How far are you willing to go?

Recreationists are motivated to participate in activities (such as hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing) in preferred settings to realize desired experiences or outcomes. Recreationists have different motivations for conducting... [ view full abstract ]

Recreationists are motivated to participate in activities (such as hunting, fishing, wildlife viewing) in preferred settings to realize desired experiences or outcomes. Recreationists have different motivations for conducting their activities such as; excitement, developing or testing skills and abilities, family bonding, enjoyment of nature, or even subsistence. Preferred settings are the biophysical, social and managerial environments in which people seek their desired experiences. Recreationists will have different preferred social situations (ability to have large groups, solitude, family) and different preferences for facilities (developed, primitive) and management (degree of regulation, management presence). Critical attributes of the biophysical setting that recreations may have preferences about include the vegetation cover (forest cover, lake size), the fauna (number, size, species of target hunted/fished/viewed) and other factors including physical access to areas (roads and trails, safe parking). Finally, a critical element is the distance an individual needs to travel to access the recreation setting. The distance to a site impacts the cost and time available to recreate, which are some of the most frequently mentioned constraints to outdoor recreation. This combination of setting attributes and spatial location have implications for frequency of participation and site selection. Therefore, it is critical to understand the recreationists’ preferences as a spatially explicit. Understanding systems of recreation opportunities that an individual has to choose from can help us to better frame recreational choices and understand participation rates. Two outdoor recreation surveys were distributed using a modified Tailored Design method. In 2015, 3,000 anglers were asked about their recent (how many in the last year) and past visitation (last 5 years) to Alabama’s system of State Lakes. In 2018 (spring) 4,000 hunters were also asked about their recent (within the last year) and past (last 5 years) visitation to Alabama’s system of Wildlife Management Areas. Participants were provided a map of the locations of the relevant opportunity settings and were asked about preferences and costs associated with their most recent trip. Analysis is being conducted on participation rates, number of visits to different sites, distances traveled for each trip they took in the last year, setting attributes, expenditures by setting and distance. Regressions will be conducted to determine the most important drivers of site selection; spatial modeling will be conducted to visually express ‘draw’ to different locations across the state, and economic analysis will be conducted to identify cost thresholds and economic impacts of different settings. In addition to the results of these aforementioned analyses, a comparative distance/attribute/cost analysis of the different activities (hunting and fishing) will be presented.