Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Visitor Study Summer 1995
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Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Visitor Study Summer 1995 Report 77 Visitor Services Project Cooperative Park Studies Unit Visitor Services Project Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Visitor Study Margaret Littlejohn Report 77 January 1996 Margaret Littlejohn is VSP Coordinator, National Park and Preserve Service based at the Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Idaho. I thank Diane Jung, Maria Gillette, Glen Gill and the staff of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve for their assistance with this study. The VSP acknowledges the Public Opinion Lab of the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, Washington State University, for its technical assistance. Visitor Services Project Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Report Summary • This report describes part of the results of a visitor study at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve during July 12-18, 1995. A total of 531 questionnaires were distributed to visitors. Visitors returned 444 questionnaires for an 84% response rate. • This report profiles Wrangell-St. Elias visitors. A separate appendix contains visitors' comments about their visit; this report and the appendix include a summary of visitors' comments. • Fifty-five percent of the visitors were in family groups; 20% were in groups of friends. Forty-nine percent of Wrangell-St. Elias visitors were in groups of two. Most visitors (56%) were aged 26- 55. • Among Wrangell-St. Elias visitors, 11% were international visitors. Forty percent of those visitors were from Germany. United States visitors were from Alaska (31%), California (7%), Florida (5%) and 43 other states. • Almost two-thirds of Wrangell-St. Elias visitors (61%) stayed more than one day. On this visit, the most common activities were scenic driving (82%), viewing wildlife (57%), walking around Kennicott (51%) and day hiking (49%). • Prior to their visit, over three-fourths of the visitors (77%) were aware of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The Milepost (45%) was the most used source of information about the park. • The most visited sites were McCarthy (58%), Kennicott (53%), and the park visitor center (52%). Over one-third of the visitors went to the park visitor center first (35%). • Half (50%) of the visitors day hiked during their visit to the park. Fourteen percent of the visitors took an overnight backpack trip in the park. Many stayed 2 to 3 nights in the backcountry, 27% stayed 6 or more nights and 27% stayed one night. Twenty-two percent used a plane to access the backcountry. • The most commonly used forms of transportation to get to the park were private vehicles (53%), rental cars (28%) and RVs (20%). Forty percent of the visitors came from Palmer/ Mat-Su Valley to reach Wrangell-St. Elias; 23% came from Valdez. • The reasons that brought visitors to the park were to view glaciers/ scenery (68%), view wildlife (59%), visit McCarthy/ Kennicott (55%), and recreation (46%). • The most used visitor services and facilities were the park brochure/ map, restrooms/ outhouses, and assistance from employees. According to visitors, the most important services were restrooms/ outhouses, trails, guided tours and the national park visitor center. The best quality services were hotels/ motels/ lodges/ bed and breakfasts and assistance from employees. • Future visitor center services that visitors would most prefer were exhibits (72%), a park movie (64%), trails (62%) and interpretive programs (53%). • The average visitor group expenditure in the park area during this visit was $241. The average per capita expenditure was $84. • Many of the visitors (76%) rated the overall quality of park services as "good" or "very good." Visitors made many additional comments. For more information about the Visitor Services Project, please contact: Dr. Gary E. Machlis, Sociology Project Leader, University of Idaho Cooperative Park Studies Unit, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Range Sciences, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1133 or call (208) 885-7129. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 METHODS 2 RESULTS 4 Visitors contacted 4 Demographics 4 Length of stay 10 Activities 11 Awareness of park's existence 12 Sources of information 13 Sites visited 14 Participation in day hiking 16 Backcountry use 17 Forms of transportation used 20 Visitor services/ facilities: use, importance and quality 25 Expenditures 39 Routes used to arrive at park 43 Overall rating of service quality 44 Future visitor center services preferred 45 Future McCarthy road services preferred 46 Future Nabesna road services preferred 47 Planning for the future 48 Comment summary 50 ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS 52 QUESTIONNAIRE 53 Wrangell-St. Elias NP VSP Visitor Study Summer 1995 INTRODUCTION This report describes the results of a study of visitors at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (referred to as "Wrangell-St. Elias"). This visitor study was conducted July 12-18, 1995 by the National Park Service (NPS) Visitor Services Project (VSP), part of the Cooperative Park Studies Unit at the University of Idaho. A Methods section discusses the procedures and limitations of the study. A Results section follows, including a summary of visitor comments. Next, an Additional Analysis page helps managers request additional analyses. The final section has a copy of the Questionnaire . The separate appendix includes comment summaries and visitors' unedited comments. Many of this report's graphs resemble the example below. The large numbers refer to explanations following the graph. SAMPLE ONLY 2 N=250 individuals 10 or more visits 10% 3 5-9 visits 20% 5 Times visited 2-4 visits 30% First visit 40% 4 0 25 50 75 100 Number of individuals 1 Figure 4: Number of visits 1: The figure title describes the graph's information. 2: Listed above the graph, the 'N' shows the number of visitors responding and a description of the chart's information. Interpret data with an 'N' of less than 30 with CAUTION! as the results may be unreliable. 3: Vertical information describes categories. 4: Horizontal information shows the number or proportions in each category. 5: In most graphs, percentages provide additional information. Wrangell-St. Elias NP VSP Visitor Study Summer 1995 METHODS Questionnaire Interviews were conducted and questionnaires distributed to a design and sample of selected visitors visiting Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and administration Preserve during July 12-18, 1995. Visitors completed the questionnaire after their visit and then returned it by mail. The questionnaire design used the standard format of previous Visitor Services Project studies. See the end of this report for a copy of the questionnaire. At Wrangell-St. Elias, visitors were sampled as they visited the park visitor center, Slana Ranger Station, Chitina Ranger Station, drove the Nabesna road, drove the McCarthy road, or as they visited McCarthy at the tram or at the airport. Visitor groups were greeted, briefly introduced to the purpose of the study and asked to participate. If visitors agreed, the interview took approximately two minutes. These interviews included determining group size, group type and the age of the adult who would complete the questionnaire. This individual was asked his or her name, address and telephone number for the later mailing of a reminder-thank you postcard. Two weeks following the survey, a reminder-thank you postcard was mailed to all participants. Replacement questionnaires were mailed to participants who had not returned their questionnaires four weeks after the survey. Data analysis Returned questionnaires were coded and the information entered into a computer. Frequency distributions and cross-tabulations were calculated using a standard statistical software package. Respondents' comments were summarized. Wrangell-St. Elias NP VSP Visitor Study Summer 1995 This study collected information on both visitor groups and individual Sample size, group members. Thus, the sample size ("N"), varies from figure to figure. missing data For example, while Figure 1 shows information for 439 groups, Figure 4 and reporting presents data for 1,263 individuals. A note above each figure's graph errors specifies the information illustrated. Occasionally, a respondent may not have answered all of the questions, or may have answered some incorrectly. Unanswered questions create missing data and cause the number in the sample to vary from figure to figure. For example, although 444 questionnaires were returned by visitors, Figure 1 shows data for only 439 respondents. Questions answered incorrectly due to carelessness, misunderstanding directions and so forth, turn up in the data as reporting errors. These create small data inconsistencies. Like all surveys, this study has limitations which should be Limitations considered when interpreting the results. 1. It is not possible to know whether visitor responses reflect actual behavior. This disadvantage applies to all such studies and is reduced by having visitors fill out the questionnaire soon after they visit the park. 2. The data reflect visitor use patterns of visitors to the selected sites during the study period of July 12-18, 1995 The results do not necessarily apply to visitors during other times of the year. 3. Caution is advised when interpreting any data with a sample size of less than 30, as the results may be unreliable. Whenever the sample size is less than 30, the word "CAUTION!" is included in the graph, figure or table. During the study week, weather conditions at Wrangell-St. Elias Special were fairly typical of Alaska summers and should not have impacted visitors conditions activities or length of stay. Wrangell-St. Elias NP VSP Visitor Study Summer 1995 RESULTS Visitors contacted At Wrangell-St. Elias, 603 visitor groups were contacted; 88% accepted questionnaires. Four hundred forty-four visitor groups completed and returned their questionnaires, an 84% response rate. Table 1 compares information collected from the total sample of visitors contacted and the actual respondents who returned questionnaires. The non-response bias was insignificant. Table 1: Comparison of total sample and actual respondents Variable Total sample Actual respondents N Avg.