Taking Charge of the Wild

Jun 21, 03:55 AM

Current Headlines: By Ponds, Phadrea D

Keeping an eye on trail use can be difficult with 'unmanaged recreation.' How do you manage the unmanageable? That's the question that facility administrators of wide swaths of land are asking more often as the issue of motorized versus non-motorized recre- ation is pushing its way to the forefront. Trails without direct supervision can be the setting of unintentional environmental damage and dispersed recreation that can put wildlife in danger, often taking years to restore.

Non-motorized or "quiet users" support trail and recreation experiences encountered by foot, bicycle or boat. Typical members of this group cite that their experiences are ones that cause the least disturbance to the natural habitat. At the same time, motorized users suggest that their recreational experiences are equally as important and that their conservation practices are in line with the law of the land. Natural resource managers are often caught in the middle. Though some struggle to find common ground, natural resource managers have the dual responsibility of finding the balance between providing high quality recreational experiences and protecting natural resources, functions and ecosystems. They find themselves under pressure to address an issue currently described as unmanaged recreation use on public lands. In a 2003 speech, U. S. Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth identified unmanaged recreation as one of the four threats that jeopardize the health of the national forests and the quality of recreation experiences.

But what is unmanaged recreation? According to Jeffrey Brooks of the U.S. Forest Service, it is most often defined as difficult to manage, inappropriately dispersed recreation and unmonitored nontraditional recreation activities. Because of these types of activities occur on public trails, natural resource managers are often forced to make difficult and sometimes unpopular management decisions. Tactics include concentrating visitors to certain trails in order to maximize the management of damaged areas or re-routing trails to resistant and more resilient environments while avoiding sensitive areas. In some extreme cases, managers will temporarily close trails and roads to protect sensitive habitats to allow for management and restoration.

Scott Linnenburger is the director of field programs at the International Mountain Bicycling Association. He says that the most significant problem when dealing with unmanaged recreation is the ratio of resources to open space. "Right now, at the federal level, there are insufficient funds, staff and training to properly design, construct or maintain multi-use systems," Linneburger says. "It's a management issue of not having sufficient staff or staff trained sufficiently to manage recreation. The funds aren't there to fund that staff." He continued to say that local management operations tend to mirror the federal difficulties in controlling use and access.

In order to address the issue of unmanaged recreation, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Fort Collins, CoIo., hosted a two-and- half-day workshop. Invited speakers and guests included social scientists, ecologists, geographic information systems specialists, resource managers, recreation planners, federal, state and local land managers, off-highway vehicle users and environmental interest groups. The speakers focused on local management issues and social science research.

The workshop's keynote speaker, Dale Blahna of Utah State University, shared his research concerning the differences between visitor and manager expectations and the sustainability of the natural environment. His presentation, entitled Roads, Recreation and Resource Protection: A Reconsideration of the Ecology Approach highlighted the future unmanaged recreation, route designation and trail access.

According to Blahna, a successful recreation planning process is one that is committed to the preservation of natural resources while at the same time understanding the balance of human recreation needs and experiences.

Unmanaged recreation represents a threat to natural resource management because of the unauthorized creation of trails and its associated erosion, water quality degradation and habitat destruction. Even at low use levels, it was noted that increased visitation and dispersed recreation cause significant disturbance to both the resource and to the experiences of others.

Linnenburger said that it is not enough to catch environmental damage after it has occurred, although response to these kinds of situations is often reactive rather than proactive. "[Managers] are out looking at existing scars on the landscape from that have caused some sort of resource damage and deciding what access they'll continue to allow. Sometimes those decisions are based on resource concerns, other times it's based on redundancy of routes-many routes going from one place to another place where there only needs to be one," he explains. "From a resource management standpoint, much of the damage has already been done. There isn't much that goes into the process to restore the routes that are closed, which means that the damage is left to heal itself over decades.

During the workshop, managers said that they simply cannot manage every acre of recreation land within reasonable budgets. The current model focuses on areas where managers can have some control with trails, picnic areas and campgrounds. After managing those more obvious areas, managers will pick some of the higher use trails and put as many maintenance dollars as possible into them.

Noelle Meier, a manager at Dixie National Forest in Utah, answered questions about how her staff determined which roads and trails were designated for motorized and nonmotorized use. She explained that they inventoried all system routes, as well as other routes showing motorized use. These are called undefined routes, or U routes. U routes are evaluated for use and impact because they play a role in designating the broader system because each route, no matter how seemingly insignificant.

"As a result of previous work under the Roads Policy, the Dixie began with a comprehensive GPS inventory that had been ongoing for almost a decade. The inventory process was not done in a vacuum. Our GPS Engineer repeatedly went back to the districts with check plots to fill in additional data as the inventory progressed," says Meier.

The Dixie National Forest proposed management plan is noted as being one of the most comprehensive collaboration efforts to date. The proposed plan designates a system developed after nearly three years of agency route evaluation, conducted with input provided by interested citizens, clubs and groups and local governments. The proposed plan will depict a system of routes that will be designated open to management determined recreation uses. The forest will remain open to long-established forms of recreation such as hiking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing.

While trail use and management will continue to be a conversation for natural resource managers there is still the issue of visitor experiences and expectations. The following viewpoints were summarized at the end of the workshop:

* Motorized users continue to desire greater access to trails and roads. In general, motorized users were more critical of new initiatives or programs that they perceive as limiting their access to public land. Such programs are often seen as attempts to exclude people from large areas of public lands. Motorized users frequently cite economic impacts and discrimination against the elderly and handicapped as negative impacts of such management decisions.

* Non-motorized users, or "quiet users" (hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, for example) were primarily concerned with the quality of their recreational experience, which included improving support facilities and informational resources, such as trail maps and signage. For instance, hikers want to maintain a foot-travel- only trail system. Mountain bikers would like more single-track trails to be made available or specifically designed for their use. Horseback riders typically need parking and staging areas that would accommodate their vehicles and trailers in order to access equestrian trails.

Managing trails while addressing the issue of visitor experiences and expectations is a difficult undertaking. Many management plans are often ahead on answering ecological questions, however, they are often behind on keeping up with the issues that are important to their visitors. According to Brooks, "The paradox of use and protection is a hard one to handle." If recreation management is to reflect all levels of multiple land-use values, then it must try to understand and identify the social values that might be important to visitors in the future.

Protecting sensitive natural environments while offering enjoyable recreation experiences is a challenge when dealing with unmanaged recreation.

A U.S. Geological Survey workshop explained that motorized recreators desire greater access to trails and roads.

Quiet users, including bicyclists, are primarily concerned with the quality of their recreation experience, which includes informational resources and signage.

Phadrea Ponds is a research wildlife biologist in the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Program, at the U.S. Geological Survey in Fort Collins, CoIo. Her current research focuses on the human dimension of natural resource management and practices, and she is primarily interested in public perception, knowledge and values as related to natural resource management policies and practices. Her article on unmanaged trails is on page 32.

Copyright National Recreation and Park Association Jun 2007

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