Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Wood Science and Technology

Committee Chair

Chad D. Pierskalla.

Abstract

Off-highway vehicle (OHV) use has become an increasingly popular form of recreation among users in national forest land in recent years. This increased use of OHVs on National Forest land has led to numerous environmental and social impacts, leading land managers to resort to restrictive management policies to contend with the impacts. The purpose of this research is to combine data from three cross-sectional surveys (2002, 2006, and 2011) to examine OHV user displacement and other trends at ODNRA/Sand Lake. This paper uses Descriptive statistics, Chi Square, Analysis of Variance, and Structural Equation Modeling to determine relationships between the following variables: gender, year of first visit, number of visits per year, length of stay, travel distance, group size, and group type, acceptable and tolerable number of people and OHV encounters, experience use history, crowding, and conflict to determine how satisfaction/quality of visits were impacted over the ten year trend study. Results of the analysis reveal some interesting relationships: (1) Overall satisfaction and quality improved over the ten year study period; (2) Males appear to be the most displaced, particularly after regulation such as a 2003 alcohol ban and 2005 sand camping restrictions were implemented by managers; (3) Crowding went from a negative relationship in the first year of study (2002) to a positive relationship in the 2006 and 2011 studies; and (4) Conflict had a positive relationship with crowding in the 2002 study, but a negative relationship in the 2002 and 2011 studies. After new regulations such as the 2003 alcohol ban and stricter sand camping rules in 2005 were implemented, there were significant decreases in regulation sensitive visitors and increases in crowding and conflict sensitive visitors at ODNRA/Sand Lake. There was an increase in the percentage of females along with first time visitors at ODNRA/Sand Lake. Furthermore, results suggest that the crowding and conflict indicators altered as a result of displacement and the reduction of inappropriate behavior thus improving satisfaction/quality for visitors and introducing new users to the area. Managers should maintain long-term monitoring at ODNRA/Sand Lake to ensure conditions continue to improve at the area.

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