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Resource and experiential impacts associated with visitation to wilderness and other similar backcountry settings have long been addressed by land managers under the context of "carrying capacity" decisionmaking. Determining a maximum level of allowable use, below which high-quality resource and experiential conditions would be sustained, was an early focus in the 1960s and 1970s. However, decades of recreation ecology research have shown that the severity and areal extent of visitor impact problems are influenced by an interrelated array of use-related, environmental, and managerial factors. This complexity, with similar findings from social science research, prompted scientists and managers to develop more comprehensive carrying capacity frameworks, including a new Visitor Use Management framework. These frameworks rely on a diverse array of management strategies and actions, often termed a "management toolbox," for resolving visitor impact problems. This article reviews the most recent and relevant recreation ecology studies that have been applied in wildland settings to avoid or minimize resource impacts. The key findings and their management implications are highlighted to support the professional management of common trail, recreation site, and wildlife impact problems. These studies illustrate the need to select from a more diverse array of impact management strategies and actions based on an evaluation of problems to identify the most influential factors that can be manipulated.
Keywords: recreation ecology, carrying capacity, visitor impact management, management efficacy, wilderness, visitor use management
Visitor impacts to wilderness and similar backcountry "wildland" settings represent an increasing challenge for land managers guided by mandates to achieve and maintain high-quality resource conditions and visitor experiences. As reviewed in the accompanying article (Marion et al. 2016), recreation ecology studies have documented the types and severity of impacts occurring to vegetation, soils, wildlife, and water resources (see also Cole 2004, Monz et al. 2010, Newsome et al. 2013, Hammitt et al. 2015). An understanding of these impacts and their areal extent, rates of change, and relationships to important causal and influential factors is critical to selecting and implementing effective management responses that avoid or minimize recreation-related resource impacts. This article updates Leung and Marion (2000a), providing a state-of-knowledge review of recent recreation ecology studies that inform the development of effective carrying capacity and visitor impact management decisionmaking, including strategies and actions for minimizing resource...