Excerpt from A Comparison of Carrying Capacity Perceptions Among Visitors to Two Wildernesses Significant differences were revealed in an analysis of the pref erence for inter-party contacts and the consequences of not finding preferred conditions. For contacts with backpackers and with large parties (defined as 12 or more people), medium satisfaction levels were consistently higher at increasing levels of contact in the Desolation Wilderness than in the Spanish Peaks. No contact with other parties at campsites was especially important in both areas. In general, it appears that Desolation visitors, exposed to higher use levels, have become more tolerant of heavy use than their Spanish Peaks counterparts. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Greater knowledge is needed about visitors to federally classified wilderness in the South, the reasons they visit wilderness, and the ways wilderness conditions influence their experiences. This information will allow areas within the region to be compared, and it will improve the potential for tracking future changes that may require management changes. Visitors to the Cohutta Wilderness in Georgia, Caney Creek Wilderness in Arkansas, and Upland island Wilderness in Texas were surveyed to gather baseline data on use and user characteristics. These characteristics included length of visit, group size, activities participated in, social encounter levels, availability of substitute sites, place of residence, sociodemographic information, previous wilderness experience, level of attachment for wilderness, and visitor preferences for wilderness conditions. Results suggest many differences among visitors to the three wilderness areas studied. The areas differed in some aspects of visit characteristics, visitor characteristics, and visitor preferences. This baseline information also suggests differences among these areas and other wilderness areas studied, most located in the Western United States. This report provides knowledge about current visitation. It may help in planning future educational programs, selecting wilderness quality indicators for Limits of Acceptable Change applications, and establishing management objectives for experience-related issues.