The Optimal Provision of Services in National Parks

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert W. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Pure Public Good ◽  
The Future ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Good Provision ◽  
The Cost

Abstract A national park provides recreational opportunities and also provides a pure public good. This paper presents an intergenerational model in which a club good and a pure public good are provided jointly. The focus is on optimality conditions for services provided by park managers. At the margin, the cost of providing the services should be balanced by the benefits of services. Services can directly enhance visitor enjoyment, both immediately and in the future; they can also affect congestion currently and in the future; they can affect the quality of park resources; and they can affect the pure public good provision. The framework developed in this paper suggests what information should be used by the National Park Service when deciding on the level and kind of services to provide.

Awareness of Noise Hazards and the Value of Soundscapes in Polish National Parks

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-487
Author(s):  
Sebastian Bernat
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Semantic Differential ◽  
Service Staff ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Questionnaire Method

Abstract The goal of the studies undertaken in Polish national parks was to determine noise threats, examine the resources, assess the quality of soundscapes and identify the possibilities of their protection. The questionnaire method used in the studies made it possible to identify the awareness of noise threats and the value of soundscapes according to the park service staff. In addition, the semantic differential and description methods were used to learn how students assessed the soundscape quality of Polish national parks. Finally, avenues of further research on soundscape in environmentally valuable areas were indicated. The research findings indicate that each national park in Poland is characterised by diverse and unique soundscapes and is subject to the pressure of road traffic and tourism resulting in noise hazards. The conservation of the acoustic values of parks is necessary and possible.

From Competition to Cooperation: A History of Canada–US National Park Relations

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terence Young ◽  
Alan MacEachern ◽  
Lary Dilsaver
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Settler Societies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Flow Of Information ◽  
The Relationship

This essay explores the evolving international relationship of the two national park agencies that in 1968 began to offer joint training classes for protected-area managers from around the world. Within the British settler societies that dominated nineteenth century park-making, the United States’ National Park Service (NPS) and Canada’s National Parks Branch were the most closely linked and most frequently cooperative. Contrary to campfire myths and nationalist narratives, however, the relationship was not a one-way flow of information and motivation from the US to Canada. Indeed, the latter boasted a park bureaucracy before the NPS was established. The relationship of the two nations’ park leaders in the half century leading up to 1968 demonstrates the complexity of defining the influences on park management and its diffusion from one country to another.

scholarly journals Values of Travel Time for Recreational Trips under Different Behavioural Rules

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6831
Author(s):  
Rosa Marina González ◽  
Concepción Román ◽  
Ángel Simón Marrero
Keyword(s):  
Travel Time ◽  
National Parks ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
National Park ◽  
Revealed Preference ◽  
Discrete Choice Models ◽  
Model Specification ◽  
Regret Minimization ◽  
Random Regret Minimization

In this study, discrete choice models that combine different behavioural rules are estimated to study the visitors’ preferences in relation to their travel mode choices to access a national park. Using a revealed preference survey conducted on visitors of Teide National Park (Tenerife, Spain), we present a hybrid model specification—with random parameters—in which we assume that some attributes are evaluated by the individuals under conventional random utility maximization (RUM) rules, whereas others are evaluated under random regret minimization (RRM) rules. We then compare the results obtained using exclusively a conventional RUM approach to those obtained using both RUM and RRM approaches, derive monetary valuations of the different components of travel time and calculate direct elasticity measures. Our results provide useful instruments to evaluate policies that promote the use of more sustainable modes of transport in natural sites. Such policies should be considered as priorities in many national parks, where negative transport externalities such as traffic congestion, pollution, noise and accidents are causing problems that jeopardize not only the sustainability of the sites, but also the quality of the visit.

Are We Loving Our National Parks to Death? A Call for Research on Crime and Law Enforcement in the U.S. National Park System

2021 ◽  
pp. 073401682110157
Author(s):  
William Andrew Stadler ◽  
Cheryl Lero Jonson ◽  
Brooke Miller Gialopsos
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Current State ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Service Data ◽  
National Park System ◽  
The U.S

Despite a recent surge of visitation and frequent media accounts of lawlessness in America’s national parks, little empirical research has been dedicated to crime and law enforcement in the U.S. national park system. The absence of systematic crime and justice research within these protected spaces should raise concern, as recent park service data and intra-agency reports suggest visitor growth, funding and personnel declines, operational shortcomings, and technology constraints may endanger the capacity of the National Park Service (NPS) to adequately address anticipated crime threats in the 21st century. This call for research aims to raise awareness of the contemporary law enforcement challenges facing this federal agency and encourage the study of crime and justice issues within the U.S. national park system. We briefly examine the evolution and current state of NPS law enforcement and its associated challenges and conclude with a conceptual road map for future research occurring in these protected spaces.

scholarly journals “Making Alcatraz Amazing”: The Alcatraz Cellhouse Tour

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Boling
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
Golden Gate ◽  
Federal Prison ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Multiple Languages

In 1987 the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy launched the Alcatraz Cellhouse Tour as part of the interpretive program educating visitors about the island and its history. Using an existing format made possible several years previously by Sony Walkman™ technology, the designers framed this individual, and innovative, audio tour as a means for visitors to experience the cellhouse through the voices of people incarcerated there, or living and working there, during the years when it served as an active federal prison. Such a design called for different decisions about content, scripting and moving people through space than had been required for ranger-led tours or the lecture-type audio tours prevalent at the time. The original tour has been updated continuously since its launch, and experienced by millions of visitors in multiple languages. The author of this case experienced the tour in 1988 and interviewed key designers in 2014.

scholarly journals Contrasting prescription burning and wildfires in California Sierra Nevada national parks and adjacent national forests

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
Jon E. Keeley ◽  
Anne Pfaff ◽  
Anthony C. Caprio
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Forests ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Area Burned ◽  
Natural Fires ◽  
Park Service ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lassen Volcanic National Park

History of prescription burning and wildfires in the three Sierra Nevada National Park Service (NPS) parks and adjacent US Forest Service (USFS) forests is presented. Annual prescription (Rx) burns began in 1968 in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, followed by Yosemite National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park. During the last third of the 20th century, USFS national forests adjacent to these parks did limited Rx burns, accounting for very little area burned. However, in 2004, an aggressive annual burn program was initiated in these national forests and in the last decade, area burned by planned prescription burns, relative to area protected, was approximately comparable between these NPS and USFS lands. In 1968, the NPS prescription burning program was unique because it coupled planned Rx burns with managing many lightning-ignited fires for resource benefit. From 1968 to 2017, these natural fires managed for resource benefit averaged the same total area burned as planned Rx burns in the three national parks; thus, they have had a substantial impact on total area burned by prescription. In contrast, on USFS lands, most lightning-ignited fires have been managed for suppression, but increasing attention is being paid to managing wildfires for resource benefit.

2020 national park visitor spending effects: Economic contributions to local communities, states, and the nation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Thomas ◽  
Lynne Koontz
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Economic Output ◽  
Interactive Tool ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Trend Data ◽  
State And Local

The National Park Service (NPS) manages the Nation’s most iconic destinations that attract millions of visitors from across the Nation and around the world. Trip-related spending by NPS visitors generates and supports economic activity within park gateway communities. This report summarizes the annual economic contribution analysis that measures how NPS visitor spending cycles through local economies, generating business sales and supporting jobs and income. In 2020, the National Park System received over 237 million recreation visits (down 28% from 2019). Visitors to national parks spent an estimated $14.5 billion in local gateway regions (down 31% from 2019). The estimated contribution of this spending to the national economy was 234,000 jobs, $9.7 billion in labor income, $16.7 billion in value added, and $28.6 billion in economic output. The lodging sector saw the highest direct effects, with $5 billion in economic output directly contributed to this sector nationally. The restaurants sector saw the next greatest effects, with $3 billion in economic output directly contributed to this sector nationally. Results from the Visitor Spending Effects report series are available online via an interactive tool. Users can view year-by-year trend data and explore current year visitor spending, jobs, labor income, value added, and economic output effects by sector for national, state, and local economies. The interactive tool is available at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm.

A Public's Awareness of Regional Parks and Park Management Agencies with Implications for Management-oriented Interpretation

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Carin E. Vadala ◽  
Robert D. Bixler ◽  
William E. Hammitt
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
National Park Service ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Park Management ◽  
Evaluation Strategies ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Management Issues

South Florida summer residents (n=1806) from five counties (Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties) were asked to recall the names of two units of the National Park Service and, when prompted, to recognize each of the four national park units located in south Florida. Only 8.4% of respondents could name two units of the National Park Service, yet when prompted many more stated that they had at least heard of the national parks in south Florida. Interpreters may be able to help raise visitor awareness of resource management issues by including information about the role of the agency in their talks or as part of their interpretive theme. Suggestions for further research and evaluation strategies are provided.

scholarly journals Sustainable Heritage Tourism: Native American Preservation Recommendations at Arches, Canyonlands, and Hovenweep National Parks

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 9846
Author(s):  
Richard Stoffle ◽  
Octavius Seowtewa ◽  
Cameron Kays ◽  
Kathleen Van Vlack
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
National Parks ◽  
National Park ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Heritage Tourism ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Park Service

The sustainable use of Native American heritage places is viewed in this analysis as serving to preserve their traditional purposes and sustaining the cultural landscapes that give them heritage meaning. The research concerns the potential impacts of heritage tourism to selected Native American places at Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Hovenweep National Monument. The impacts of tourists on a heritage place must be understood as having both potential effects on the place itself and on an integrated cultural landscape. Impacts to one place potentially change other places. Their functions in a Native American landscape, and the integrity of the landscape itself. The analysis is based on 696 interviews with representatives from nine tribes and pueblos, who, in addition to defining the cultural meaning of places, officially made 349 heritage management recommendations. The U.S. National Park Service interprets Natives American resources and then brings millions of tourists to these through museums, brochures, outdoor displays, and ranger-guided tours. Native American ethnographic study participants argued that tourist education and regulation can increase the sustainability of Native American places in a park and can help protect related places beyond the park.

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