National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Campsite Impact in the Wilderness of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Thirty Years of Change Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SEKI/NRTR—2013/665 ON THE COVER Examples of campsites surveyed in the late 1970s and again in 2006-2007. In a clockwise direction, these sites are in the Striped Mountain, Woods Creek, Sugarloaf, and Upper Big Arroyo areas in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Photographs by: Sandy Graban and Bob Kenan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Campsite Impact in the Wilderness of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Thirty Years of Change Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SEKI/NRTR—2013/665 David N. Cole and David J. Parsons Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station 790 East Beckwith Avenue Missoula, Montana 59801 January 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado 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 Technical Report Series is used to disseminate results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series provides contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. 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. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. 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 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks website (http://www.nps.gov/seki/index.htm) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). Please cite this publication as: Cole, D. N. and D. J. Parsons. 2013. Campsite impact in the wilderness of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Thirty years of change. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SEKI/NRTR—2013/665. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 102/119561, January 2013 ii Contents Page Figures............................................................................................................................................ iv Tables ........................................................................................................................................... viii Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xiii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Study Area ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Visitor Use ............................................................................................................................... 3 Visitor Use Management ......................................................................................................... 7 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 9 The Initial Survey, 1976-1981 ................................................................................................. 9 The Repeat Survey, 2006-2007 ............................................................................................. 13 Field Trips and Interviews ..................................................................................................... 16 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 16 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 19 Campsite Conditions in 2006-2007 ....................................................................................... 19 Number and Condition of Campsites ................................................................................ 21 Variation in Campsite Number and Condition ................................................................. 22 Change in Campsite Conditions since the 1970s ................................................................... 31 Variation in Campsite Number and Condition ................................................................. 34 Why Some Subzones Improved More Than Others ......................................................... 41 Study Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 45 Discussion and Management Implications ................................................................................... 47 iii Contents (continued) Page Why Have Conditions Improved So Much? .......................................................................... 48 Amount of Use .................................................................................................................. 48 Distribution of Use ............................................................................................................ 49 Visitor Behavior ................................................................................................................ 50 Campsite Management Implemented By Wilderness Rangers ......................................... 51 Recommendations .................................................................................................................. 52 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 55 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 57 iv Figures Page Figure 1. Trends in wilderness use, as reported on wilderness permits. ........................................ 4 Figure 2. Map of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks showing the subzones that were inventoried in 2006-2007 .............................................................................................. 15 Figure 3. Class 1 site that is barely noticeable. ............................................................................ 20 Figure 4. Class1 site with vegetation loss and a firepit. ............................................................... 20 Figure 5. Class 2 site with a substantial central area lacking vegetation. .................................... 20 Figure 6. Class 3 site without vegetation, litter or duff. ............................................................... 20 Figure 7. Class 4 site with widespread severe impact. ................................................................. 20 Figure 8. Variation in campsite impact with distance from water, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). .............................................................................................. 22 Figure 9. Differences in campsite impact between overstory types, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). .............................................................................................. 23 Figure 10. Differences in campsite impact between forest overstory cover classes, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). ................................................................ 24 Figure 11. Differences in campsite impact between understory types, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). ................................................................................... 24 Figure 12. Variation in campsite impact with distance from food storage lockers, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). ................................................................ 26 Figure 13. Variation in campsite impact with firewood availability, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard error). .............................................................................................. 27 Figure 14. Variation in campsite impact with evidence of stock impact, 2006-2007 (mean weighted value and standard