Park Planning and Social Science Informing General Management Plans:An Ozark National Scenic Riverways

Case Study

Erin Tucker (SIUC)

Logan Park, Ph.D. (SIUC)

Ryan Sharp Ph.D. (NPS)

Ken Chilman, Ph.D. (SIUC)

George Wright Society 2011

Photo from commons.wikipedia.org

Planning

• General Management Plan

• History– RVIMS– RAVI

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

• Ozark Highlands of SE Missouri

• 134 miles of river

• 1.4 million visitors/year

• Boating, canoeing, swimming, fishing, tubing, hiking, horseback riding, and camping

Research Questions

• What are river use levels currently?

• What is the range of conditions available on the river with respect to crowding and conflict?

Study Methods

1. Visitor Use Levels• Sampling approach• Data collection

2. Questionnaire• Sampling approach• 532 visitors surveyed; 93% response rate

Study Results: Visitor Use Levels

Study Results: Questionnaire

Trip Characteristics

Boaters• Ave. trip length= 5.1

hours• Local

Floaters• Multiple days• Mid-western

Discussion and Conclusions

Monitoring

• Frequent, affordable, effective

• Best monitoring plan is one you can actually conduct!

Social Impacts

• Crowding

• Conflict

Acknowledgements

• Joel Ramtahal (SIUC)

• Ross Smith, Jacob Nordmann, Sean Patrick (SIUC)

• Dr. James Price, Russ Runge, and all of the ONSR NPS staff

• Keri Cahill (NPS, Denver Service Center)