most institutional histories it has die requisite sections on development (including land acquisition), mission and vision, administration, and resources. But, the story of Dinosaur Valley is much more complex than that of the average park in many respects, and to the author's credit she tries to bring in at least some examination of the broader themes at play. In a sense, the park's history reaches back millions of years, when sauropods and theropods roamed the Paluxy River valley, leaving behind their footprints and a lot of unresolved questions in the process. That leads to the human part of the equation, and there the author has to sort out the perspectives of myriad characters , including geologists, paleontologists, civic leaders, park officials, landowners, politicians, opportunists, creationists, and even a few boodeggers. Given the deep stratigraphy of the contributing elements, much as the dinosaur footprints themselves , it is not an easy story to interpret in a relatively brief overview. For those seeking the big picture of a small but important public resource, though, Dinosaur Highway serves the purpose. The author does a goodjob of setting the cultural context through the history of the Lanham Mill community and an exploration of the early struggles between competing factions advocating for preservation and economic exploitation. She also touches on background con- 2010Book Reviews421 cerns of public accessibility, natural degradation of the resources, and adequate and dynamic interpretation. One aspect ofthe book diat will be particularly appreciated by public historians is the inclusion of information on the contributions of park staff members over the years. Their selfless work for the common good too often goes unnoticed, but as the author observes and clearly understands, dedicated staff members are often the best means of ensuring a positive visitor experience , regardless of the budget or current park management philosophy. Dinosaur Highway is a worthy companion for those visiting Dinosaur Valley State Park for the first time or for those returning to seek new perspectives on the ancient past. My recommendation would be to find your perfect spot in the park, be it campsite, scenic overlook, backcountry trail, or river's edge, and spend some quality time connecting with the unique state park and its equally unique history. PflugervilleDan K. Utley TL· Power oftL· Texas Governor: Connally to Bush. By Brian McCaIl, foreword by William P. Hobbyjr. (Austin: University ofTexas Press, 2009. Pp. 172. Illustrations, notes, bibliography...

The Power of the Texas Governor: Connally to Bush (review)

2010Book Reviews421 cerns of public accessibility, natural degradation of the resources, and adequate and dynamic interpretation. One aspect ofthe book diat will be particularly appreciated by public historians is the inclusion of information on the contributions of park staff members over the years. Their selfless work for the common good too often goes unnoticed, but as the author observes and clearly understands, dedicated staff members are often the best means of ensuring a positive visitor experience , regardless of the budget or current park management philosophy. Dinosaur Highway is a worthy companion for those visiting Dinosaur Valley State Park for the first time or for those returning to seek new perspectives on the ancient past. My recommendation would be to find your perfect spot in the park, be it campsite, scenic overlook, backcountry trail, or river's edge, and spend some quality time connecting with the unique state park and its equally unique history. PflugervilleDan K. Utley TL· Power oftL· Texas Governor: Connally to Bush. By Brian McCaIl, foreword by William P. Hobbyjr. (Austin: University ofTexas Press, 2009. Pp. 172. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 978o2g27i8g82, $24^5 cloth.) The author sets out to examine the use of power, in a supposedly weak office, on the part of the seven governors who served from ig63 to iggg. McCaIl establishes that Texas's resourceful governors wield considerable power through lineitem veto threats and appointing some two thousand individuals to various boards and commissions. John Connally purportedly changed the Texas governorship, taking office at a time when the state ranked woefully low in per capita income and public education . He brought in businessmen to serve on panels to study the state's educational needs, knowing that he would be soliciting their approval to raise taxes to pay for the needed reforms. What is not mentioned is that Texas's rankings did not change under Connally, and the business community was not asked to bear any of the tax burden in the bill that passed. Preston Smith is depicted as the master of pork-barrel politics and not having much on his mind except boosting higher education in Lubbock. Dolph Briscoe is also perceived as a caretaker, who was able to levy no new taxes because of the rising tax revenues of the booming ig70S. Bill Clements, the first Republican governor in 105 years, was most successful in building a two-party system, especially through his appointments of several hundred Republican judges across the state. The booming economy and inflation allowed Briscoe and Clements in particular to boost public education expenditures. The author isjudicious in his descriptions of these three governorships. Mark White initiated, or signed onto, a host of reforms. The author mentions the major reforms in utility regulation, mental health, parks and wildlife, prisons , criminaljustice, industrial development, and state water planning. And there were the educational reforms, two ofwhich—teacher literacy tests and no-pass-noplay —backfired against him. There were others the author does not mention— state-funded kindergartens, accident and unemployment compensation for farm 422Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary workers, tougher pesticide regulations, health insurance for retired teachers, the extension of insurance policies for widowed or divorced spouses, higher nursing home standards, and several more. Ann Richards strengthened environmental and ethics laws, brought running water to the colonias in the Rio Grande Valley, appointed a host of women and minorities to office, and put through comprehensive insurance reform. A day before a court order would have shut down Texas schools, she signed the legislature 's "Robin Hood" bill that compelled rich school districts to subsidize poor ones. The state's financial needs seemed so dire that Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock proposed that Texas adopt a personal income tax. Richards flady rejected it, as the author notes. But that refusal to even consider taxing wealdiy individuals (as forty-three other states did) guaranteed that Texans would continue to depend on the inequitable combination of the business franchise tax, uneven property taxes, and the ever-growing burden of regressive sales taxes. George Bush was successful in passing bills allowing Texans to carry concealed handguns, limiting damages that injured people could collect, and toughening criminaljustice practices. He put through the largest tax cuts in Texas...

A Brief History of the Trails of Grand Teton National Park

This project investigated the history of the backcountry trail system in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). In cooperation with GTNP Cultural Resources and the Western Center for Historic Preservation in GTNP, we located records describing the early development of the trail system. Only a few historical records describe or map the exact location of early trails, which prove useful when relocating trails today. The paper trail becomes quite rich, however, in revealing the story behind the practical development of Grand Teton National Park as it joined the National Park Service system.

Non-native plant invasions of United States National Parks

The United States National Park Service was created to protect and make accessible to the public the nation’s most precious natural resources and cultural features for present and future generations. However, this heritage is threatened by the invasion of non-native plants, animals, and pathogens. To evaluate the scope of invasions, the USNPS has inventoried non-native plant species in the 216 parks that have significant natural resources, documenting the identity of non-native species. We investigated relationships among non-native plant species richness, the number of threatened and endangered plant species, native species richness, latitude, elevation, park area and park corridors and vectors. Parks with many threatened and endangered plants and high native plant species richness also had high non-native plant species richness. Non-native plant species richness was correlated with number of visitors and kilometers of backcountry trails and rivers. In addition, this work reveals patterns that can be further explored empirically to understand the underlying mechanisms.

Characterizing and Comparing Backcountry Trail Conditions in Mount Robson Provincial Park, Canada

Two backcountry trails located within the Mount Robson Provincial Park boundaries in British Columbia, Canada, are compared for the type of ecological characteristics and the influence of topographical use level and management on trail degradation. Data on five trail impact variables were collected at 68 fixed line transects, and information on management features, use level, and water-related problems were based on a survey of 31 km of trails. Results show that the two trails are similar in several ecological characteristics. The Berg Lake Trail (BLT), considered to be highly used and intensively managed, had more significant ecological problems than did Mount Fitzwilliam Trail (FWT), considered to be less highly used and intensively managed. However, ecological impacts on the FWT appear to be statistically no less different than on the BLT. It is concluded that effective trail management can mitigate many ecological problems that result due to the natural topographic conditions and use levels.

Comparison of vegetation conditions along two backcountry trails in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia (Canada)

Vegetation conditions, i.e., plant cover, species richness, and the presence of exotic species, are compared along a high-use trail (Berg Lake Trail—BLT) and a low use trail (Mt. Fitzwilliam Trail—FWT) in Canada's Mt. Robson Provincial Park. We established 71 paired quadrats (1 m×1 m), and assessed the amount of vegetation cover and species richness by four main lifeforms, i.e., woody species, herbaceous species, ferns, and moss, lichen and fungi. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) differences exist between control and trailside quadrats in vegetation cover, species richness and floristic diversity, and (2) differences exist between the high and low-use trails in the above-mentioned three parameters. Results show that for the majority of variables the differences between the control and trailside quadrats are statistically not significant. Variables showing significant differences are relative vegetation cover (for BLT only), exposed soil (BLT and FWT), herbaceous cover (FWT), moss, lichen and fungi cover (BLT), overall species richness (BLT), and herbaceous species richness (BLT). Ruderal and exotic species are present but only on trailside quadrats of the high-use trail. Results indicate that the Park administration's strategy to disperse use in the Mt. Robson Provincial Park should be examined critically, and some guidelines for acceptability of changes should be developed.

Visitor-induced changes in the chemical composition of soils in backcountry areas of Mt Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada

Balancing recreation and conservation is an important issue in Canada's parks and protected areas. Increased levels of visitation to parks, especially to backcountry areas, create undue pressure on natural resources, resulting in a variety of ecological impacts. This paper illustrates the issue of visitor-induced changes on the chemical composition of soils in Mt Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia. Soil samples were collected from dish wash stations and fire pits (disturbed sites) at seven campgrounds located along two popular backcountry trails, and were compared to samples obtained from adjacent undisturbed control sites. Analysis of soil samples suggest that the lower amounts of aluminum, potassium, magnesium and sodium in many of the ‘disturbed’ samples can be related to intense leaching in dish wash stations, and can be attributed to frequent disposal of waste water from washing and cooking activities. Soils in wash stations generally had higher phosphorus, copper and zinc contents as compared to controls. Soils in fire pits were elevated in copper, relative to controls. Results of this study support park regulations that waste water disposal and camp fires be restricted to designated areas. Informing the public of scientific studies helps them understand the consequences of their activities; this may help persuade them to observe park rules and regulations.

WILDLIFE RESPONSES TO RECREATION AND ASSOCIATED VISITOR PERCEPTIONS

Outdoor recreation has the potential to disturb wildlife, resulting in energetic costs, impacts to animals' behavior and fitness, and avoidance of otherwise suitable habitat. Mountain biking is emerging as a popular form of outdoor recreation, yet virtually nothing is known about whether wildlife responds differently to mountain biking vs. more traditional forms of recreation, such as hiking. In addition, there is a lack of information on the of (within which wildlife may be displaced from otherwise suitable habitat due to human activities) of different forms of recreation. We examined the responses of bison (Bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) to hikers and mountain bikers at Antelope Island State Park, Utah, by comparing alert distance, flight distance, and distance moved. Within a species, wildlife did not respond differently to mountain biking vs. hiking, but there was a negative relationship between wildlife body size and response. We determined the area of influence along trails and off- trail transects by examining each species' probability of flushing as perpendicular distance away from a trail increased. All three species exhibited a 70% probability of flushing from on-trail recreationists within 100 m from trails. Mule deer showed a 96% probability of flushing within 100 m of recreationists located off trails; their probability of flushing did not drop to 70% until perpendicular distance reached 390 m. We calculated the area around existing trails on Antelope Island that may be impacted by recreationists on those trails. Based on a 200-m of influence, 8.0 km (7%) of the island was potentially unsuitable for wildlife due to disturbance from recreation. Few studies have examined how recreationists perceive their effects on wildlife, although this has implications for their behavior on public lands. We surveyed 640 backcountry trail users on Antelope Island to investigate their perceptions of the effects of recreation on wildlife. Approximately 50% of recreationists felt that recreation was not having a negative effect on wildlife. In general, survey respondents perceived that it was acceptable to ap- proach wildlife more closely than our empirical data indicated wildlife would allow. Recrea- tionists also tended to blame other user groups for stress to wildlife rather than holding themselves responsible. The results of both the biological and human-dimensions aspects of our research have implications for the management of public lands where the continued coexistence of wildlife and recreation is a primary goal. Understanding wildlife responses to recreation and the of of human activities may help managers judge whether wildlife pop- ulations are experiencing stress due to interactions with humans, and may aid in tailoring recreation plans to minimize long-term effects to wildlife from disturbance. Knowledge of recreationists' perceptions and beliefs regarding their effects on wildlife may also assist public lands managers in encouraging positive visitor behaviors around wildlife.

The influence of sampling interval on the accuracy of trail impact assessment

Trail impact assessment and monitoring (IA&M) programs have been growing in importance and application in recreation resource management at protected areas. This paper addresses a fundamental issue in designing trail IA&M surveys: the choice of sampling interval. Specifically, the influence of sampling interval on the accuracy of estimates for selected trail impact problems was examined using a resampling simulation method. A complete census of four impact-types on 70 backcountry trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was utilized as the base dataset for the analyses. The census data were resampled at increasing intervals to create a series of simulated point datasets. At each sampling interval level, the accuracy of simulated datasets was evaluated by comparing the estimates of frequency of occurrence and lineal extent for each impact-type with actual census values. Simulation results indicate that increasing sampling intervals are associated with an overall increase in accuracy loss for all four impact-types. The direction of accuracy loss for lineal extent estimates is mixed, while frequency of occurrence estimates are consistently and substantially lower than the actual values. Responses of accuracy loss to increasing sampling intervals vary across impact-types on extent estimates, but are consistent on the frequency estimates. These findings suggest that systematic point sampling can be an appropriate method for estimating lineal extent but not the frequency of trail impacts. Sample intervals of less than 100 m appear to yield an excellent level of estimate accuracy for the four impact-types evaluated. The census-based trail survey and the resampling simulation method developed in this study can be a valuable first step in establishing long-term trail IA&M programs, in which an optimal sampling interval range with acceptable accuracy is determined before investing efforts in data collection.

Design of Falls Creek Trail Bridge: A Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge

The need for lightweight, low-maintenance, easily constructed bridges for remote locations has existed for a long time. The backcountry of forests and parks throughout the United States is made accessible by trail systems that often encounter streams, rivers, gorges, and other features that must be spanned. Because of their remote locations, conventional approaches to spanning these barriers often are impractical. The Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division of FHWA, in conjunction with the United States Forest Service and with assistance from E.T. Techtonics, designed, tested, and constructed a pedestrian trail bridge 13.9 m (45.5 ft) long made of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite members. Development of design procedures for this type of bridge is presented. The initial load testing results used to evaluate the analysis and design of the structure are presented and future construction plans for this bridge are mentioned. Attractive characteristics of FRP composites for construction of pedestrian trail bridges and shortcomings are illustrated. Further testing and research of the Falls Creek Trail bridge are ongoing and further testing and research of FRP composites also are needed. Advances in the understanding of currently available materials, as well as advances in the materials themselves, likely will affect structural design methods and procedures in the future. However, on the basis of available data, FRP composites appear to be well suited to meeting the need for backcountry trail bridges.

Travel Time Variation on Backcountry Trails. Jan W. van Wagtendonk and James M. Benedict. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 12, no. 2, Second Quarter 1980, pp. 99-115. National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209. $3.75

Travel Time Variation on Backcountry Trails. Jan W. van Wagtendonk and James M. Benedict. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 12, no. 2, Second Quarter 1980, pp. 99-115. National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209. $3.75

A Study of Backcountry Use Within Yellowstone National Park

The objective of our 1979 research activities in Yellowstone National Park was to obtain photoelectric trail counts of hikers and backpackers using backcountry trails included in our 1978 backcountry trail use study. In the design of the 1978 study the Park Service was to furnish 14 photoelectric trail counters. The counts from these trail counters were to be the base for the estimates of total backcountry use. The number of users recorded by the trail counters for each trail was to be correlated with the number of trail users recorded on the trailhead registration forms to develop expansion ratios for the various trails. With these ratios, estimates of total backcountry use could be ascertained in future years by multiplying the number of trail users recorded on the registration forms by the appropriate expansion ratios.