This work is about not only how America's system of wildlands came to be, but also the political processes through which Americans decide how these places should and should not be used.

An authoritative guide to managing the ecological impacts of recreational activities on natural resources. The challenges facing today's recreation resource managers are both complex and daunting. Accommodating rapidly growing numbers of recreational visitors without sacrificing the ecological integrity of wildlands is a major challenge. Determining and planning for the limits of acceptable change and expanding services with little or no growth in natural resources or funding are major issues. Wildland Recreation, Second Edition provides solutions to these and other crucial recreational resource problems. Based upon its authors' extensive firsthand experience as well as their exhaustive review of the world literature on the subject, it provides up-to-date, detailed coverage of today's wildland recreation management issues, including: Ecological impacts of recreational activities on wildland resources Spatial and temporal patterns of recreational impacts Environmental durability, visitor use, and other key factors The limits of acceptable change, long-term monitoring, and impacts on wildlife Social and economic factors associated with managing impacts Alternative approaches to wildland recreation resource management Recent trends in satisfying increased demand for outdoor recreational opportunities International perspectives on recreational wildland management and ecotourism Like its best-selling predecessor, Wildland Recreation, Second Edition is a valuable working resource for wildland recreation management professionals and a comprehensive course text for students of forest and natural resources recreation, park management, environmental conservation, and related disciplines.

The authoritative guide to understanding and managing the ecological impacts of recreational activities in wildlands This third edition provides an updated and thorough examination of the ecological impacts of recreational use on wildlands and the best management practices to employ in places where recreation and preservation of natural conditions are both important - and often conflicting - objectives. Covering the latest research, this edition provides detailed information about the environmental changes that result from recreational use. It describes spatial patterns of impact and trends over time, then explores the factors that determine magnitude of impact, including amount of use, type and behavior of use, and environmental durability. Numerous examples, drawn from parks and recreation areas around the world, give readers insight into why certain areas are more heavily damaged than others, and demonstrate the techniques available to mitigate damage. The book incorporates both the first-hand experience of the authors and an exhaustive review of the world’s literature on the subject. Boxes provide quick access to important material, and further resources are referenced in an extensive bibliography. Essential reading for all park and protected area management professionals, this book is also a useful textbook for upper division undergraduate and graduate students on recreation ecology and recreation management courses.

"Managing to Optimize the Beneficial Outcomes of Recreation focuses on the need for public park and recreation agencies to optimize the beneficial outcomes of recreational opportunities they provide and on how such optimization can be achieved. The six chapters in Part 1 of the text explain what Outcomes-Focused Management (OFM) is, how it evolved, why it is needed, why it is credible, how it can and should be implemented by public municipal and wildland recreation park and recreation agencies. These introductory chapters also explain why every segment of a country's population needs to understand the existing science-based knowledge about the benefits of leisure, and why repositioning of people's currently too limited understanding and appreciation of the benefits of leisure is so badly needed. The six chapters of Part 2 describe how OFM has been used to help guide park and recreation policy development by agencies in Australia, Canada, the U.S., and New Zealand. Part 3 is comprised of eight chapters that describe how OFM has been applied to guide the development and implementation of management plans by various public park and recreation agencies. A large proportion of the chapters in Parts 2 and 3 were authored by practitioners who were directly involved in the applications described. Those chapters are rich in their descriptions of what was learned about how to, and how not to, apply and implement OFM. The four chapters of Part 4 describe other applications of OFM such as to promote more attention on the benefits to residents of local communities, determine the local impacts of recreation and tourism, and guide recreation-related health initiatives and wildlife management. The summary chapter critiques what the text and suggests future needed direction. This text was designed for leisure professionals as well as lay persons, politicians, and journalists. The primary hoped-for readers include leisure scientists, academics, and students; leisure professionals who work for municipal park and recreation agencies; and their counterparts who work for agencies that manage public wildlands on which outdoor recreation opportunities are provided. Managing to Optimize the Beneficial Outcomes of Recreation explains what OFM is, why it should be applied more widely to the management of recreation and related amenity resources and programs that are managed by public agencies, and how such management can and should be done." -- Publisher.

This book reviews the status of discipline-wide activity in forest economics and policy research, especially investment levels, past and current program emphasis, program planning, and organizational involvement. It defines strategic directions for forest economics and policy research.

It is now widely recognized that recreation is as important as work. This revealing book analyzes leisure and outdoor recreation in terms of both their management and their wider importance to society. Specifically, it: clarifies the link between leisure, recreation, tourism and resource management reviews contemporary outdoor recreation management and concepts critically examines approaches to outdoor recreation planning and management in diverse recreational settings considers the future of outdoor recreation and the potential influences of economic, social, political and technological developments. Wide-ranging and topical, it considers such issues as motivation and choice, provision for people with special needs, the impact of outdoor recreation on the environment, and outdoor recreation in both urban and rural contexts. This comprehensively revised second edition has many sections rewritten and expanded to reflect contemporary development in leisure and outdoor recreation management in countries such as Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and New Zealand. With an extensive bibliography of more than 500 references and including further reading sections and review questions, it is an essential student purchase and one of the most comprehensive and international accounts of outdoor recreation management available.