Experience use history and its relationship to management actions and satisfaction | US Forest Service Research and Development

Abstract

Th is paper analyzes the relationship between recreationists' patterns of prior experience and their preferences for and satisfaction with specific management actions. A mail-back survey was administered to a random sample of 1,500 off-highway vehicle (OHV) owners in Utah, and data for this study come from the 600 owners who completed the questionnaire. The sample was segmented into four experience use history groups based upon respondents' number of OHV trips during the past 12 months and the total number of years they had been riding OHVs. These four groups' preferences for and satisfaction with five specific management actions were then compared. Results show that patterns of prior experience are related to the importance placed upon three management actions: adequate provision of trailhead facilities, presence of adequate signage, and presence of law enforcement. There were no significant differences among any of the five satisfaction measures.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Citation

Smith, Jordan W.; Moore, Roger L.; Burr, Steven W. 2010. Experience use history and its relationship to management actions and satisfaction. In: Watts, Clifton E., Jr.; Fisher, Cherie LeBlanc, eds. Proceedings of the 2009 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-P-66. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 82-87.