title: Recreational system optimization to reduce conflict on public lands.
abstract: In response to federal administrative rule, the Tahoe National Forest (TNF), California, USA engaged in trail-route prioritization for motorized recreation (e.g., off-highway-vehicles) and other recreation types. The prioritization was intended to identify routes that were suitable and ill-suited for maintenance in a transportation system. A recreational user survey was conducted online (n = 813) for user preferences for trail system characteristics, recreational use patterns, and demographics. Motorized trail users and non-motorized users displayed very clear and contrasting preferences for the same system. As has been found by previous investigators, non-motorized users expressed antagonism to motorized use on the same recreational travel system, whereas motorized users either supported multiple-use routes or dismissed non-motorized recreationists' concerns. To help the TNF plan for reduced conflict, a geographic information system (GIS) based modeling approach was used to identify recreational opportunities and potential environmental impacts of all travel routes. This GIS-based approach was based on an expert-derived rule set. The rules addressed particular environmental and recreation concerns in the TNF. Route segments were identified that could be incorporated into minimal-impact networks to support various types of recreation. The combination of potential impacts and user-benefits supported an optimization approach for an appropriate recreational travel network to minimize environmental impacts and user-conflicts in a multi-purpose system.
authors: Departmenrt of Evironmental Science and Policy, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. fmshilling@ucdavis.edu
authors: Fraser
authors: F
authors: Shilling
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Boggs
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Reed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002140:California; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D005260:Female; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D010067:Ownership; D011639:Public Opinion; D017150:Public Sector; D011998:Recreation; D014197:Trees