Managing Outdoor Recreation: Case Studies in the National Parks

All those who have had the opportunity to enter Yellowstone National Park through its north entrance have been met with the unmistakable Roosevelt Arch. Its message represents to all visitors a critical mandate of the national park system: “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” However, this is not the only imperative for the national park system and its managers. The 1916 Organic Act also dictates that these parks are to be managed “in such manner and such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Therein lays the challenge for those managers that must preserve, protect, and administer our national parks in response to the nearly 300 million visits that occur annually. How do we provide for public enjoyment of the national parks while protecting park resources? More specifically, how can we manage outdoor recreation within the national parks in a systematic and scientific way? In their new book, Managing Outdoor Recreation: Case Studies in the National Parks, Robert E. Manning and Laura E. Anderson strive to make information on successful recreation management approaches more accessible to both professionals and students. They propose a systematic approach for identifying and implementing appropriate outdoor recreation management practices. This approach is grounded in the relevant scientific and professional literature and represents Manning and Anderson’s fundamental belief that outdoor recreation should be “managed by design, not by default.” It intends to provide a mechanism for addressing the broad range of management problems across the diverse units of the US national park system. Part I of Managing Outdoor Recreation draws on the scientific and professional literature to create a foundation for a systematic approach to outdoor recreation management. It begins with an important review of several conceptual frameworks, such as the dual mission of public use and preservation in parks, parks as common property resources, and the operationalization of carrying capacity in a recreation management context. Manning and Anderson continue by describing the concept of limits of acceptable change, the identification of indicators and standards of quality, and how these concepts integrate into a threefold framework that ❦ The Heart of the Matter New essential reading on parks, protected areas, and cultural sites