Monitoring Public Access Impacts on Conservation Forests: A Management Framework
Abstract
The Conservation Fund (TCF), a national nonprofit working in land and water conservation,
established its North Coast Forest Conservation Program in Mendocino County, CA in
2004. In 2007 TCF acquired two coastal redwood forest properties, Salmon Creek &
Big River, through a funding partnership with three state agencies and additional
private funding. Its sustainable forest management program includes endangered species
protection, water quality improvements, stakeholder involvement and public recreational
use. Recreation impacts, defined in this report as any undesirable visitor-related
change to the natural resources, trails, or recreational experience of other users,
can have detrimental results including erosion, vegetation trampling, and degraded
water quality. This project was developed to meet TCF’s needs for responsible management
of visitors to the properties, to both protect the natural resources and allow active
forest management. A review of recreation ecology literature was conducted to identify
key trends and results in the field, as well as locate experts. A survey of eight
recreation experts, including both scientific researchers and recreation managers,
was conducted to gain additional insight and various perspectives on recreation impact
issues. Their responses and the literature review were analyzed and discussed to
inform recreation monitoring recommendations for Salmon Creek and Big River. These
were summarized in a final monitoring plan to aid TCF in its management of public
access on these conservation forest properties.
Type
Master's projectSubject
recreation ecologyrecreation impact
conservation forest
redwood forest
recreation monitoring plan
public recreation access
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1006Citation
Wittman, Laura E. (2009). Monitoring Public Access Impacts on Conservation Forests: A Management Framework.
Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/1006.Collections
More Info
Show full item record
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Rights for Collection: Nicholas School of the Environment
Works are deposited here by their authors, and represent their research and opinions, not that of Duke University. Some materials and descriptions may include offensive content. More info