Pandemic adversely impacts already stressed national forests, research
finds

Date:
April 14, 2022
Source:
University of New Hampshire
Summary:
Researchers found a dramatic increase during the pandemic of
visitors to the parks and protected areas of New England that
resulted in significant social, situational and ecological impacts
on people's behavior, decision making and experience quality.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Many human experiences were uniquely altered during the COVID-19
pandemic including a significant rise in the number of people seeking
outdoor recreation options during quarantine. In a series of studies
looking at this trend, researchers at the University of New Hampshire
found a dramatic increase during the pandemic of visitors to the parks
and protected areas of New England that resulted in significant social, situational and ecological impacts on people's behavior, decision making
and experience quality.


==========================================================================
"At the height of the pandemic, in the summer of 2020, outdoor recreation visitation within New England national forests increased by more than
60%, or approximately two million visitors, a majority of which came
from out of state," said Michael Ferguson, assistant professor of
recreation management and policy. "While it was great to see so many
people rediscovering the outdoors and taking advantage of recreation opportunities, it also raised questions and concerns about these already overwhelmed natural resources." The extensive suite of research, which includes a study recently published in the journal Society and Natural Resources, assesses the status of the so-called outdoor renaissance at
the peak of the pandemic by examining visitation increases and shifts in behavior and decision making at the White Mountain National Forest and
the Green Mountain National Forest. While the pandemic fueled visitation issues, these national forests were already seeing significant problems
as early as 2017, including social (crowding and conflict), situational
(site access and litter) and ecological (snowpack and ticks). During the
summer of 2020, resource managers at the White Mountain National Forest commissioned the researchers to take a closer look at these concerns. The results of this study, published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation
and Tourism, found never-before-seen visitation numbers resulting in even
more pervasive recreation challenges including long traffic lines, lack
of parking, trail congestion and unprecedented instances of overcrowding
and discord.

However, researchers found for the most part, visitors were largely
able to cope and deal with most of the situations they encountered,
but the one factor that was consistently difficult for them to tolerate
was visitor conflict. This included arguments or disagreements, mostly
between in-state and out-of-state visitors, largely based on perceived violations of pandemic safety protocols like not wearing masks or honoring physical distancing.

"Our data and modeling suggest that approximately 10% of annual
visitation, which represents nearly 400,000 visitors, noted they would
likely never return for outdoor recreation because of the issues they experienced," said Ferguson.

To validate these initial findings, the researchers took a deeper dive
into the impact of the pandemic on outdoor recreation visitors, with
a specific focus on historically marginalized populations. This paper, published in the Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, confirmed
the huge surge in national forest visitation during the pandemic
and explored the significant increase in adverse interactions. The
researchers also found that historically marginalized populations stated
unique hurdles. For instance, low income visitors reported significantly
less substitution options as opposed to high income visitors and female visitors reported significantly higher instances of conflict during
the pandemic.

"COVID-19 unleashed a phenomenon that we didn't anticipate," said
Ferguson. "It really changed the outdoor recreation experience and
the manner in which these resources and experiences must be managed." Researchers say more studies are needed to determine next steps but hope
this extensive research will help pinpoint continued issues and improve
the decision-making process for resource managers, elected officials
and visitors.

The study team also noted that many parks and protected areas across the country experienced similar issues and moved to managed access systems
to combat increasing visitation. Researchers are hopeful that future
studies will help determine the best solutions for the New England
national forest system.

Funding for this research was provided by the USDA Forest Service.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_New_Hampshire. Original written by Robbin Ray. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Michael D. Ferguson, Kyle McIntosh, Donald B. K. English, Lauren A.

Ferguson, Robert Barcelona, Georgia Giles, Olivia Fraser, Marianne
Leberman. The Outdoor Renaissance: Assessing the Impact of the
COVID-19 Pandemic upon Outdoor Recreation Visitation, Behaviors,
and Decision- Making in New England's National Forests. Society &
Natural Resources, 2022; 1 DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2022.2055247 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220414125122.htm

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