Wilderness recreation in the United States: trends in use, users, and impacts

Abstract

Recreation use of the National Wilderness Preservation System (NWPS) has increased sixfold since passage of The Wilderness Act in 1964. Use is currently increasing in most designated wilderness areas. However, the wilderness visitors of today, the trips they take, and their management preferences are not very different from those of a decade or two ago. Some of the impacts of recreation use are stable, while others are worsening. Impacts to a maintained wilderness trail system were found to be relatively stable over an 11-year period. Conditions on long-established campsites only deteriorated slightly over 5- to 11-year periods; However, aggregate campsite impact has increased greatly due to dramatic increases in the number of campsites (53 to 123% increases in the wilderness areas studied). These findings suggest that problems with wilderness recreation are pronounced and increasing. More investment by management and commitment to dealing with problems is needed to meet wilderness recreation management goals.