Characteristics of Visitors without Permits Compared to Those with Permits at the Desolation Wilderness, California

摘要

At the Desolation Wilderness a sample of visitors without the required use permit were asked to complete a short survey to allow them to be compared with visitors who had gotten permits. Previous research suggested that those without permits would be less experienced at the site, and be more likely to be anglers, on shorter visits, younger, in smaller groups, or with friends than visitors who had gotten permits. Some, but not all, of these earlier findings were true for the Desolation Wilderness. Additionally, visitors with permits were similar to those without permits for some important characteristics, including level of support for limiting day use, suggested party size limits, the proportion belonging to conservation groups, and the number of years since they first visited the Desolation Wilderness.