Lands Legacy Tour, Cumberland Island National
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Cumberland Island National Seashore Lands and Legacies Tour Survey Fall 2012 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2013/695 ON THE COVER Lands and Legacies Tour Photographs courtesy of Cumberland Island National Seashore Cumberland Island National Seashore Lands and Legacies Tour Survey Fall 2012 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2013/695 Lena Le Park Studies Unit Visitor Services Project College of Natural Resources University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1139 Moscow, ID 83844-1139 July 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado Cumberland Island National Seashore – VSP Lands and Legacies Tour Survey 5008.2 09/25 to 11/14, 2012 The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. Data in this report were collected and analyzed using methods based on established, peer- reviewed protocols and were analyzed and interpreted within the guidelines of the protocols. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available from the Social Science Division (http://www.nature.nps.gov/socialscience/index.cfm) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. This report and other reports by the Visitor Services Project (VSP) are available from the VSP website (http://www.psu.uidaho.edu/c5/vsp/vsp-reports/) or by contacting the VSP office at (208) 885-2585. Please cite this publication as: Le, Y. 2013. Cumberland Island National Seashore lands and legacies tour survey: Fall 2012. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/EQD/NRR—2013/695. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 640/121787, July 2013 ii Cumberland Island National Seashore – VSP Lands and Legacies Tour Survey 5008.2 09/25 to 11/14, 2012 Contents Page Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. vi About the Authors ................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Organization of the Report ...................................................................................................... 1 Presentation of the Results ....................................................................................................... 2 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 3 Survey Design and Procedures ................................................................................................ 3 Sample size and sampling plan ........................................................................................... 3 Questionnaire design ........................................................................................................... 3 Survey procedure ................................................................................................................ 3 Data analysis ....................................................................................................................... 4 Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 4 Special conditions ............................................................................................................... 4 Checking non-response bias ............................................................................................... 5 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Group and Visitor Characteristics ........................................................................................... 6 Group type .......................................................................................................................... 6 Visitors with organized groups ........................................................................................... 6 Group size ........................................................................................................................... 7 Respondent place of residence ............................................................................................ 8 Number of visits to Cumberland Island National Seashore ................................................ 9 Respondent age ................................................................................................................... 9 Respondent household income ......................................................................................... 10 Respondent household size ............................................................................................... 10 Trip/Visit Characteristics and Preferences ............................................................................ 11 Information sources prior to visit ...................................................................................... 11 Length of visit ................................................................................................................... 13 Activities in addition to Lands and Legacies Tour ........................................................... 14 Overall Quality ...................................................................................................................... 15 Visitor Opinions of the Lands and Legacies Tour ................................................................. 16 Information sources .......................................................................................................... 16 Opinions of tour schedule ................................................................................................. 17 Sites/stops to remove from tour ........................................................................................ 18 Tour length as reported by tour guides ............................................................................. 19 Comparison of time spent and perception of tour length .................................................. 20 Other sites/stops to include in the tour .............................................................................. 21 Quality of park guides ....................................................................................................... 22 Satisfaction with the tour van ........................................................................................... 23 Preferred vehicle option .................................................................................................... 24 Opinions about tour topics ................................................................................................ 25 Tour reservations .............................................................................................................. 29 Opinions of tour fees ......................................................................................................... 30 iii Cumberland Island National Seashore – VSP Lands and Legacies Tour Survey 5008.2 09/25 to 11/14, 2012 Contents (continued) Page Guided tour of Plum Orchard Mansion ............................................................................ 31 Overall Quality of the Lands and Legacies Tour ................................................................... 31 Visitor Comment Summaries ................................................................................................ 32 What visitor liked most about the Lands and Legacies Tour ............................................ 32 What visitors liked least about the Lands and Legacies Tour .......................................... 33 Suggestions to improve the Lands and Legacies Tour ..................................................... 34 Additional comments .......................................................................................................