Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)
Advancing novel approaches for visitor monitoring and management on federal public lands
Project ID: G23AC00140
Federal Agency: U.S. Geological Survey Partner Institution: University of Washington Fiscal Year: 2023
Initial Funding: $190,000
Total Funding: $190,000
Project Type: Research Principal Investigator: Wood, Spencer Agreement Technical Representative: Wilkins, Emily
Abstract:
The goal of this research project is to test and refine approaches for monitoring recreation on federal lands.
Specific objectives of the project include:
- Co-host an interagency workshop to discuss the current state of knowledge and best practices for using novel approaches for visitor monitoring on federal public lands. Identify visitor monitoring strategies, techniques, and data sources that have not been widely adopted by federal land management agencies.
- Evaluate how well new monitoring techniques and data could improve existing techniques by examining the congruence between on-the-ground data such as field counts and surveys with novel data sources such as mobile phone location data user generated social media content at selected study sites.
- Based on the findings, create recommendations to guide the development and uptake of novel visitor monitoring approaches and data by land management agencies.
- Provide results and accompanying management recommendations in easily accessible formats such as written reports, conference presentations, webinars, and journal articles.