Evaluation of Effects of Implementing Day-Use Fees at Corps of EngineersRecreation Areas

摘要

In 1994, the Corps of Engineers began implementing a day-use fee program(swimming beaches and boat ramps) at previously free Corps of Engineers recreation areas. Historically, there were concerns on the effects of fees on the visitor use, e.g., reduce number of Corps visits or displacement to other recreation sites and opposition to fees by the public. Potential changes in recreation behavior if fees were implemented and attitudes about fees were determined in a 1993 survey prior to the charging of fees; the 1993 survey findings were compared with the 1996 survey to determine the effects of fees. In 1996, surveys were conducted at J. Percy Priest Lake, Nashville, Th, and Harry S. Truman Lake, Warsaw, MO. Visitors at both lakes expressed strong opposition to fees in 1993. Charging fees did not cause visitors to stop using Corps reservoirs; visitation increased at the two lakes and nationwide. Opposition to fees had changed at Priest to strong support (mean of 7.71 out of 10 (strong support)). At Traman, equal numbers of visitors strongly supported and strongly opposed the fee program. A factor analysis identified project characteristics, e.g., facility cleanliness, that contribute to visitors' support of the fee program and that can be controlled by project management.