Recreational Paths Research Articles

Frequent flight responses, but low escape distance of wild boar to nonlethal human disturbance

Abstract Human activities can affect the behaviour and fitness of wildlife. However, the response of animals to nonlethal human activities has not been well‐studied in wild boar, Sus scrofa, even though it is a widespread species in Europe and has become of increasing concern because of crop damages and its vector capacity for diseases. We study the behavioural responses of GPS‐collared wild boar to nonlethal experimental human approaches in the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem along the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. We describe and quantify the flight responses of the animals and assess whether they vary with the distance to recreational paths and the occurrence of hunting in the area. We show that wild boar were disturbed and displaced by human approaches on foot in 69% of the trials, but the average flight initiation and escape distances were relatively small (93 and 256 m, respectively). The probability of a flight response decreased with distance from the paths and increased with the ruggedness of the terrain. In the non‐hunting zone, the flight initiation distances and flight durations were shorter than in the hunting zone. Our results suggest a weak effect of nonlethal human disturbances on the movement of wild boar, although the animals were sensitive to the perceived risk in relation to recreation infrastructure and hunting. For the management of diseases such as African swine fever, it can be concluded that nonlethal disturbances are unlikely to accelerate the spread of the disease due to far‐distance movements. Guidelines for restrictions in case of an outbreak might be adjusted accordingly.

Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920-2020 by Henk-Jan Dekker (review).

Reviewed by: Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920–2020 by Henk-Jan Dekker Evan Friss (bio) Cycling Pathways: The Politics and Governance of Dutch Cycling Infrastructure, 1920–2020 By Henk-Jan Dekker.* Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021. Pp. 404. "How do the Dutch do it?" many an American cycling advocate has wondered with envy. "Is it flatter over there? Is it the weather? Is it because their cities are older?" It's actually none of these things. So what is the real reason? That's the question Henk-Jan Dekker answers in his well-timed, wellresearched, and well-argued book, Cycling Pathways. Dekker begins in the late nineteenth century, when bicycles flecked country roads and two critical developments emerged. The first was the rise of the ultimately (and unusually) successful campaign to define cycling "as an all-Dutch activity" (p. 47). The second was the ultimately (and unusually) successful campaign to separate bicycle traffic from other traffic. Investment in bicycle-only infrastructure started with recreational paths out in the country and persisted well into the automobile era, even if the impetus was to keep pesky bicycles out of the way. Like the best historians, Dekker shows that the bicycle's special status was "never a foregone conclusion," but rather the result of advocates, lobbyists, politicians (at both the national and local level), and the unique Dutch system of government, all of which he deftly describes, tracking political evolutions alongside social and cultural ones (p. 22). The shadows of the present loom large in this book, offering contemporary cyclists, advocates, planners, and politicians much to consider. For example, when discussing the rise of mopeds in the 1950s—which threatened longstanding norms regarding traffic separation but ended up with even more paths that in the long run benefited their nonmotorized cousins—readers are encouraged to reconsider the current debates about where e-bikes and escooters belong and don't belong. Throughout, Dekker draws on an impressive array of archival collections and has clearly mastered the fast-growing historiography related to European cycling. He's also well versed in American cycling history and regularly draws useful comparisons. Since part of his argument is about Dutch exceptionalism, glimpses into Danish, American, and other countries' cycling history offers broader context and highlights key distinctions. As is the case in nearly all cycling histories of Europe and the United States, there is one glaring omission—the most populous continent on Earth and the one with the most bicycles: Asia. The real problem with Cycling Pathways is construction. And it's a problem that will unfortunately turn off the many nonscholars who would genuinely benefit from reading this book. In essence, the book isn't really a book. Yes, there is a narrative arc, and there is framing and context, some [End Page 880] telling anecdotes, and a few interesting and idiosyncratic characters. But there's also a forty-page introduction that's followed by an introduction to Part 1 that's followed by an introduction to Chapter 1. The book as a whole, each of its parts, each of its chapters, and many of its subsections all have their own introductions. And then the book, each of the parts, each of the chapters, and many of the subsections have their own conclusions, which mostly mirror the introductions. If you read the whole book word for word, you end up reading the same thing over and over and over and over again. Cycling Pathways reads like a dissertation that hasn't yet turned into a book. A good editor could have easily fixed the problem. And that's a shame, because all the pieces of a great book are here. Henk-Jan Dekker can write clearly, he's conducted an impressive amount of research, and he has marshaled his evidence in service of thought-provoking conclusions. Indeed, Cycling Pathways tells an important and persuasive story about how bicycles first earned respect in the Netherlands; how, even when cars arrived (admittedly later and with less potency than in some other countries), bicycles maintained a place on the road; how cycling advocates continued to exert influence from one generation to the next; how social...

Does One Bicycle Facility Type Fit All? Evaluating the Stated Usage of Different Types of Bicycle Facilities among Cyclists in Quebec City, Canada

For cities wishing to foster a strong culture of cycling, developing a network of safe and efficient bicycle infrastructure is paramount, yet not a straightforward task. Once transport professionals have selected the optimal location for a new bicycle facility, determining the optimal facility type is imperative to ensure that the new infrastructure encourages cycling trips and increases the safety of cyclists. The present study presents a nuanced approach to evaluating cyclists’ usage of various types of bicycle facilities. To achieve this goal, we employed survey data of cyclists in Quebec City, Canada, to study how many cyclists reported using a particular bicycle facility in the survey against their reasonable access to those reported facilities. To account for different preferences, behavior, and motivations among cyclists, we segmented our study sample into six types of cyclist. Finally, regression modeling was employed to predict the stated usage of three facility types present in the study area (recreational path, bi-directional protected lane, and painted lane), while controlling for access to this path, cyclist type, and personal and neighborhood characteristics. Results indicate that if a cyclist has access to each facility type on their commute, they are most likely to use a recreational path on their commute, followed by a painted bicycle lane. Respondents with access to a bi-directional lane are no more likely to report using this facility than respondents without access. Overall, this study is intended to encourage a dialog between cyclists and transport practitioners to uncover the factors contributing to effective bicycle infrastructure.

Community Impacts of Bicycle Infrastructure: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of a New Urban Cycleway in Sydney, Australia

Background There is a need to better understand the causal impact of building urban bicycle paths for transport on travel and physical activity behaviour as this is likely to differ to recreational paths and associated behaviours. A new 2.4km bi-directional cycleway, separated from road traffic, was built in residential inner-city Sydney, Australia in 2014 and provided an opportunity to explore these questions. Methods As a natural experiment, a longitudinal online survey and seven-day travel diary were used to collect health and travel data from residents within the intervention and control area of similar demographics and distance from city, at baseline (n=846), four (wave 2; n=512) and 16 months (wave 3; n=418) post-construction. Multilevel regression modelling was used to compare changes in travel, physical activity, quality of life and social outcomes over time with distance from the cycleway. Results Over half (60%) of the intervention sample were aware of the cycleway wave 2 and one fifth reported using it (n=55). By wave 3, 24.5% of the intervention sample and 7% of the comparison group had used it. Study participants who started using the new cycleway predominantly lived within the intervention area [OR:3.93 (95%CI:1.51-10.23), p Frequent cycling (weekly) was strongly associated with use of the cycleway (AOR(95%CI): 47.01 (8.66-255.19); p 0.1). Conclusions Cycling participation has been decreasing in Sydney and Australia in recent years; however, urban bicycle transport infrastructure can have a positive impact on cycling. While changes in health outcomes were not observed in the intervention sample, there is potential for change as communities learn to interact with the new infrastructure.

Crowdsourcing a cyclist perspective on suggested recreational paths in real-world networks

ABSTRACTRouting and navigation services for leisure activities are conditioned by special needs and trade-offs. The advent of online communities and large crowdsourced datasets offers opportunities to improve the adoption of a user’s perspective in these suggested paths. This paper focuses on achieving two goals. First, the presented methodology analyses a dataset of 190,610 historical GPS traces to gain insights into the appreciation or attractiveness of each edge in a real-world network for a specific leisure activity (i.e. road cycling). Second, as literature on these leisure activities is still sparse, we want to create a thorough understanding of the activities at hand for future work. An appreciation model is proposed and the spread of this score is analyzed in shortest-path alternatives of popular routing engines for this activity. This analysis successfully discriminates these shortest paths based on the scoring value and three morphological parameters of the path. However, the robustness of the model should be improved to ensure the viability of the proposed approach in future work. More specifically, further research on the local optimality of the route choices will be imperative.

Undeclared baggage: Do tourists act as vectors for seed dispersal in fynbos protected areas?

Encroachment by alien species is the second greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide. As South Africa’s Cape Floristic Region has a botanical endemism of nearly 70%, conservation efforts are a high priority. Estimates suggest that alien species cost the country over R6.5 billion per year. Despite significant research on alien species dispersal, the role of tourists as seed dispersers requires further exploration. To investigate the potential role tourists play in introducing alien seeds into protected areas, long-bristle brushes were used to scrape seeds off the shoes of hikers, dog walkers and cyclists, as well as the wheels of mountain bikes and dogs themselves, upon entering the Silvermine Nature Reserve section of the Table Mountain National Park in the Western Cape province, South Africa. In addition, a vegetation survey was conducted. This comprised 18 transects at various distances from the recreational paths in the park, and used a prioritisation ranking system that identified the alien species of greatest concern. It was concluded that the greatest number of alien plant species could be found along dog paths, in comparison to the hiking trails and cycling trails. This corresponded to the findings that dog walkers had the highest incidence of seeds on their shoes, suggesting that tourists were possibly dispersing seeds from their gardens. Alien species significantly covered more of the vegetation transects closer to the trails than they did in transects further into the matrix. Because more alien species were present in areas susceptible to human disturbance, the data suggest that tourists can act as vectors for alien seed dispersal. These findings emphasise the need for active tourism management in line with the South African National Parks Biodiversity Monitoring Programme in order to prevent the introduction and spread of alien species into South Africa’s protected areas.Conservation implications: Tourism is the main source of revenue for South African National Parks, and one of the organisation’s principal goals is to create a tourism management policy conducive to conservation. This research explores the potential role that tourists may play in the introduction of non-native species into a protected area, thereby providing novel information that could assist managers in the sustainable management of protected areas.

Considerations for Integrating Bicycling and Walking Facilities into Urban Infrastructure

Several manuals, handbooks, and web resources provide varied guidance on planning for and designing bicycle and pedestrian facilities, yet there are no specific indications which treatments in these guides work well for users. In this study, best practices are highlighted and program characteristics associated with high levels of nonmotorized travel are identified, with an emphasis on bicyclists and pedestrians in the California communities of Davis, Palo Alto, and San Luis Obispo, cities known for being bicycle and pedestrian friendly. Analyses of a user preference survey of more than 630 residents in the case study communities, interviews with operators, and review of related literature reveal several factors that matter most to stakeholders for creating bicycle-and pedestrian-friendly places. These factors include (a) acceptable bicycling and walking distances to desired activities, (b) direct routes, (c) good route connectivity, and (d) separation of motorized and non-motorized transportation modes. Recommendations are presented as key considerations for integrating bicycling and walking facilities into urban infrastructure and are arranged to correspond to the trip-making cycle, from the decision to engage in an activity through the choice of route to arrival at the destination. Findings indicate that bicyclists and pedestrians alike strongly desire automobile-separated facilities on streets. This finding suggests that these kinds of projects may merit priority over purely recreational paths. Although roadways may generally need to be friendly for bicycling and walking, the emphasis should be on linking activity locations and transit stations that are purposely placed to be within acceptable distances for these activities.

In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau (review)

Reviewed by: In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau Hal Crimmel In Earshot of Water: Notes from the Columbia Plateau. By Paul Lindholdt. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2011. 146 pages, $19.00. Paul Lindholdt’s latest book is an engaging collection of first-person, literary nonfiction essays focused on the rural Pacific Northwest, primarily the Columbia Plateau bioregion, which includes slices of northern Idaho and much of Washington state east of the Cascades. The author’s deep knowledge of the Plateau and its surrounding regions is reflected in his fluency with local flora and fauna, landforms, and waterways. The essays describe the satisfaction of living a life where the non-built environment plays a significant role, but these celebratory place-based accounts are often weighed against the region’s history of environmental abuse. From the demise of wild salmon due to the damming of the Columbia River watershed, including the “tourniquet” of Grand Coulee Dam, which is like most other dams that act “as tombstones to the largest rivers in the American West,” to tragic stories of people “leaded” by smelter fallout from an Idaho silver mine to the severe air pollution resulting from wheat field stubble burning, Lindholdt condemns corporations and government entities that sacrificed the health of individuals, communities, and ecosystems for the sake of short-term profit (86, 84, 110). [End Page 310] Perhaps the most memorable essay in this regard is “In the Shadow of the Government’s Blind Eye,” an account of environmental apocalypse at the former Western Processing Company site, which is now one of the largest Superfund sites in the Pacific Northwest. As a young, blue-collar worker in 1974, the author risked his health disposing of industrial wastes from clients such as Boeing. He describes emptying—by hand—55-gallon drums of “heavy metals suspended in acids” and other toxic liquids into storage ponds (28). Clad in little more than rainslickers and boots, he and coworkers pump “chemical slurries straight to the dirt”; later he watches flames flicker out of the contaminated ground (31). Reading this, one wonders how frequently a similar story has played out across the West. In addition to the single-source water pollution from this site, the pall cast by other toxic by-products of industrial civilization spread far across the region—and across the nation—as such hazardous wastes were “recycled” as fertilizer, sold, and used in agriculture (33). Many Washington farm communities, for instance, fell victim to this practice when they unwittingly spread these contaminants onto their fields, resulting in sickly animals and poor crop yields. Readers hoping to find the romantic landscapes of an unspoiled West or idealized traditional Western culture are going to be disappointed. This collection offers instead a clear-eyed view of the region’s people and places, including critiques of such sacred cows as the rodeo circuit, which the author and his son see as a dubious form of entertainment, based as it is on the exertions of animals who have been “ridden, roped, panting, jerked, and spurred” for the benefit of audiences eating barbequed meat under hot western skies (134). For those who relish such honesty, the author’s keen ear for local speech contributes to the emerging portrait of place, with its prevailing conservative orthodoxy. One feels the tight cinch of convention when neighbors spread rumors that a local woman who left her husband took “‘her feminism down a recreational path’ by falling ‘in love with another woman. She had gone lesbian’—as if to say she had gone feral” (72). Sometimes personal matters become fodder for community gossip; other times they affect one’s sense of place as profoundly as the landscape and the culture. One example is “The Way to Open,” a chapter on rafting the Main Salmon River in Idaho. As part of a Forest Service–sponsored working trip to reduce the spread of spotted knapweed, an invasive species that poisons the soil around it, killing off native vegetation and preventing the growth of new plants, the author shares painful memories about his son’s drowning on Puget Sound, a reminder that the world has its own inexplicable agenda, an agenda that...

Table of Contents

AbstractSupreme Court Sets Mandate Issues Briefing ScheduleTreasury Department Issues Report on Supporting Organizations and Donor‐Advised FundsScholarship Fund for Related For‐Profit Educational Entity Ruled Ineligible for Tax ExemptionCommerciality Doctrine is Alive and Well—Especially When Food and Drink Are InvolvedHHS Issues Final Rules Implementing CO‐OP ProgramMaintenance of Island's Recreational Path Held Charitable; Private Benefit Deemed IncidentalBusiness League CornerOther Recent IRS Private Letter RulingsOther Developments