In 1979, the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology began two projects: The Big South Fork Folklife Study and Two Kentucky Wild Rivers: Present and Anticipated Demand, Public Preferences and Social Carrying Capacity. Although the two projects differed in scope, in sources of funding, in specific objectives, and in methodology, they shared the goal of providing sociocultural data necessary for adequate recreational planning and management of the region's water resources. Billie DeWalt has served as co-principal investigator of both projects, sharing that responsibility with Benita Howell in the Big South Fork study and with Eugenie Scott in the Kentucky Wild Rivers study. In addition to providing management data for planners, both projects have provided employment and research opportunities for numerous graduate assistants. So far, the products of both projects include four masters theses, numerous papers presented at meetings, and various technical reports. A symposium on recreational development in Eastern Kentucky, presented at the 1982 Society for Applied Anthropology Meetings, focused on interrelating the issues and findings common to both projects. The final report of the Big South Fork Folklife Study has been published (Howell 1981), and the final report of the Wild Rivers Project is forthcoming.
Estimating tourism social carrying capacity
