Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado was established in 1906 to protect ancient archeological sites of Ancestral Puebloan people, abandoned 800 years ago. The area includes world-famous cliff dwellings such as Cliff Palace. But these sites are fragile, were vandalized and looted before...

As the highest mountain in the "lower 48," Mt. Whitney is a favorite destination for many hikers in the USA and beyond. However, this popularity has led to a number of management problems, including impacts associated with very large numbers of visitors on the trail and summit and improper disposal ...

Devils Tower holds an ethereal allure to many people. Rock climbers regularly challenge the monolith's signature cracks and columns. But the act of climbing is perceived as disrespectful by some Native Americans (Conflict) who practise traditional ceremonial activities at the sacred site. Moreover, ...

This chapter assesses the efficacy of management practices in outdoor recreation by reviewing and summarizing the body of research on six basic categories of management practices: (1) information and education; (2) use rationing and allocation; (3) rules and regulations; (4) law enforcement; (5)...

The Colorado River is the heart of Grand Canyon National Park and offers visitors a world-class whitewater river trip. However, use of the river was causing impacts to the limited number of campsites along the shore (Impacts to campsites), many of the area's iconic side canyons and other attraction ...

This chapter identifies and discusses a range of management strategies and tactics/practices that can be used to manage outdoor recreation in national parks. For the purposes of this book, management strategies are classified into four basic categories: increasing the supply of recreation...

This chapter reviews and summarizes a number of empirical studies that have begun to evaluate the effectiveness of outdoor recreation management practices. Much of this work has focused on two areas: information/education, and use rationing and allocation. The other four management practices...

Visitor use of Arches National Park has grown dramatically in the past few decades and now exceeds 1 million visits annually. But this use has had several important impacts in the park, including trampling of fragile soils and vegetation (Impacts to soil; Impacts to vegetation) and crowding on...

The Colorado River is the heart of Grand Canyon National Park and offers visitors a world-class whitewater river trip. However, use of the river was causing impacts to the limited number of campsites along the shore (Impacts to campsites), many of the area's iconic side canyons and other attraction ...

Large numbers of visitors resulted in substantial noise at Muir Woods National Monument, and this limited the opportunity for visitors to hear the sounds of nature along trails and at Cathedral Grove (Impacts to soundscape; Impacts to trails; Impacts to attraction sites), and may have affected...