Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)

Visitor Use Monitoring and Modeling of Existing and Forecasted Visitor Experience Conditions at Muir Woods National Monument and Alcatraz

Project ID: J8W07090015

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Vermont and State Agriculture College

Fiscal Year: 2009

Initial Funding: $157,505

Total Funding: $157,505

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Social

National Park: Pacific West Region California

Principal Investigator: Manning, Robert

Agreement Technical Representative: Savidge, Michael

Abstract: Muir Woods National Monument and Alcatraz parklands are managed by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). Each of these areas receives intensive public use, with more than one million people visiting each of them annually. The GGNRA is currently embarking on a project to revise the General Management Plan (GMP) and develop Implementation Plans for these areas of the park. This visitor use and experience assessment is critical to that effort and includes the following: complete seasonal monitoring at a minimum of (4) site locations to include Persons At One Time(PAOT) counts at visitor site attractions, and encounter rate counts on the Hillside trail; visitor use route mapping of at least (400) representative visitors over (20) days in the summer season; documentation of duration of time spent walking to, and at, key attractions; identification of thresholds for potential standards; and, complete visitor use modeling of existing and forecasted visitor experience conditions(using indicator proxies) for existing and GMP alternatives on the quality of the visitor experience at Muir Woods National Monument. This effort will also include data collection and seasonal monitoring of visitor density at key sites on Alcatraz thru both counts and photo documentation, as well as identification of potential thresholds for visitor density standards on the island so as to gather all the inputs for a potential follow-up computer modeling effort for Alcatraz.

Deliverables: