Visitor Capacity Guidebook Managing the Amounts and Types of Visitor Use to Achieve Desired Conditions Edition One | February 2019 This Page Intentionally Left Blank
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Visitor Capacity Guidebook Managing the Amounts and Types of Visitor Use to Achieve Desired Conditions Edition One | February 2019 This page intentionally left blank. Acknowledgments Primary contributors to the development of this guidebook include members of the Interagency Visitor Use Management Council and technical advisors listed alphabetically: Keith Brown (Bureau of Land Management), Kerri Cahill (National Park Service), Mary Ellen Emerick (U.S. Forest Service), Rachel Franchina (U.S. Forest Service), Aleksandra Pitt (National Park Service), Jennifer Reed (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Rose Verbos (National Park Service). We wish to extend our thanks to those who contributed to the publication of this guidebook, including the graphic designers, editors, and reviewers. The Interagency Visitor Use Management Council consists of the following agencies: DEPARTMENT AGENCY Department of Agriculture U.S. Forest Service Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Defense U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Department of the Interior National Park Service Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Suggested Citation: IVUMC (Interagency Visitor Use Management Council). 2019. Visitor Capacity Guidebook: Managing the Amounts and Types of Visitor Use to Achieve Desired Conditions. Lakewood, CO. https://visitorusemanagement.nps.gov/VUM/Framework. FEBRUARY 2019, EDITION ONE | i Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... i Abstract .................................................................................................................vii Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Sliding Scale ........................................................................................... 8 Guidebook Overview ............................................................................ 11 Chapter 2: When and Where to Identify Visitor Capacity ....................................... 13 Chapter 3: What Is Visitor Capacity? ...................................................................... 17 Visitor Capacity is a Management Tool and, in Some Cases, a Legal Requirement ............................................................................... 17 Visitor Capacity is a Number ................................................................. 18 Visitor Capacity is Based On Desired Conditions ................................... 19 Visitor Capacity is a Necessary Precursor to Making Allocation Decisions ............................................................................. 19 Visitor Capacity is Based on a Variety of Inputs ..................................... 19 Visitor Capacity is Not an Isolated Decision ........................................... 20 Visitor Capacity is Not Equivalent to Visitor Use Management ............... 20 Chapter 4: How To Identify Visitor Capacity ........................................................... 21 Guideline 1: Determine the Analysis Area ............................................. 23 Guideline 2: Review Existing Direction and Knowledge ......................... 26 Review Applicable Law and Policy ..................................................................26 Review Prior Applicable Planning and Guidance ..............................................26 Review Existing Conditions in the Analysis Area ..............................................27 Review Existing Indicators, Triggers, Thresholds, and Objectives ......................29 Review Applicable Existing Management Strategies and Actions .....................30 Analyze Use Patterns for Commercial and Other Allocation Categories, if Relevant ...................................................................................31 Guideline 3: Identify the Limiting Attribute(s) ........................................ 34 Guideline 4: Identify Capacity ............................................................... 37 Determine Allocations of Visitor Use as Subsets Of Visitor Capacity, if Necessary ..................................................................................................39 Administrative Allocation ...............................................................................40 Commercial Allocation ...................................................................................41 Group Events Allocation ................................................................................42 Individual Noncommercial Allocation ..............................................................43 Documenting the Visitor Capacity and Any Allocation of Visitor Capacity .........44 ii | VISITOR CAPACITY GUIDEBOOK Chapter 5: Implementing Visitor Capacity Management Strategies and Actions ..... 45 Implementing Allocations of Visitor Capacity ........................................ 49 Monitor and Evaluate ........................................................................... 50 Adjust, if Needed ................................................................................. 50 Chapter 6: Visitor Capacity Case Studies ................................................................ 53 Case Study 1: Visitor Capacity for Sensitive Cave Resources .................. 53 Case Study 2: Visitor Capacity for Multiple Activities in a Wild and Scenic River Corridor Within a Wilderness ....................... 62 Case Study 3: Trail Capacity Considering Future Commercial Services ... 72 Case Study 4: Revisiting Visitor Capacities After Decades of Use ........... 81 Appendix: Visitor Capacity Tools ............................................................................ 93 Glossary of Key Terms ............................................................................................ 96 References ............................................................................................................ 97 FEBRUARY 2019, EDITION ONE | iii FIGURES Figure 1. Overview of the Visitor Use Management Framework ............................... 4 Figure 2. Elements and steps of the Visitor Use Management Framework ................ 5 Figure 3. Visitor capacity guidelines integrated within the framework ...................... 7 Figure 4. Representation of the four criteria involved in the sliding scale of analysis ............................................................................. 8 Figure 5. Visitor capacity decision tree, which helps determine where to identify and implement visitor capacity ................................................... 15 Figure 6. Visitor capacity guidelines integrated within the framework .................... 22 Figure 7. Example of visitor capacity allocations ..................................................... 39 Figure 8. Case Study 1: Representation of the four criteria involved in the sliding scale of analysis .................................................... 54 Figure 9. Case Study 2: Representation of the four criteria involved in the sliding scale of analysis ................................................................. 63 Figure 10. Case Study 3: Representation of the four criteria involved in the sliding scale of analysis ................................................................ 75 Figure 11. Case Study 4: Representation of the four criteria involved in the sliding scale of analysis ................................................................ 84 iv | VISITOR CAPACITY GUIDEBOOK TABLES Table 1. Sliding Scale of analysis decision support tool ............................................. 9 Table 2. Rating system to help determine the location on the sliding scale of analysis ........................................................................................ 10 Table 3. Indicators, thresholds, and visitor capacity ................................................ 79 Table 4. Indicators and thresholds by zone ............................................................. 86 Table 5. Level of visitor use in terms of potential or existing impacts and percent reduction in visitor capacity for all zones ...................................... 89 Table 6. Level of visitor use in terms of scope and percent reduction for visitor capacity in all zones ........................................................................ 90 Table 7. Adjusted visitor capacities for each zone based on percent reductions ................................................................................... 90 Table A1. Visitor capacity analysis tool ................................................................... 93 Table A2. Commercial allocation worksheet ........................................................... 94 FEBRUARY 2019, EDITION ONE | v This page intentionally left blank. Abstract Visitor use management is essential for maximizing benefits for visitors while achieving and maintaining desired resource conditions and visitor experiences on federally managed lands and waters. Visitor capacity, a component of visitor use management, is defined as the maximum amounts and types of visitor use that an area can accommodate while achieving and maintaining the desired resource conditions and visitor experiences that are consistent with the purposes for which the area was established. This visitor capacity guidebook, in combination with the “Visitor Use Management Framework,” provides managers with processes to collaboratively