NECC1011: Balancing Natural Resource Recreation Management, Human Well-Being, and Community Resilience
Statement of Issues and Justification
The need, as indicated by stakeholdersManagers, policy-makers, and communities need science-based strategies to address societal trends that affect outdoor recreation. This multi-state project proposal puts forth a comprehensive research agenda focused on balancing natural resource recreation management, human well-being, and community resilience. The goal of this multi-state project is to enhance the capacity of outdoor recreation researchers by promoting collaboration and striving to provide science-based knowledge that leads to sustainable outdoor environments, recreation experiences, and healthier communities.
The objectives of this multi-state project meet research needs identified by stakeholders by paralleling the Outdoor Recreation Research and Education Strategic Plan. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) led a national planning process to develop a five year strategic plan for outdoor recreation research and education. Titled, "Outdoor Recreation Research and Education (ORRE) for the 21st Century: Defining National Direction and Building Capacity," this planning process convened a diverse set of professional stakeholders with expertise in outdoor recreation research and education. A national steering committee comprised of leading university educators/scientists, agency researchers, and outdoor recreation managers, was convened in May 2007 to provide national guidance in developing the ORRE Strategic Plan. In addition, other professional networks were engaged in the planning process through roundtable discussions held at several 2007 conferences including the Northeast Recreation Research Symposium in April, the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management in June, and the Society of American Foresters conference in October. At each roundtable, participants identified strategic issues, concerns, and opportunities to be incorporated into the ORRE Strategic Plan.
This project meets other stakeholder needs, as well, by either reflecting needs identified within other stakeholder-built research agendas, strategic plans, or research goals. It compliments the McIntire-Stennis Strategic Plan by managing the forest lands for outdoor recreation. It also contributes to the USDA-CSREES Strategic Goal 3, Support Increased Economic Opportunities and Improved Quality of Life in Rural America; and Goal 6, Protect and Enhance the Nation's Natural Resource Base and Environment. The objectives also complement the needs of the USDA Forest Service Research & Development Strategic Program Area research portfolios, and the USDA Forest Service Social Science Research Agenda in outdoor recreation.
The importance of the work, and what the consequences are if it is not done
There are significant societal trends that prompt the need for enhanced outdoor recreation research through a multi-state mechanism. According to the latest results from the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment (Outdoor Recreation for 21st Century America, K. Cordell, Venture Publishing, Inc., 2004,) outdoor recreation participation has increased. Depending on the situation, this leads to increased impacts on the physical environment.
Outdoor recreation continues to make a major contribution to local and regional economies. According to the Outdoor Industry Foundation (2006), active outdoor recreation pursuits accounted for $730 billion of consumer expenditures nationally in 2005. Nationwide, communities are looking for alternative enterprises to diversify their economy, either by capturing the increasing interest and opportunities related to outdoor recreation or harnessing it in ways that contribute to community well-being and resilience.
Scientific studies suggest that quality outdoor recreation experiences can lead to healthier, active lifestyles for people of all ages. With the national obesity epidemic, outdoor recreation is beginning to be recognized as a means to reconnect our nation's youth with nature and contribute to healthy, active lifestyles. This is in response to decreasing unstructured connection and contact with nature for adults and youth. Disconnect with nature may lead to adverse long-term effects on conservation effort. Another concern is that there is declining environmental literacy, especially among youth. For instance, Richard Louv and his Last Child in the Woods book (2006) has been a lightning rod for this collective realization that kids spend too much time inside. Pergams and Zaradic (2008) corroborate this national intuition using time series data to illustrate there has been a steady global decline in nature-based recreation, such as national park visits, over the past 20 years. There are increased public health concerns from inactive lifestyles, including obesity . Increasing rates of childhood obesity and a decline in environmental literacy have spawned a national grassroots movement to reconnect children with active, outdoor pursuits.
Nevertheless, with demographic change such as baby-boomer in-migration to amenity-rich counties (Recreation, Tourism, and Rural Well-being, R. Reeder and D. Brown, USDA-Economic Research Service, ERR-7, 2006) and participation increasing and diversifying, there is a growing challenge to provide and manage sustainable outdoor environments for recreation experiences. Demographic changes affect recreation participants, non-participants, public land managers, and private landowners. New outdoor participants with increasing demand for different recreation facilities and services create challenges for outdoor recreation resource management.
The U.S. population continues to grow and aging, urban baby-boomers are moving to rural regions rich in amenity resources such as mountains, lakes, forests, and oceans. This exurbanization trend (Egan and Luloff, 2000) is changing rural landscapes and leading to growing resource conflicts between traditional and emerging outdoor recreation pursuits. Some recreationresource proximate communities face a changing quality of life and livability. There is also an increased need to diversify rural community economies. Community leaders and resource managers are challenged to cope with increasing recreation demand and growing conflicts over unmanaged recreation such as ATVs. Inadequate resource and tourism planning in communities hampers efforts for sustainable recreation and tourism development.
Woven across all of these situations is the lack of science-based strategies to achieve sustainable outdoor environments connecting people and nature through recreation, leading to healthier people, resources, and communities. Without this multi-state research project, it will be more difficult to reach societal conditions where: " Outdoor recreation contributes to active lifestyles, " Managed recreation areas have adopted and implemented sustainable recreation management techniques, " Physical impacts are maintained within management parameters, " Recreation opportunities are inclusive and tailored for a diverse public, " People possess an increased attachment with the natural environment and a sense of place, " Public attains knowledge in environmental stewardship, " Sustainable and accessible outdoor recreation environments lead to resilient communities and high quality of life, " Outdoor recreation enterprises contribute to improved economic stability in rural communities, and " Scientific capacity to address contemporary problems by applying and revising state-of-the-art-knowledge.
The technical feasibility of the research
Social science, economic, and ecology research methods are well developed, making this research technically feasible. Existing and innovative research methods will allow the provision of additional theory development within the field. Internal capacity is strong with a network of researchers across universities and agencies. Capacity to work immediately at a multi-state level is manageable, as many of these researchers have already established professional working relationships and often attend common conferences throughout the year. Success is partially dependent on external factors, including the need for funding to conduct the research, especially cooperation from federal, state, and private funding sources as leverage to the multi-state project. Furthermore, society--from economic conditions to social values--is not in a steady state. Therefore, research will need to adapt to changing conditions over time.
The advantages for doing the work as a multi-state effort
There are several advantages for doing this work from a multi-state perspective. Multi-state projects provide an effective forum for building collaboration among multidisciplinary researchers and educators. With resources dwindling at every level, instead of reinventing wheels, multi-state collaborative efforts are likely to find better solutions than single investigators or single state approaches. It may also help strengthen research proposals for pursuing external grants. In particular, there is a need within the outdoor recreation research discipline to pursue research that is more diverse in spatial and temporal dimensions than currently employed. Collaboration will promote research projects replicated across the diverse social, economic, and ecological landscapes of the United States. The multi-state effort may also lend support to longitudinal studies in order to better understand the long-term effects of resource management and societal issues. Except for a limited few nationwide research projects, current research efforts are often short-term conducted only on a single-site or single-region scale. Without a multi-state research approach, research in this area will be hindered.
What the likely impacts will be from successfully completing the work
The outcomes or likely impacts of this multi-state research during the short- and medium-time frames are divided into knowledge and action (See also Figure 1):
Knowledge Outcomes (Short-term):
1) Public aware of active recreation opportunities and relationship to personal health
2a) Rec. providers aware of trends in participation
2b) Understand conflict management tools among competing user groups
3a) Recreation providers aware of relationships among use, impact & management parameters
3b) Public aware of the impact of personal behaviors and responsibility to limit impact
4) Recreation providers aware of demographic trends and long & short term responses
5) Public aware of ease of access to nature based recreation resources
6) Public/youth aware of environmental & ecosystem processes
7) Public & recreation provider awareness of QOL issues related to proximate nature based recreation resources
8) Public & recreation provider awareness of effective tourism or recreation planning tools and relevant-available information
9a) Local community leaders and entrepreneurs awareness of nature-based tourism business development opportunities
9b) Understand the dynamic interactions between rec. & community development
10a) Researchers & recreation providers aware of contemporary scientific tools & methods
10b) Science program leaders aware/appreciate capabilities of outdoor recreation research & education
Action Outcomes (Medium-term):
1) Public participation in active outdoor recreation increases
2a) Planning & infrastructure respond to projected variation in demand
2b) Adopt conflict management tools
3a) Providers establish impact parameters, monitor impacts, and respond to areas near or beyond limits of acceptability
3b) Public modifies behavior to reduce resource impacts
4) Providers modify planning documents and on-site management to accommodate needs of diverse populations
5) Increased public engagement with natural resources
6a) Public seeks environmental education opportunities
6b) Increased adoptive management practices
7a) Sustain or increase length of residence in community; sustain or increase positive image of community & resource managers
7b) Public engages proximate nature-based recreation opportunities
8a) Public engages in community, resource, and tourism planning processes
8b) Community planners respond to public needs and adopt a coordinated & systems approach in rec. & tourism planning
9) Creation of outdoor recreation enterprises, infrastructures, & other service facilities.
10a) Researchers & educators adopt new methods
10b) National science programs expand funding levels targeting expertise of outdoor recreation research & education.
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