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A Wilderness Riparian Environment: Visitor Satisfaction,
Perceptions, Reality, and Management1
Sharon L. Hoover, David A. King, and William J. Matter 2
Abstract.--Visitors to the area were generally satisfied
with their visits, but cited features associated with cattle,
fishing and contact with other people as detractants. Their
perceptions of the relative abundance of selected environmental conditions closely matched real-world measures. Attributes given the highest desirability ratings by the users
were largely features likely to be prevalent in healthy
riparian systems. Thus, management which maintains or enhances the ecological integrity of riparian areas may also
contribute to their potential recreational values.
INTRODUCTION
Relative to other land types, riparian areas
are characterized by the combination of high
species diversity,,high species densities and high
biological productivity. As noted by the Western
Division of the American Fisheries Society (1980),
the riparian zone is recognized as a very
important and potentially valuable land type
because: 1) it determines, in part, the quality of
bordered aquatic habitats; 2) it provides a
vegetative buffer zone for bottomland stability
against overland water flows; 3) it offers more
seasonal and year-long habitat to the greatest
numbers and diversity of terrestrial wildlife
populations than any other habitat type; 4) it
accommodates and attracts important recreational
activities; and 5) its pleasing combination of
land, water, vegetation, and wildlife is very
aesthetically valuable. Additionally, riparian
areas can provide highly palatable forage for
domestic livestock.
While riparian areas can provide for a
multitude of potential uses, they are relatively
limited in extent everywhere, and especially in
the Southwest. Historically, the area of riparian
ecosytems has always been small relative to other
ecosystems. Mor& recently, however, human
encroachment and activities have further reduced
the relative extent of these sensitive ecosytems,
making those that remain even more significant.
In the Southwest, domestic livestock grazing,
1Paper presented at the Interagency North
American Riparian Conference: "Riparian Ecosystems
and Their Management: Reconciling Conflicting
Uses." Tucson, Ariz. April 16-18, 1985.
2 sharon L. Hoover was Graduate Research
Assistant, David A. King is Professor, and
William J. Matter is Associate Professor in the
School of Renewable Natural Resources, University
of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
223
stream channel alteration, water pollution,
recreational use, and urban development are
primary factors contributing to the loss of
riparian communities (Brinson, et al. 1981).
Given the social and ecological importance of
riparian areas and their increasing relative
scarcity, they must be very carefullv managed for
maximum net social benefits. To do this, it is
necessary to have information about their values
to society.
This study was designed to identify some of
the benefits, in terms of satisfaction, that
people obtain from recreating in a riparian
environment within a designated Wilderness Area.
In particular, we wanted to identify features in
the environment that added to or detracted from
visitor satisfaction. We also explored the
relationships between visitors' perceptions of the
desirability and commonness of environmental
attributes and objective measures of those
attributes.
METHODS
Study Area
The study area was located in the Mount
Baldy Wilderness Area (MBWA) in east central
Arizona, administered by the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest. The Wilderness is 7,000 acres in
size and ranges in elevation from 9,200 to 11,400
feet. Spruce-fir is the primary forest type with
small stands of aspen scattered throughout. Two
perennial streams, the West and East Forks of the
Little Colorado River, form in and flow from the
area.
Only a portion of the Wilderness, within the
West Fork drainage, was included in the study. A
trail parallels the meandering stream for about
the first 2 miles, from the Wilderness boundary
Theoretically, satisfaction with a given
attribute is maximized when the degree of
desirability is congruent with the degree of
perceived commonness (Peterson 1974). The measure
of congruence is the difference in the mean
standard scores for the desirability and for the
perceived commonness of an attribute. A
difference of zero indicates complete congruence
and, theoretically, maximum satisfaction with the
attribute. The statistical significance of the
congruities of the attributes were tested with
Student's t. Relative congruities were calculated
for each of the following 34 attributes.
through several meadows. The next 4.2 miles of
trail are steeper and enter densely forested
areas.
In 1981, the estimated recreational use of
the Wilderness was 5,000 visitor days, a density
of 0.68 visitor days per acre. In 1975 the
density of use was 0.65 visitor days per acre
which, at that time, was the highest of any
wilderness area in Arizona (Hendee, et al. 1978).
During the summer, the Arizona Game and Fish
Department stocks the West Fork, just below the
Wilderness boundary, with about 600 catchablesized trout every week, but few of these fish
become residents within the wilderness reaches of
the stream.
Cattle grazing has taken place since about
1900. Typically, 300 cattle are put on the range
in June and removed by late October. Every third
year the pasture undergoes a complete rest.
Data Collection and Analysis
Three measures of visitor satisfaction were
used. The first was a direct query as to their
overall satisfaction with the trip and the second
came from visitor ratings of their satisfaction
with the following 12 attributes of the area.
Scenery
Streams
Forest
Meadows
Wildflowers
People you are with
Trails
Wildlife
Other people you encountered
Fishing
Trail signs
Cattle
Seven point scales were used for both measures.
Mean scores across respondents were used as
estimates of overall visitor satisfaction with the
trip and of satisfaction with the attributes
presented for response.
The third index of satisfaction was
(1974) measure of relative congruity.
This index is based on the hypothesis that
satisfaction is a function of the degree to which
there is congruency between a visitor's
aspirations for, and perceptions of, the presence
of the attributes in the environment. Aspirations
were measured in terms of visitors' expressions of
the degree of desirability of the attributes.
Perceptions of the presence of the attributes in
the environment were measured in terms of the
visitors' expressions of the commonness of the
attributes in the area. Desirability and
perceived commonness also were measured with a 7point scale.
Peters~n's
224
Mature, virgin forests
Trails, with views
Large, open meadows
Trails within dense forests
Streamside trails
Primitive campsites
Rock outcrops
Knowing that you can get help
Seeing no one but your own party
Really big fish in the streams
Registration boxes
Opportunity to catch stocked trout
Stream sections that easily yield fish
Stretches of stream with no other anglers
Steep trails
Stream banks clear of trees and brush
Fallen logs or trees across the trails
Cattle grazing in meadows
Areas where two trails run side by side
Campfire rings left by other campers
Shortcuts up and down switchbacks
Cattle drinking from streams
Trails that are deeply rutted
People using non-motorized bicycles
Cow manure along streams
Cow manure in and near trails
Cow manure in and around campsites
Murky or discolored water
Live trees with carving
Water pollution
Initials or names carved into signs
Litter at campsites
Litter along trails
Litter along streams
Several environmental attributes and patterns
of use vary along an upstream gradient within the
study area. Visitors who travel different
distances are exposed to different real levels of
attribute commonness and, hence, would be expected
to experience different levels of satisfaction as
well. This variation in site conditions provided
the opportunity to compare visitors' perceptions
of the commonness of various attributes (cattle,
litter, trail conditions, damage to vegetation,
fish, and number of users) with objective measures
of their commonness.
To control for and take advantage of this
variation, the area was stratified into three
units. The Lower segment was defined as the first
0.7 miles of the trail and contained most of the
casual picnicking and sight-seeing. It is made up
largely of small, narrow meadows, broken by small
While respondents indicated they were very
satisfied with attributes such as scenery, streams
and forests, they were dissatisfied with cattle,
trail signs, fishing, and other people.
stands of spruce and fir. The Middle segment was
defined as the next 1.5 miles and included larger,
broader meadows bordered by stands of spruce and
fir. The Upper segment extended from mile 2.2
nearly to the crest, a distance of 4 miles, and
wholly within very dense coniferous forest.
Landmarks were used to make these delineations
known to the respondents.
The objective measures of environmental
conditions were made as follows. A total count of
litter, damage to vegetation (carvings, hatchet
cuts, stripped bark, exposed roots), and cow
manure within 5 meters of either side of the trail
was made twice during the summer. Similar counts
of litter and manure were made along nine, 0.1mile lengths of stream. Fish abundance was
estimated from direct current electrofishing
samples from a series of 5--meter sections of the
stream throughout its course. Trail conditions
(ruts, switchbacks, braids) were measured along
the entire trail. The number of users reaching
specific distances into the Wilderness area were
estimated from full day visual counts at selected
points and from visitor reports during interviews.
During July and August of 1983, 301 visitors
were interviewed on-site: 90 who had experienced
only the Lower segment, 87 who had experienced the
Lower and Middle segments, and 124 who had
experienced all three segments. Obviously,
respondents could express their perceptions of
attribute commonness only for trail segments they
had experienced. Those who had experienced only
the Lower segment or the Lower and Middle segments
were asked only about those segments. Those who
experienced all three segments were qualified to
respond to all three, but this was considered too
great a response burden and they were asked only
about two of the segments, randomly selected.
RESULTS
Visitor Satisfaction
The direct measures of satisfaction indicate
the visitors to the area were generally satisfied
with their trip and with the particular attributes
as well.
ATTRIBUTE
Trip, overall
Scenery
Streams
Forest
Meadows
Wildflowers
People you are with
Trails
Wildlife
People encountered
Fishing
Trail signs
Cattle
MEAN
STANDARD
DEVIATION
6.69
6.83
6.79
6.68
6.59
6.56
6.50
6.23
5.65
5.05
4.50
4.28
3.66
0.53
0.45
0.49
0.70
0.68
0.75
0.90
1.03
1.27
1.39
1.39
1.60
1.90
Open ended comments by the visitors sampled
provided more insight into the causes of
dissatisfaction with various attributes. Most of
the respondents wanted to see more signs g1v1ng
mileages to the crest, identifying plants, and
providing general information about the wilderness
area. Dissatisfaction with cattle was mainly
caused by the odor and sight of manure. The
quality of the fishing was considered
unsatisfactory largely because of low success
ratios. Dissatisfaction with other people in the
area was caused by encounters that were too
frequent to allow some sense of solitude.
Based on the relative congruity measure, the
visitors also seem to be generally satisfied with
the area. Only one attribute, "Cow manure in and
near the trails", had a congruity score
significantly different from zero at the 10
percent level.
Attribute Desirability
The ten most and ten least desirable
environmental attributes, in the context of the
Mt. Baldy Wilderness Area, are shown below.
ATTRIBUTE
RANK
Mature, virgin forests
Trails with views
Large, open meadows
Trails within dense forests
Streamside trails
Primitive campsites
Rock outcrops
Knowing you can get help
Seeing no one but your own party
Really big fish in the streams
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Cow manure in and near trails
People using non-motorized bikes
Cow manure in and a.round campsites
Murky or discolored water
Live trees with carving
Water pollution
Initials or names carved in signs
Litter at campsites
Litter along trails
Litter along streams
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
1
2
The attributes with the highest desirability
include features nearly always present in
relatively undisturbed riparian ecosystems while
those with high undesirability include indicators
of system degradation.
225
Attribute Commonness
The rank of each of the segments according to
the measured and perceived commonness of
attributes within them are shown below. There is
a strong positive correlation between perceived
commonness and actual commonness of these
attributes.
LOWER
ATTRIBUTES
Large, open meadows
Actual
2
2
Perceived
Cow manure along trails
2
Actual
2
Perceived
Litter along trails
Actual
Perceived
Trails that are rutted
2
Actual
Perceived
2
Litter in campsites
Actual
2
Perceived
1
Shortcuts on switchbacks
Actual
2.5
Perceived
3
Opportunity to catch trout
Actual
Perceived
Litter along streams
Actual
1.5
Perceived
1
Streamside trails
Actual
Perceived
Vegetative damage
Actual
2.5
Perceived
1
Cattle grazing in meadows
2
Actual
2
Perceived
Cow manure in campsites
Actual
Perceived
Braided trails
Actual
Perceived
Density of use
Actual
Perceived
MIDDLE
UPPER
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
3
3
3
2
1
3
2.5
2
2
2
3
3
1.5
1
3
3
2
2
3
3
2.5
2
3
The results indicate that those attributes
desired by the visitors also were those attributes
necessarily present in riparian ecosytems. And
those attributes the visitors found to be undesirable are indicators of environmental deterioration.
In other words, functional ecological
values appear to be congruent with the preference
related values of human beings with respect to
this riparian environment. Furthermore, visitors'
perceptions of the commonness of objectively
measurable environmental attributes were generally
in accord with reality. These are important conclusions for management. They mean that managing
this environment, and the uses of it, to maintain
and enhance its ecological health also will contribute to the value it holds for the visitors.
1
3
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
2
2
3
3
Data on visitors' backgrounds (Hoover 1984),
however, clearly indicated that even visitors with
very limited outdoor experience and knowledge (and
possibly expectations) penetrated the furthest
reaches of the Wilderness, one indication that the
area may not be supporting demand for wilderness
dependent activities as defined by Hendee, et al.
(1978, p. 146). If this is true, then the concerns of knowledgeable wilderness users are not
strongly represented in the results of this
study. We did find that visitors with education
in natural resource fields or with higher
levels of wilderness experience reported
the
greatest dissatisfaction with several of the
environmental attributes. Thus, experienced
recreationists or wilderness-obligate users
(Hendee, et al. 1978), although only a fraction of
the present user group, may represent a survey
pool of more environmentally sensitive visitors
and more likely to provide early warning to
imminent management needs in this area. Further,
if the area were enhanced environ mentally through
management of the resource and
its use, the
proportion of wilderness obligate users might be
increased, which could possibly increase the total
use benefits provided by the Wilderness.
LITERATURE CITED
CONCLUSIONS
The primary sources of dissatisfaction
expressed by visitors to the MBWA were related to
undesirably high evidence of cattle and people.
Satisfaction per visitor would be increased if the
numbers of each of these animals were reduced.
The fact that only one attribute had a relative congruity score significantly different from
zero at the 10 percent level probably indicates
that the Mount Baldy Wilderness Area is providing
satisfactory experiences for the people now using
it. This result is not surprising, people tend to
go to places that are satisfying to them.
226
Brinson, M. M., B. L. Swift, R. C. Plantico and J.
S. Barclay. 1981. Riparian ecosystems:
their ecology and status. Final Report
FWS/DBS-81/17. Eastern Energy and Land Use
Team, USDI Fish and Wildlife Service.
Hendee, J. C., G. H. Stankey, and R. c. Lucas.
1978. Wilderness Management. USDA Forest
Service Misc. Publication No. 1365, 381p.
Washington, D.C.
Hoover, Sharon Lee. 1984. Levels and Sources of
Satisfaction in the Mt. Baldy Wilderness
Area. Unpublished M. s. thesis, University
of Arizona, 88p. Tucson, Ariz.
Peterson, George L. 1974. Evaluating the quality
of the wilderness environment: congruence
between perception and aspiration. Environment and Behavior. 6(2):169-193.
Western Division of the American Fisheries Society. 1980. Management and protection of
western riparian stream ecosystems: a position paper. American Fisheries Society,
Bethesda, Maryland. 24p.