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Climbers' Preferred Management Actions: Addressing Resource And

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Climbers' Preferred Management Actions: Addressing Resource And AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Molly T. Burns for the degree of Master of Science in Forest Resources presented on December 4, 2014 Title: Climbers’ Preferred Management Actions: Addressing Resource and Crowding Impacts in Yosemite Valley Abstract approved: ________________________________________________________ Joanne F. Tynon As more people become interested in rock climbing, the need to understand climbers and their preferences and how their activities impact the resource are more vital than ever. With increased use, and with little empirical data about the Yosemite climbing community, park managers cannot adequately develop a comprehensive climbing management plan. The objectives of this research are to use a theoretically based survey instrument to measure Yosemite NP climbers’ level of support for different management strategies. I used chi-square analysis to evaluate the relationship between my independent variables, climbers’ self identified skill level and dependent variables, climbers’ perceived crowding and support for different resource and social based management actions. I found a relationship between climbers’ experience level and their support for resource based management actions. This suggests to managers that managing climbing impacts, either resource based or social impacts, should focus on managing the resource by using restoration techniques, or providing signs or maps to direct climbers to climbing areas. ©Copyright by Molly T. Burns December 4, 2014 All Rights Reserved Climbers’ Preferred Management Actions: Addressing Resource and Crowding Impacts in Yosemite Valley by Molly T. Burns A THESIS Submitted to Oregon State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Presented December 4, 2014 Commencement June 2015 Master of Science thesis of Molly T. Burns presented on December 4, 2014. APPROVED: Major Professor, representing Forest Resources Head of the Department of Forest Engineering, Resources, and Management Dean of the Graduate School I understand that my thesis will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University libraries. My signature below authorizes release of my thesis to any reader upon request. Molly T. Burns, Author ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I can’t express how grateful I am for the guidance of my major professor Jo Tynon. Thank you for your support, enthusiasm, and friendship. I want to thank my committee members; Josh Baur, Todd Newburger, and Dan Edge. Thanks to Jesse McGahey, Ben Doyle, Ed Dunlevey, and Kristen Kirschner at Yosemite National Park. Thanks Rachel Woita, Laura Patten, Kristen Kosick, and Katie Manion for the moral support and companionship through the rough days of data collection in Yosemite Valley. To the Yosemite Valley Climbers who gave up twenty minutes of climbing to participate in my study, climb on! Thanks DaD, for asking the right questions and sharing all the right stories to keep me motivated. Thank you for showing me what is out there. Thank you for your support and love. Edward, thanks for your technical assistance, I am glad you are my nerd. I appreciate your confidence, support, and understanding. Thank you for pushing me to be the best person I can be. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Background ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Problem statement ................................................................................................................................. 3 Research Question ................................................................................................................................. 3 Hypotheses ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Basic Assumptions ................................................................................................................................. 4 Scope of the Study ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Outline of the Proposal .......................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: Review of Related Literature ..................................................................................... 5 Rock Climbing Difficulty Scale: Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) .................................................... 5 Types of Rock Climbing ........................................................................................................................ 6 Rock Climbing in Yosemite NP ............................................................................................................ 9 Rock Climbing and Crowding ............................................................................................................. 11 Preferences and Past Experience ......................................................................................................... 14 Photo Evaluation Technique ................................................................................................................ 15 Chapter 3: Methods .................................................................................................................... 18 Methodological Approach and Research Design ................................................................................. 18 Sampling Schema ................................................................................................................................ 18 Data Collection and Instrumentation ................................................................................................... 19 Data Management ................................................................................................................................ 28 Data Processing and Analysis .............................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis .............................................................................................. 30 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 30 Response Rate ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Sociodemographic Characteristics ....................................................................................................... 31 Climber Demographics ...................................................................................................................................31 Gender ............................................................................................................................................................31 Education ........................................................................................................................................................32 Trip Characteristics .........................................................................................................................................32 Crowding ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Management Actions ........................................................................................................................... 36 Acceptability of Impacts ...................................................................................................................... 37 Cross Tabs Analyses ............................................................................................................................ 42 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Hypothesis One .................................................................................................................................... 42 Climbers Support for Management Actions ...................................................................................................42 Actions addressing resource impacts ..............................................................................................................43 Addressing crowding impacts .........................................................................................................................49 Hypothesis Two ................................................................................................................................... 52 Number of years climbing and crowding........................................................................................................52 Number of days climbing in Yosemite Valley and crowding .........................................................................52 Skill level and crowding .................................................................................................................................52 Chapter 5 .................................................................................................................................... 56 Analyses Evaluation ............................................................................................................................ 56 Hypothesis One ...................................................................................................................................
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