RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY IN PARK PLANNING: THE CASE OP GARIBALDI PROVINCIAL PARK by . PAUL EDWIN GRAVES B.Sc, Simon Fraser University, 1988 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (PLANNING) in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (School of Community and Regional Planning) accept this as confirming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March 1991 copyright Paul Edwin Graves, 1991 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Sehoo! of Community & Regional P\oimtog University of British Columbia 6333 Memorial Road Department of Vancouver. Canada VAT |VV5 The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) 11 ABSTRACT: This thesis explores Recreational Carrying Capacity (RCC). The investigation looks at the theory of RCC, and trends in recreational use and management to make a first estimate of the RCC of Garibaldi Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. An extensive literature review is used to synthesize the social, ecological and managerial factors called for in RCC theory; and to summarize relevant aspects of park policy and recreation trends. This review serves as a foundation for adapting a RCC model from the literature. The model is then used to estimate the RCC of the developed backcountry areas of Garibaldi Provincial Park. The emphasis of the thesis is on the ecological component of RCC: a bio-climatic zone inventory, a soil capability survey, and a visual impact assessment are all undertaken to build an estimate of the ecological sensitivity of the study area. The model also uses social influences and BC Parks policy to assist in the formulation of the RCC for the study area. The RCC estimates derived are not precise because of weaknesses in the data base. Nevertheless, the estimates do indicate that the most desirable areas for recreation within Garibaldi Park have reached or exceeded the capability of the biophysical resources of those areas to sustain the recreational activities undertaken. As important as the RCC estimation is the identification of biophysical limitations of the study area. These limitations call for careful site selection in the development and management of Garibaldi Park to protect the biophysical resources which attract recreational use. If the model is to be of greater assistance in park planning and management then more precision is required in the investigation. Increased precision requires dividing the broad bio-climatic zones into sub- zones or micro-zones to allow site and route selection for managing the study area. RCC theory and the RCC model used are useful as planning tools because of the comprehensiveness required by the theory and the explicitness of the values used within the model. However, this comprehensiveness demands a large data base which is not available in the case study of Garibaldi Park. This points to the need for further research if RCC theory and the model used are to be of utility to park planning in B.C. iv TABLE DF CONTENTS: ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv TABLES vii FIGURES viii BIBLIOGRAPHY ix LIST OF APPENDIXES ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENT x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.0 THE STUDY 1 1.1 PARK MANAGEMENT 2 1.2 EXTENSIVE RECREATION DEMAND 4 1.3 THESIS OUTLINE... 8 1.3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 8 1.3.2 PURPOSE 9 1.3.3 ASSUMPTIONS 10 1.3.4 METHODOLOGY : 10 1.3.5 RATIONALE 11 1.3.6 FORMAT. 13 CHAPTER 2: RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY THEORY 2.0. INTRODUCTION 14 2.1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEORY 15 2.1.1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT 15 2.1.2. RESEARCH ORIENTATION 17 2.2. CATEGORIES OF RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY 18 2.2.1. ECOLOGICAL CARRYING CAPACITY 19 2.2.2. SOCIAL CARRYING CAPACITY 21 2.2.2.1. Willingness-To-Pay 21 2.2.2.2. Perceived Crowding 21 2.2.2.3. Preferences and Expectations 23 2.3. DESCRIPTIVE AND EVALUATIVE COMPONENTS 25 2.3.1. DESCRIPTIVE COMPONENT 25 2.3.2. EVALUATIVE COMPONENT 26 2.4. THE MODEL 31 2.4.1. THE WAGTENDONK MODEL 31 2.4.2. APPLICATION OF THE MODEL TO GARIBALDI PARK.... 33 CHAPTER 3: BC PARKS MANDATE AND POLICY, AND MANAGERIAL INFLUENCE 3.0. INTRODUCTION 36 3.1. MANAGERIAL INFLUENCE 39 3.1.1. MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 39 3.1.2. PUBLIC REACTION TO MANAGEMENT APPROACHES 41 3.1.2.1. Reaction to Management Actions 41 3.1.2.2. Reaction to Zoning 42 3.2. BC PARKS MANDATE AND POLICY 42 3.2.1. LEGAL MANDATE 43 3.2.2. PROVINCIAL POLICY 43 3.2.3. GARIBALDI PARK OBJECTIVES .46 3.2.4. GARIBALDI PARK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 47 3.3. DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT UNITS 50 CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL CARRYING CAPACITY FOR DISPERSED RECREATION 4.0. INTRODUCTION 53 4.1. SOCIAL CARRYING CAPACITY 54 4.1.1. GENERAL RESEARCH FINDINGS 54 4.1.2. RECREATION OPPORTUNITY SPECTRUM 56 4.1.3. U.S. ACTIVITY STANDARDS. 57 4.2. DISPERSED RECREATION IN GARIBALDI PARK :59 4.3. THE ACTIVITY STANDARDS FOR GARIBALDI PARK 62 4.3.1. FURTHER RESEARCH 64 CHAPTER 5: ECOLOGICAL CARRYING CAPACITY 5.0. INTRODUCTION 66 5.1. BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH 67 5.1.1. BACKGROUND 67 5.1.2. RESEARCH FINDINGS IN ECOLOGICAL CARRYING CAPACITY 70 5.2. THE ECOLOGY OF GARIBALDI PARK 74 5.2.1. CLIMATE 74 5.2.2. GEOLOGIC AND GEOMORPHIC FEATURES 74 5.2.3. VEGETATION 76 5.2.3.1. Coastal Western Hemlock Zone ; 77 5.2.3.2. Mountain Hemlock Zone 77 5.2.3.3. Alpine Zone 78 5.2.4. SOILS 79 5.2.5. WILDLIFE 80 5.3. BIO-CLIMATIC SENSITIVITY OF THE MODEL 80 5.3.1. SOIL CAPABILITY 81 5.3.2. VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 82 5.3.3. RARITY 84 5.3.4. FURTHER RESEARCH 84 CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS OF THE RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY OF GARIBALDI PARK 6.0. INTRODUCTION 86 6.1. REVIEW OF THE MODEL 86 6.2. SUMMARY OF DATA AND OBJECTIVES FOR INPUT 89 6.2.1. MANAGEMENT UNITS 89 •6.2.2. ACTIVITY STANDARDS 90 6.2.3. BIOPHYSICAL FACTORS FROM THE LITERATURE REVIEW 90 6.2.4. SOIL CAPABILITY ." 95 6.2.5. VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 96 6.2.6. RARITY 97 6.3. ANALYSIS 98 6.4. LIMITATIONS OF GARIBALDI PARK FOR RECREATION 103 vi CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 7.0. INTRODUCTION 105 7.1. IMPLICATIONS FOR GARIBALDI PARK 105 7.1.1. RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY OF GARIBALDI PARK 106 7.1.2. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGING GARIBALDI PARK 109 7.2. THE USEFULNESS OF RECREATIONAL CARRYING CAPACITY 114 7.2.1. THE UTILITY OF THE MODEL 116 7.2.2. THE UTILITY OF RCC THEORY 120 vii TABLES: Table 3-1: Inventory of Garibaldi Park Facilities, 1988 37 Table 6-1: Relative Soil Capability from Literature Review 93 Table 6-2: Soil Capability Summary from Field Survey Data 96 Table 6-3: Visual Impact Assessment Summary from Field Data 97 Table 6-4: Rarity Summary from Air-photo Interpretation 97 Table 6-5: Maximum Seasonal User Population 98 Table 6-6: Sensitivity Rating from Literature Review 99 Table 6-7: Sensitivity Rating from Field Survey 100 Table 6-8: Recreational Carrying Capacity of Garibaldi 101 Table 6-8: Recreational Carrying Capacity of Garibaldi (continued) 102 viii FIGURES: .Figure 1-1: Location of Garibaldi Provincial Park 5 Figure 2-1: Components and Categories of Recreational Carrying Capacity 15 Figure 2-2: Idealized Preferred Encounters 23 Figure 2-3: Evaluative Cycle 30 Figure 2-4: Deriving the Recreational Carrying Capacity 33 Figure 3-1: Garibaldi Park Topography and Place Names 38 Figure 3-2: Management Actions to Control the Impact of Recreation 40 Figure 3-3: Garibaldi Park Zoning 52 Figure 4-1: Summary of Research Findings for Social Carrying Capacity 55 Figure 4-2: Primitive and Semi-primitive Non-roaded Recreation Opportunity 58 Figure 4-3: Garibaldi Park Backcountry and Wilderness Trends 62 Figure 4-4: Data Requirements for Defining Social Carrying Capacity 65 Figure 5-1: Soil Survey Criteria for Extensive Recreation 69 Figure 5-2: Generalizations from Previous Research into Extensive Recreation 73 Figure 5-3: Summary of the Biophysical Characteristics of Garibaldi Park 75 Figure 5-4: Soil Parent Material and Process Summary 76 Figure 5-5: Soil Climates of Garibaldi Park 79 Figure 5-6: Summary of the Impact of Recreation 85 Figure 6-1: RCC Model Outline 88 Figure 6-2: Sample Bio-climatic Zones of Garibaldi Park 91 Figure 7-1: Sample Ecological Sensitivity Rating 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY: REFERENCES CITED 121 OTHER REFERENCES 131 APPENDIXES: APPENDIX 1: Declaration of the World Congress on Parks and Protected Areas 1982..138 APPENDIX 2: BC Parks Zoning 140 APPENDIX 3: Soil Capability Survey and Rapid Visual Assessment Methodologies 145 APPENDIX 4: Field Data 151 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thank you to Greg Chin and Judy Miller of the South Coast Region, Ministry of Parks for their assistance in data collection. With many thanks to Julia Gardner, Hans Schreier, and Ralph Perkins without whose patient efforts and encouragement this thesis would not have been possible. Introduction -1- CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.0. THE STUDY Garibaldi Provincial Park should be considered a jewel within the provincial parks system. The park contains one of the few pristine wilderness areas in South-western British Columbia.