Ocala National Forest Off Highway Vehicle Visitor Assessment Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation: Ocala National Forest Final Report July 2007 Presented to: U.S. Forest Service By: Rachel Albritton Taylor V. Stein University of Florida School of Forest Resources and Conservation Final Report University of Florida Ocala National Forest Off Highway Vehicle Visitor Assessment Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Visitor Assessment: Ocala National Forest Presented to: USDA, National Forest of Florida On: July 25, 2007 Prepared By: Rachel Albritton, Research Assistant Taylor V. Stein, Associate Professor University of Florida School of Forest Resources & Conservation Final Report University of Florida Ocala National Forest Off Highway Vehicle Visitor Assessment Table of Contents Executive Summary.................................................................................................................................5 Introduction..............................................................................................................................................7 Methods....................................................................................................................................................8 Data Collection .................................................................................................................................................8 Data Analysis....................................................................................................................................................9 Results......................................................................................................................................................10 On-site Survey..................................................................................................................................................10 Visitor demographics....................................................................................................................................................10 Use History and Trip Characteristics............................................................................................................................12 Participant Experience..................................................................................................................................................12 Group Characteristics ...................................................................................................................................................14 Mail-back survey ..............................................................................................................................................16 Socio-Demographics ....................................................................................................................................................16 OHV Experience...........................................................................................................................................................18 Involvement ..................................................................................................................................................................19 Motivations...................................................................................................................................................................19 Environmental Setting Preferences...............................................................................................................................21 Social and Camping Preferences ..................................................................................................................................22 Trail Preferences...........................................................................................................................................................23 OHV Management........................................................................................................................................................24 Open Comments ...........................................................................................................................................................26 Differences between OHV Riders.....................................................................................................................27 Willingness to Pay ............................................................................................................................................30 Discussion................................................................................................................................................31 Visitor Experiences............................................................................................................................................31 Willingness to Pay ............................................................................................................................................32 Future Research ................................................................................................................................................33 References................................................................................................................................................34 Appendices I. On-site Survey ...............................................................................................................................................37 II. Mail-back Survey .........................................................................................................................................39 III. Recreation Opportunity Spectrum ..............................................................................................................49 IV. Classification of Florida Regions ...............................................................................................................51 V. Open Comments..........................................................................................................................................53 Final Report University of Florida 2 Ocala National Forest Off Highway Vehicle Visitor Assessment List of Tables Table 1. On-site survey: socio-demographics..........................................................................................11 Table 2. Visitor use history and trip characteristics.................................................................................13 Table 3. Participant riding experience .....................................................................................................14 Table 4. Group characteristics .................................................................................................................15 Table 5. Mail-back: Socio-demographics................................................................................................17 Table 6. OHV experience ........................................................................................................................18 Table 7. Riders past visits ........................................................................................................................19 Table 8. Outside involvement..................................................................................................................19 Table 9. Participant motivations ..............................................................................................................20 Table 10. Motivation attainment..............................................................................................................21 Table 11. Environmental setting preferences...........................................................................................22 Table 12. Preferred social and camping preferences ...............................................................................23 Table 13. Preferred trail construction ......................................................................................................23 Table 14. Preferred day-use trailhead amenities......................................................................................24 Table 15. Potential management actions .................................................................................................25 Table 16. Perceived management problems ............................................................................................26 Table 17. Open comments .......................................................................................................................27 Table 18. Differences in desired motivations ..........................................................................................27 Table 19. Differences in the ability to attain desired motivations ...........................................................28 Table 20. Differences for environmental attribute settings .....................................................................28 Table 21. Differences for social preferences ...........................................................................................29 Table 22. Differences for preferred trail construction .............................................................................29 Table 23. Differences for day-use trailhead amenities ...........................................................................29 Table 24. Estimation of riders willingness to pay....................................................................................30