Public Use Factors that Affect Design
Unlike national or state parks, which are accessed through controlled
entry points, the southern California Forests are accessed
round-the-clock by more than 160 different roads. Complicating
the management picture is the presence of private parcels,
communities and towns, and other agency lands inside the national
forest boundaries. Consequently, entry kiosks on roads leading
into the forest (thus traditional "entry
fees") are not feasible here. A recreation pass, which can be purchased
in advance of the trip and displayed in the windshield of a
parked vehicle, seemed the best way to collect a recreation
use fee.
Consider these factors that affect public use of the forests:
- 25,000,000 people surround these forests!
The mere proximity
of millions of local residents creates a short-term
spontaneous visitation pattern. This physical relationship
is called an urban-wildland interface. Southern California
has the most dramatic example of this relationship in North
America. On weekends and holidays the rush of visitors
going into, and back out of the forest can be massive.
Researchers call this decision-making process “spontaneous
choice behavior.” The rush of visitors to the forest
in such a short period of time can
lead to traffic gridlock conditions along popular
travel routes.
- The majority of visitors choose Un-developed recreation!
Nearly
70% of recreation use occurs out in the “general
forest areas” and "High Impact Recreation Areas", while only about 30% occurs within the
bounds of developed recreation sites like campgrounds and
picnic areas. Recreation visitors often concentrate along
streams, trails, off-highway vehicle routes and in snow play
areas. Impacts can be spread over many thousands of acres
on a single day. Visitors are choosing to recreate in less
developed settings, even though these areas do not have as many on-site
support facilities as one might expect to find in a developed recreation site. Millions of visitors are selecting these
undeveloped locations by "personal preference"!
- Direct communication
with Visitors was not occurring!
Prior
to the fee program, forest managers estimated that fewer
than 2% of visitors would come into contact with the Forest
Service on any given day. How could the agency possibly provide
important messages of health, safety and resource protection
if it could not communicate with the vast majority of its
visitor base?
- Destructive acts by a few troublemakers ruin opportunities!
Unfortunately,
the close proximity of these forests to nearly 25,000,000
urban residents makes them vulnerable to the deliberate abuses
perpetrated by a few troublemakers, who also access the forest
by motor vehicle. Destructive acts by troublemakers upon
the forest resources and their harassment and intimidation
of law-abiding visitors was actually
changing the makeup of the visitor population. In many
forest areas city gangs, transient-squatters and criminals
had taken over and displaced law-abiding recreation visitors.
The simple application of the Adventure Pass fee throughout the many "High Impact Recreation Areas" has helped reduce the occupancy by these
troublemakers. “When
Bad guys have to pay – they go away!” Our
forests are safer places!
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High Impact Recreation Areas
