Social conditions, visitor flow & travel simulation model for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Metadata:

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

In 2010 technicians recorded all encounters whether the observed other party was on shore, on the water, portaging, or flying overhead. Campsites were considered occupied and were recorded as encounters if they were gear-filled sites (equipped) or if the encountered group was seen or heard (peopled). There are a number of outliers existing in the \Data\BWCAW_2010.csv dataset. These have not been manipulated or omitted to reflect, and therefore reflect exactly what was recorded by the field technicians.

In 2011 there was variation in the survey item response entries for "name of the lake/river your group camped at on this night." A survey item entry is a response from a trip leader at the trip day level. The original dataset contained 3959 unique entries for this before any data editing was performed. The first editing steps taken were to code the instances in which the given response indicated that the party exited the BWCAW on that date. Therefore, approximately 500 camp nights were refined to "exit" from entries such as; "out at public landing", "out of park", "back at Ely", "came out", "canoed out", "did not stay this night", "end of trip", etc. The BWCAW_2011_online, BWCAW_2011_postal, and BWCAW_2011 datasets have outliers. Obvious outliers present in the raw BWCAW_2011_online data were removed during cleaning and the removal is reflected in the fewer outliers in BWCAW_2011 dataset. The outliers left in the BWCAW_2011 dataset are present so that they could be evaluated at the discretion of consultant collaborator, Christensen Research, for the purposes of producing VisSim 3.0 (see BWCAW technical report for more details).

There was variation in the item response entries for camp location. Some of this variation was due to the spelling of lakes and rivers such as Kawasachong, Kawishiwi, Gabimichigami, Ogishkemuncie, and others. These entries were refined to their standard spellings. Ultimately, the camp location entries were refined to 729 unique location names (categorical levels) in the dataset \Data\BWCAW_2011_postal.csv delivered to the modeling consultant, Christensen Research (CR). This equates to identifying, cleaning and standardizing 3230 variations of respondent submitted camp locations.

For the purposes of simulation modeling, the camp locations needed to be recoded into the 96 BWCA Wilderness travel zones. There were 11,931 camp location response entries related to 5818 trips that required refinement in order to produce a dataset adequate for model parameterization (24.7 percent of the 48,283 camp location item entries and 49.2 percent of the 11,811 trips at the unit level in the data provided to CR for model development). This means there were many response entries by which there was some degree of uncertainty as to which lake the response was referring. There were 137 records with such responses as NA, other, or a lake name that did not reflect the USFS data relating BWCAW travel zones to the lakes they contain (these were coded 700; 0.28 percent of 48,283 item level responses). Those survey item entries related to 129 trips (1.1 percent of 11,811 trips in the data provided to CR for model development).

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Refinement of Camp Locations

The majority of editing and recoding effort went toward camp location responses that indicated a lake or river that spans multiple travel zones. Basswood Lake, Lac La Croix, Crooked Lake, Knife Lake, Lake One, Kawishiwi River/Lake and the Little Indian Sioux River all cover multiple travel zones (figures 18-22 in the BWCAW technical report show some of these zone-spanning water bodies). There were 6858 response records that necessitated refinement that related to 2692 trips (14.2 percent of the response trip days and 22.8 percent of the response trips).

The next step in processing, editing and recoding of the camp location entries consisted of the recoding of the entries that upon first inspection were considered indeterminate (code 700, N = 137 trip days, 129 trips). To determine the appropriate zone code the trip report responses submitted by trip leaders were examined. There were 86 records (the majority) that were refined to code 500 to represent exiting the wilderness and most likely ending the trip. The second most frequent recoding was for nights spent on the wilderness periphery (outside the formal wilderness boundaries but often still within the Superior National Forest or other public lands). For example, 12 records were recoded to 701, which is a code to represent a night spent on the periphery of the wilderness, but not in Quetico. Camp location response entries that are representative of these records are "base camp", "Mudro entry", "ep 16", "ep 30", "Twin", "Little John", etc. Appendix A of the BWCAW technical report displays the zone code frequencies for camp locations that were refined during this process. Another example of refining indeterminable response records would be the response in which the camp location was entered as "stayed" and a closer inspection of the response revealed the previous camp location to be on Boulder Bay of Lac La Croix and thus the zone was refined to 051.

The next set of uncertain responses examined were those coded 000 as blank (N = 1310 items, 1193 units). Appendix A of the BWCAW technical report contains a frequency table accounting for blank entries that were recoded into travel zones. There were 1085 records (the majority) that were refined to code 500 to represent wilderness exits. As an example, one trip report had three blank camp location entries. Upon reviewing the response, it became clear that two nights should be refined to zone code 213 and the other to 212. This was because the respondent indicated staying at Hatchet Lake and did enter a campsite setup time in the response neither for the next two days, nor for the trip day corresponding to the third uncertain camp location item entry following a camp night at Disappointment Lake. Therefore the third uncertain camp location for that response was recoded to travel zone 212. These were instances in which the visitors stayed over for multiple nights but did not directly represent that behavior in the response.

There were 3626 uncertain camp location entries that corresponded to response entries of lakes that shared a name with another lake found in a different wilderness zone. Appendix A of the BWCAW technical report has a table of the frequency at which these entries were recoded into travel zones. Often the most efficient and logical method for discerning the appropriate zone code was an examination of the entry and/or exit points for uncertain responses. For example, Pine Lakes are found in both zones 081 and 481 and these zones are respectively near the western and eastern edges of the BWCAW. By examining the response entry points, the camp location could be determined.

The greatest number of uncertain camp location item entries corresponded to camp locations on larger water bodies that span multiple zones. Appendix A of the BWCAW technical report displays the zone code frequencies for the recoding done to clarify those uncertain responses. Camp location response entries given simply as Basswood Lake without qualifiers such as Pipestone Bay were first divided into those associated with trips permitted for motorized or non-motorized travel. Following that, subdividing the trips by entry point and also then examining the "lakes visited or passed through" item response entries led to recoding many camp locations. For example, if a permitted motorized travel trip began at entry point 24 (Fall Lake), and item response entries indicated that the party passed through Fall and Newton Lakes and the camp location was Basswood Lake, zone 172 (Pipestone Bay) was the code assigned to that camp location item. If a permitted non-motorized trip began at entry point 25 (Moose Lake) and item response entries indicated passing through Moose and Wind Lakes, then the travel zone was coded as 184. If a permitted non-motorized trip response indicated passing through Fall and Newton Lakes, along with Pipestone and Jackfish Bays, the camp location coded as 174. This logical method using relevant response information such as permit type (paddle or motor), lakes visited or passed through, and previous or post response item day of interest campsite locations to recode uncertain item responses was used for 10,070 (84.4 percent) of the 11,931 uncertain item response entries (zones for trips days).

Another method used to recode uncertain camp location responses was rational apportionment. There were 1861 (3.9 percent) of the 48,283 camp location item response entries that were related to 797 (6.7 percent) of 11,811 unit responses. Given that insufficient information could be gleaned from other response information, a reasonable apportionment was needed. The apportionment was done based upon the ratios of campsites per travel zone. For example, Knife Lake has a total of 57 designated campsites; 25 campsites in czone 301 and 32 campsites in zone 302. There were 173 uncertain response entries of "Knife" with no other relevant information with which to discern the camp location. Of the 173 unrefined "Knife" responses, 76 response entries were recoded to zone 301 at a ratio of 25:57 and using the ratio 32:57, 97 entries were recoded to zone 302. That is, using the ratio of campsites per travel zone spanned by a water body to campsites per travel, uncertain camp location response entries for the spanning water body were recoded to one of the travel zones spanned. Therefore, in the example given above, for every one uncertain camp location entry of "Knife", 0.44 entries were recoded 301 and 0.56 entries were recoded 302. For responses with multiple uncertain item entries with the same uncertain entry relating to a singular trip (e.g., a trip with more than one camp location response entry of "Knife" that did not indicate the establishment of multiple campsites by way of entering additional campsite setup times), those uncertain entries were recoded to the same travel zone. This was systematically done by reviewing the trip response units with uncertain camp location entries individually. Singular uncertain camp location response entries (e.g., a trip with one camp location response entry of "Knife") were recoded to zones according the rational apportions method described above. That is, uncertain camp location entries from the same trip response were not subdivided into multiple zones unless there was an additional campsite setup time response that indicated that the group may have changed travel zones. Table 27 shows the frequency and percentages at which the four types of uncertain camp location response entries (undetermined, blank, multiplicative water body names, and travel zone spanning water body entries) were recoded in the dataset that was subsequently transmitted to CR for model development.

\Data\Raw\BWCAW_2011_online.csv and \Data\Raw\BWCAW_2011_postal.csv are the original uncorrected 2011 data files. These data were combined and responses streamlined. This included data corrections such as adjusting misspelled lake names. The resulting corrected data file, which is intended for use, is \Data\BWCAW_2011.csv.

Completeness_Report:

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2010.csv - Missing values as blank cells are system missing values that were either not available or simply not recorded during monitoring.

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011.csv - Missing values as blank cells are system missing values that were either not available or simply not recorded during monitoring.

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011_comments.csv - These data were created from the open ended comments provided by online respondents. They have not been cleaned for grammar.

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011_online.csv - Instances of no response are signified as 0 or 998.

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011_postal.csv - Missing values as blank cells are system missing values that were either not available or simply not recorded during monitoring. Most of the blank cells are due to the lack of need to repeat entries for attributes that apply only to the entire trip and not to every trip day or night. For those cases the pertinent response is given in and only in the first line of the itinerary. Other blanks signify no given response.

See entity and attribute section below for more details on these data files.

Lineage:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field

Methodology_Description:

2010 DATA COLLECTION

The frame population for this part of the study was zone hours (for travel and campsite encounter observations) and zone nights (for occupancy observations) in the three specified travel zones of the BWCAW during any given year from May 1 to September 30 (the period of greatest visitor use). The three travel zones 221, 411, and 412 were selected for variation across high and low campsite occupancy levels, high and low encounter rates, representation in both the eastern and western areas of the BWCAW, as well as a range of proximity to regional population centers (Ely, Duluth, Grand Marais, and travel routes from Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota) and to guest lodges and resorts. Therefore, the zones represent variation by levels of use along with geographic proximity in relation to the rest of the wilderness and areas outside of wilderness. Travel zone 221 was divided into two subzones (221a and 221b) because it was especially large and it was not logistically possible to sample it in one day. The subzone 221a encompasses Lakes One and Two, Rock Island Lake, Pagami Lake, and Climax Lake. Other than the last 2 lakes noted (which do not have designated campsites), this subzone receives a large amount of day and overnight use. It also contains the second most heavily used entry point into BWCAW. The subzone 221b encompasses Lake Three, Lake Four, Bridge Lake, and Rifle Lake. This subzone is a more internal area of the wilderness, yet still receives a large amount of overnight use. Travel zone 411 contains Sawbill and Smoke Lakes, which receive both heavy day and overnight use. It also contains the third most heavily used entry point for overnight trips. The fourth zone, 412, contains Cherokee and Town Lakes, and has a relatively lesser amount of day and overnight use.

The two objectives of data collection were: 1) measure overnight campsite occupancy, and 2) measure group encounters. Using randomly selected starting dates; nine "hitches" of 11 days were identified, such that a crew of two research technicians could plan to sample two travel zones, each for five days, also allowing travel time into and out of each zone. The encounter monitoring instrument and monitoring schedule is seen in the BWCAW technical report included in the full data publication download. During the sampling period the technicians were instructed to mimic visitor behavior throughout the day while conducting travel encounter observation. There were no precise instructions as to where in the travel zone to make the observations. Rather, they were instructed to vary their routines with some days spent fishing, some days spent exploring adjacent lakes including primitive management areas, some days investigating other campsites, and some days portaging and travelling longer distances (frequently when moving to the next sample location and/or entering and exiting the wilderness). In-camp encounters were scheduled for a specific time block of 4:00 to 6:00 pm when it was determined that most visitors would similarly be in campsite making dinner and noticing the presence of other groups.

Technicians recorded all encounters whether the observed other party was on shore, on the water, portaging, or flying overhead. Campsites were considered occupied and were recorded as encounters if they were gear-filled sites (equipped) or if the encountered group was seen or heard (peopled). There was also some documentation of the impact of encounters through the recording of the proximity of the other group (whether they were only visible in the distance, within hailing distance, or in the immediate vicinity).

A typical field data collection day might looks like this:
Between 10am and 4pm: Travel encounter monitoring (2-4 hours)
Between 4pm and 6pm: In-camp encounter monitoring (2 hours)
Between 6pm and 9pm: Campsite occupancy observations (3 hours)
Between 6am and 9am: Complete campsite occupancy observations (2-3 hours)

Starting Day:

Day 1: Paddle in, begin travel encounter monitoring (keep different zones on separate forms), do in-camp encounter monitoring (4 - 6pm), do campsite occupancy observations (first night)

Day 2 -5: Finish previous night's campsite occupancy, do travel encounter monitoring, in-camp encounter monitoring, campsite occupancy
Zone Shift

Day 6: Finish previous night's campsite occupancy, move to new travel zone, do travel encounter monitoring en-route (keep different zones on separate forms), in-camp encounter monitoring, campsite occupancy (first night)

Day 7-10: Finish previous night's campsite occupancy, do travel encounter monitoring, in-camp encounter monitoring, campsite occupancy

End Day

Day 11: Finish previous night's campsite occupancy, paddle out, do travel encounter monitoring while exiting (keep different zones on separate forms).


For more details on the data collection process in 2010, see the BWCAW technical report.

Methodology_Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Douglas, Mark L.

Originator: Sanchez-Trigueros, Fernando

Originator: Borrie, William T.

Originator: Watson, Alan E.

Originator: Christensen, Neal A.

Publication_Date: Unpublished material

Title:

Social conditions, visitor flow & travel simulation model for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: document

Other_Citation_Details:

Technical report available March 31, 2020. (Included in the full data publication download \Supplements\Final_BWCAW_2010-2012_report_2020.pdf and is referred to as 'BWCAW technical report' throughout the rest of the metadata.)

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field

Methodology_Description:

2011 DATA COLLECTION

The frame population for this portion of the study was permitted overnight boating trips in the BWCAW from May 1 to September 30, 2011. Therefore, the primary unit of analysis was trips. The trip unit consisted of trip days as items and there were key variables measured at the trip and trip day level.

A modified census approach was taken to best assess the flow of visitors to the BWCAW during this time frame. All USDA Forest Service permit issuing stations displayed a sign informing trip leaders of the study and to expect contacts requesting participation. The census period was divided into 22 calendar weeks with the exception of week 22, which was a six day period from September 25 to 30. Following the first week of trips, the Superior National Forest (SNF) transmitted overnight boating permit data tables to the University of Montana (UM) that contained contact information for trip leaders. Upon receipt of the permit data, UM assigned each permitted trip a unique entry identification code and URL internet link. Initial contact was attempted via email. It should be noted that not only was the permit data associated with the trip leader, but that subsequent data collection was also from trip leaders. It was felt this was appropriate as the trip leader in any group was most likely to have accurate knowledge and recall of where the group traveled and camped in the BWCAW.

Invitations to the internet survey were emailed to addresses associated with the weekly permit data transmissions from SNF. The first invitations were emailed to trip leaders on the fifth day following the week of trip initiation (Thursday following the Saturday of the week of trip initiation). The interval allowed the trip leaders enough time to return home and emails were sent soon enough for respondents to most accurately recall the characteristics of their trips and thereby minimize errors in reporting. The invitations encouraged trip leaders to complete a three page internet survey to report the details of their trip.

A follow-up email was sent to trip leaders who had not responded to the first message on the ninth day after the week of entry (on the second Monday following the entry week). A third email was sent to those not responding on the twelfth day after their week of entry (on the second Thursday after the entry week). All three email messages included the same unique hyperlink that was associated with the trip.

Some trip leaders associated with permits for trips in the census frame were invited to participate in the internet survey with postcards that were mailed to the physical addresses given in the SNF permit records. Postcards were mailed six days after the end of the week of wilderness entry. There were three separate criteria for postcard survey invitations. Post cards were mailed to addresses associated with trip permit records lacking an email address. Post cards were mailed to addresses associated with trip permit records that had email addresses to which the initial invitation message was returned as "non-deliverable". Post cards were also mailed to trip leaders at addresses associated with trip permit records that shared an email address but listed different trip leader names. In those instances, an email invitation was sent to the first trip leader listed in the permit records and additional leaders were mailed postcard invitations.

Following an interval of 20 days, an invitation cover letter and paper survey, were mailed with postage paid and preaddressed return envelopes to trip leaders that had been emailed and had not completed the internet survey within two weeks of the first emailed invitation. An interval of 27 days was allotted before the paper survey packet was mailed to trip leaders that had been sent postcard invitations to the internet survey and had not responded.

Survey questions included items such as the name of the lake/river where camped, length of stay, other lakes visited, number of people in the group, as well as number and type of watercraft used.


For more details on the data collection process in 2011, and an example of the internet and hard copy surveys, see the BWCAW technical report.

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

See the Logistical Consistency section above, which documents the process steps for these data files.

Important Note: As described in the Logistical Consistency section above, the 2 raw 2011 data files were corrected and streamlined to create the final 2011 data file. It is important that we note there were roughly 1,800 data points in the raw data that were not included in the final file for 2011. The primary reason was that respondents included the lakes passed through on their way out of the BWCAW (exit day travel) and since the simulation model did not require these data, they were omitted. To be clear, these are trip days, not complete trips that were not useful.

See the BWCAW technical report (Parts 1 and 2) for more details on this process step.

Process_Date: 2014

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Between 2012 and 2019 the BWCAW VisSim 3.0 visitor travel simulation model was developed to assist managers in understanding visitors' use of backcountry campsites at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Northern Minnesota, USA. The model accounts for the unique travel patterns of visitors as they choose from 61 entry points and travel through 95 backcountry travel zones and Canada's adjoining Quetico Provincial Park. The model is based on actual itineraries contributed by nearly 12,000 BWCAW visitor groups after their trips in 2011 (this represents 56% of all trips taken during the 2011 permit season) and has been updated to incorporate modern (2020) design concepts and software technology for simulation processing.

The purpose of the BWCAW visitor travel simulation model is to predict the number of occupied campsites within each travel zone. BWCAW VisSim 3.0 tracks visitor groups' movements through the BWCAW travel system, and characteristics like their entry point and length of stay. The model's estimate of the number of groups occupying campsites on a given night is dependent on the capacity of the travel zone (i.e., number of designated campsites) and the capacities of adjacent zones, the number of visitor groups allowed through each entry point each day, the itinerary that each travel group takes (which is randomly assigned from the sample of actual itineraries), and the number of days over which the simulation is run prior to the estimate.

See the BWCAW technical report (Part 3) for more details on this process step, as well as a user's guide and tutorial for this simulation model.

Process_Date: 2019

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2010.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing social condition data from three travels zones in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), 2010. Variables include:

Index: Numeric code differentiating each observation

Week: Numeric code differentiating which calendar week in which monitoring date falls with Saturday May 1, 2010 - Saturday May, 8 as week 1; the remainder of weeks are aligned with their calendar dates from Sunday - Saturday, e.g.: observations done on August 31, 2010 are coded as week 18.

Date: date of observation, dd/mm/yyyy where dd=day, mm=month, and yyyy=year

wkday: Day of the week, Values: 1=Mon, 2=Tue, 3=Wed, 4=Thu, 5=Fri, 6=Sat, 7=Sun

TZ: travel zone of observation, Categories of the value: 221a, 221b, 411, 412 (see \Supplements\BWCAW_zone_lake.csv & BWCAW technical report)

Zone: Travel zone of observation in numeric code, 1=221a, 2=221b, 3=411, 4=412

MorningLake: Lake at beginning of day, 221a.1=Lake One, 221a.2=Lake Two, 221a.3=Lakes One & Two, 221b.1=Lake Three, 221b.2=Lake Four & Bridge & Lake, 221b.3=Lakes Three & Four & Bridge & Rifle, 411.1=Sawbill Lake, 411.2=Smoke Lake, 411.3=Sawbill & Smoke Lakes, 412.1=Cherokee Lake, 412.2=Town Lake, 412.3=Cherokee & Town Lakes

NightLake: Lake camped at that night, 221a.1=Lake One, 221a.2=Lake Two, 221a.3=Lakes One & Two, 221b.1=Lake Three, 221b.2=Lake Four & Bridge & Lake, 221b.3=Lakes Three & Four & Bridge & Rifle, 411.1=Sawbill Lake, 411.2=Smoke Lake, 411.3=Sawbill & Smoke Lakes, 412.1=Cherokee Lake, 412.2=Town Lake, 412.3=Cherokee & Town Lakes

Person: Initials of technician conducting monitoring observation

TEStart: Time at which encounter monitoring began, 00:00-23:59

TEStop: Time at which encounter monitoring ended, 00:00-23:59

TEHours: Duration in hours and minutes of encounter monitoring

TEMinutes: Duration in minutes of encounter monitoring

Hours: Duration in hours in decimal form

Party: Total number of parties encountered while traveling as the sum of CE, PE, OE, RE, A, and FS (not X)

PartyPerHr: Total number of parties encountered while traveling divided by the number of hours traveled on that day of monitoring.

CE: Number of parties in canoes encountered

CEperHr: Number of parties in canoes encountered divided by Hours

PE: Number of parties portaging encountered

PEperHr: Number of parties portaging encountered divided by Hours

WE: Number of parties occupying campsites encountered

WEperHr: Number of parties occupying campsites encountered divided by Hours

RE: Number of parties encountered while traveling that were encountered a second time later during the monitoring period that day

REperHr Number of parties encountered while traveling that were encountered a second time later during the monitoring period that day divided by Hours

A: Number of aircraft over-flights encountered

AperHr: Number of aircraft over-flights encountered divided by Hours

FS: Number of USDA Forest Service parties encountered

FSperHr: Number of USDA Forest Service parties encountered divided by Hours

X: Number of equipped campsites (without apparent people present) encountered

XperHr: Number of equipped campsites (without apparent people present) encountered divided by Hours

Boats: Number of boats encountered while traveling

Persons: Number of persons encountered while traveling

CB: Number of boats on water encountered while traveling

CP: Number of people on water encountered while traveling

PB: Number of boats involved in portaging encountered

PP: Number of people involved in portaging encountered

OB: Number of boats at occupied campsites encountered

OP: Number of people at occupied campsites encountered

XB: Number of boats and equipped campsites encountered

RB: Number of boats encountered more than once

RP: Number of people encountered more than once

FSB: Number of Forest Service boats encountered

FSP: Number of Forest Service people encountered

CTB: Number of boats on water within talking distance encountered

CTP: Number of people encounters within talking distance encountered

CHB: Number of boats within hailing distance encountered

CHP: Number of people within hailing distance encountered

CDB: Number of boats at a great distance encountered

CDP: Number of people at a great distance encountered

PTB: Number of portage boats encountered within talking distance

PTP: Number of portage people encountered within talking distance

PHB: Number of portage boats encountered within hailing distance

PHP: Number of portage people encountered within hailing distance

PDB: Number of portage boats encountered at a great distance

PDT: Number of portage people encountered at a great distance

OTC: Number of occupied campsites encountered at talking distance

OHC: Number of occupied campsites encountered at a hailing distance

ODC: Number of occupied campsites encountered at a great distance

px.op.t: Overnight trips day of and 4 prior days nearby EPs

px.op.b: Overnight boats day of and 4 prior days nearby EPs

px.op.p: Overnight people day of and 4 prior days nearby EPs

px.dp.t: Day trips day of nearby EPs

px.dp.b: Day boats day of nearby EPs

px.dp.p: Day people day of nearby EPs

PMObs: Number of campsites monitored for occupancy at night

PMOcc: Number of campsites occupied at night

PMPercent: Percentage of campsites occupied

AMObs: Number of campsites monitored for occupancy next morning

AMOcc: Number of campsites occupied next morning

AMPercent: Percentage of campsites occupied next morning

AllObs: Number of campsites monitored for occupancy at night and in next morning

AllOcc: Number of occupied campsites from night and next morning

AllPercent: Percentage of campsites monitored for occupancy at night and in next morning

CEStart: Time campsite positioned encounter monitoring began, 00:00-23:59

CEStop: Time campsite positioned encounter monitoring ended, 00:00-23:59

CEHours: Duration of campsite positioned encounter monitoring in Hours and minutes

CEHr: Duration of campsite positioned encounter monitoring in hours and decimals

CELake: Lake for monitoring while positioned in campsite, 221a.1=Lake One, 221a.2=Lake Two, 221a.3=Lakes One & Two, 221b.1=Lake Three, 221b.2=Lake Four & Bridge & Lake, 221b.3=Lakes Three & Four & Bridge & Rifle, 411.1=Sawbill Lake, 411.2=Smoke Lake, 411.3=Sawbill & Smoke Lakes, 412.1=Cherokee Lake, 412.2=Town Lake, 412.3=Cherokee & Town Lakes

CEE: Total number of campsite positioned encounters

CEEpHr: Campsite positioned encounters per hour

CEB: Total number of campsite positioned boats encountered

CEBpHr: Campsite positioned boats encountered per hour

CEP: Campsite positioned people encountered

CEPpHr: Campsite positioned people encountered per hour

CEO: Campsite positioned other occupied campsites seen

CEH: Campsite positioned other occupied campsites heard

Cloud: Weather, 1=sunny/clear, 2=partly cloudy/clearing, 3=cloudy/overcast, 4=rain/showers, 5=thunderstorms/stormy

Wind: Wind, 1=calm/light winds, 2=breezy/gusty/moderate winds, 3=windy, 4=very windy
Temp: estimated temperature in degrees Fahrenheit

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

BWCAW technical report

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing cleaned response to itinerary survey in the BWCAW, 2011. Resource dataset before consultant evaluation for VisSim 3.0 parameterization (see BWCAW technical report for more details).

index: sequential index number from 1-48284 for reference

key: unique number, each number related to a specific response itinerary, corresponds to "VisitorID" in BWCAW_2011_online

type.seq: numeral indicator refers to row sequence during data cleaning; dig is the prefix prior to the number for online responses, mail is the prefix prior to the number for paper copies

db.code: numeral indicator unique to any online response itinerary (not unique at day level) and corresponding to "Data1 Line" in BWCAW_2011_online

db.seq: numeral indicator refers to row sequence for online response corresponding to "Data2 Line" in BWCAW_2011_online

start.time: time when response was begun in online format, blank for mail back responses (some responses include the date and time dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm, others just the date)

finish.time: time when response was completed in online format, some blank entries for timeouts or incomplete response, for mail back responses it is the respondent entry on paper form for date of completing survey (some responses include the date and time dd/mm/yyyy hh:mm, others just the date)

status: 1 signifies a complete response, 7 signifies a suspended response, blank for mailback entries

trip.date: itinerary trip date, corresponds to "Diary Date" in BWCAW_2011_online

lake.camp.name: cleaned version of response to name of lake or river your group camped on this night corresponds to "Lake camped at" in BWCAW_2011_online, (see BWCAW technical report)

zone: coded based on supplemental documenting listing lakes by zone (see \Supplements\BWCAW_zone_lake.csv for zone codes and lakes within those zones)

ratio.assign: for a number of ambiguous lake.camp.zone responses the zones were assigned systematically using campsite proportion ratios, 1=yes, 0=no, (see BWCAW technical report)

other.campsite.visited: 1 for yes 2 for no, if group visited any other campsites during that day, corresponds to "Other Campsite visited" in BWCAW_2011_online dataset, if blank then no response given

other.lakes: respondent entry for the names of other lakes passed through during travel on that date, if blank then no response on that trip day, corresponds to "Other lakes" in BWCAW_2011_online

time.setup.camp: respondent entry for the time camp was setup, blank=no response given, corresponds to "Time Setup Camp" in BWCAW_2011_online
am.pm: 1 for am 2 for pm, blank=no response given, corresponds to "am/pm" in BWCAW-2011a

problematic: 0 or blank=no response, respondent evaluation of degree to which it was a problem finding an unoccupied campsite 1 for 0; 2 for 1; 3 for 2; 4 for 3; 5 for 4; 6 for 5, corresponds to

"Problem Finding Campsite" in BWCAW_2011_online

party.size.response: respondent entry for the number of people traveling in the group, corresponds with "Group Size" in BWCAW_2011_online

party.size.permit: group size from Superior National Forest permit data

party.nights.response: respondent entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, corresponds to "Nights in BWCAW" in BWCAW_2011_online, blank=no response

party.days.permit: trip length in days from Superior National Forest permit data

quetico: did you enter Quetico, 1=yes, 2=no, corresponds to "Enter Quetico" in BWCAW_2011_online, blank= no response

outfitter.response: respondent entry for whether or not the group used the services of an outfitter, blank=no response, 1=yes, 2=no, corresponds to "Use Outfitter" in BWCAW_2011_online

canoe.count.report: respondent entry for the number of canoes traveling in the group, blank=no response

motor.boat.report: respondent entry for the number of motor boats traveling in the group, blank=no response, corresponds to "Number Motor Boats" in BWCAW_2011_online

watercraft.permit: number of watercraft from Superior National Forest permit data

entry.point.response: survey response for wilderness entry point, coded to Superior National Forest numeric code (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv), some blanks from avoiding redundancy in data entry of mailback responses, corresponds to "Entrance Point" in BWCAW_2011_online

entry.point.permit: numerical code (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv) for entry point given from Superior National Forest permit data

exit.point.response: survey response for wilderness exit point (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv), blank=no response, corresponds to "Exit Point" in BWCAW_2011_online. NOTE: there are a few codes recorded in this file that are not defined. Some of the points, though not defined, are visible on the map so the location is known.

exit.point.permit: entry point (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv) given from Superior National Forest permit data. NOTE: there are a few codes recorded in this file that are not defined. Some of the points, though not defined, are visible on the map so the location is known.

permit.id: unique numeral indicator for each permit issued by Superior National Forest

linkid: unique alphanumeric indicator assigned to all surveyed trips for respondent access to online survey form

em: indicates if an email contact attempt was made to email address associated with permit, 1=yes, 0=no

em_deliv: indicates if an email was delivered in terms of not bouncing back with an error message, 1=yes (no error message) 0=no (error message received)

pc: indicates if a postcard contact attempt was made to postal address associated with permit, 1=yes, 0=no

paper: indicates if a paper survey was sent to postal address associated with permit, 1=yes 0=no

permit.category: indicates if permit was issued by commercial cooperator, Commercial=yes Non Commercial= no

entry.date: indicates the date designated by Superior National Forest permit data for wilderness entry

exit.date: indicates the date designated by Superior National Forest permit data for wilderness exit

day.count: indicates the number of days between the Superior National Forest permit data entry and exit dates, not necessarily the number of days spent in the wilderness because of trips made into Quetico

entry.point.code: name and code number (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv) of entry point from Superior National Forest issued permit

permit.type: indicates paddle or motor boat permit issued by Superior National Forest

zip: indicates the postal zip of the trip leader on record in the Superior National Forest permit data, zip codes beginning with 0 are missing the initial zero

state: indicates the state of the trip leader on record in the Superior National Forest permit data

country: indicates the country of the trip leader on record in the Superior National Forest permit data

Adult: number of adult group members recorded in Superior National Forest permit data

youth: number of child group members recorded in Superior National Forest permit data

watercraft.count: number of group watercraft recorded from Superior National Forest permit data

Commercially.Guided.Trip: indicates whether the trip was facilitated by a commercial guide cooperator as recorded from Superior National Forest permit data, Values=Yes, No

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

BWCAW technical report

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_2011_comments.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing the respondent itinerary open ended comments. Variables include:

index: sequential index number from 1-6066 for reference

permit.id: unique numeral indicator for each permit issued by Superior National Forest

visitor.id: unique index number corresponding to each overnight boating permit for which a survey invitation was sent to the trip leader of that permitted trip. These numbers were assigned to trips before trip leaders were contacted.

comment: visitor comments

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

BWCAW technical report

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Entry_Points.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing a list of the water access entry point numbers and names for the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area. This information was obtained from the Superior National Final Forest Plan (July 2004) as well as the BWCAW technical report included in this data publication. Variables include:

Entry Point Number: Numeric code assigned.

Entry Point Name: Name of the water access entry point

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\Raw\BWCAW_2011_online.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing raw online response to itinerary survey in the BWCAW, 2011. These data have not been corrected, and are not intended for use - but included for completeness. Variables include:

Data1 Line: unique index number, each number corresponds to a specific response itinerary

Data2 Line: unique index number, each number corresponds to a specific night so that each response itinerary night has a unique number

Visitor ID: unique index number corresponding to each overnight boating permit for which a survey invitation was sent to the trip leader of that permitted trip. These numbers were assigned to trips before trip leaders were contacted

Start Time: time when response was begun in online format

Finish Time: time when response was completed in online format, some blank entries for timeouts or incomplete response

Status: 1 signifies a complete response, 7 signifies a suspended response

Diary Date: Itinerary trip date

Lake camped at: respondent entry for name of lake camped at

Other Campsite visited: respondent entry for whether other campsites were visited, 1=yes, 2=no

Other Lakes: respondent entry for the names of other lakes passed through during travel on that date

Time Setup Camp: respondent entry for the time camp was setup
am/pm: respondent entry for am or pm, 1=am, 2=pm

Problem Finding Campsite: respondent entry for how problematic it was to find an unoccupied campsite form ranged from 0 as not a problem to 5 as big problem but the online interface coded zero as no response and otherwise on a scale from 1-6, 0=no response, 1=0 original, 2=1 original, 3=2 original, 4=3 original, 5=4 original, 6=5 original

Group Size: respondent entry for the number of people traveling in the group, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Nights in BWCAW: respondent entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Enter Quetico: respondent entry for whether or not the group entered Quetico Provincial Park, 0=no response, 1=yes, 2=no, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Use Outfitter: respondent entry for whether or not the group used the services of an outfitter, 0=no response, 1=yes, 2=no, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Number Canoes: respondent entry for the number of canoes traveling in the group, 998=no response, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Number Motor Boats: respondent entry for the number of motor boats traveling in the group, 998=no response, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Entrance Point: respondent entry for wilderness entry point, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Exit Point: respondent entry for wilderness exit point, entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, entry repeated for every itinerary trip day

Comments: respondent entry for any additional comments to share, comment is repeated for each line corresponding to trip day/night entries

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

BWCAW technical report

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Dataset: \Data\Raw\BWCAW_2011_postal.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing postal mail response to itinerary survey in the BWCAW, 2011. These data have not been corrected, and are not intended for use - but included for completeness. Variables include:

Data1 Line: all blank, column is placeholder for joining tables

Data2 Line: all blank, column is placeholder for joining tables

Visitor ID: unique index number corresponding to each overnight boating permit for which a survey invitation was sent to the trip leader of that permitted trip. These numbers were assigned to trips before trip leaders were contacted

Start Time: all blank, column is placeholder for joining tables

Finish Time: respondent entry on paper form for date of completing survey

Status: all blank, column is placeholder for joining tables

Diary Date: Itinerary trip date

Lake camped at: respondent entry for name of lake camped at

Other Campsite visited: respondent entry for whether other campsites were visited, 1=yes, 2=no

Other Lakes: respondent entry for the names of other lakes passed through during travel on that date, if blank then no response on that trip day

Time Setup Camp: respondent entry for the time camp was setup rounded to nearest hour, 4:30 rounded up to 5 etc.

am/pm: respondent entry for am or pm, 1=am, 2=pm

Problem Finding Campsite: respondent entry for how problematic it was to find an unoccupied campsite form ranged from 0 as not a problem to 5 as big problem, blank = no response and otherwise on a scale from 0-5, 1=1, 2=2, 3=3, 4=4, 5=5

Group Size: respondent entry for the number of people traveling in the group, given only on first line of itinerary

Nights in BWCAW: respondent entry for the number of nights spent in the wilderness, given only on first line of itinerary

Enter Quetico: respondent entry for whether or not the group entered Quetico Provincial Park, bland=no response, 1=yes, 2=no, given only on first line of itinerary

Use Outfitter: respondent entry for whether or not the group used the services of an outfitter, blank=no response, 1=yes, 2=no, given only on first line of itinerary

Number Canoes: respondent entry for the number of canoes traveling in the group, 998=no response, given only on first line of itinerary

Number Motor Boats: respondent entry for the number of motor boats traveling in the group, blank=no response, given only on first line of itinerary

Entrance Point: respondent entry for wilderness entry point, coded from response to Superior National Forest numeric code (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv)

Exit Point: respondent entry for wilderness exit point, coded from response to Superior National Forest numeric code (which can be found in \Data\BWCAW_Water_Access_Points.csv)

Comments: respondent entry for any additional comments to share, given only on first line of itinerary

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

BWCAW technical report

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Supplements: \Supplements\BWCAW_map.pdf is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file generated by Superior National Forest showing entry points, travel zone boundaries, and campsite locations in BWCAW. (Note: there are 2 points on the map labelled as 74. We believe this is likely due to having two physical entry points that correspond to the same management areas. The same allotment of permits is drawn from both physical entries.)

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

None provided

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Supplements: \Supplements\BWCAW_VISSIM_3_v2019.mox is an ExtendSim® model object (MOX) file to simulate travel patterns of BWCAW visitors based on the visitor flow census. This version of the model uses a dynamic, discrete event simulation approach to model either a steady-state or terminating system while allowing for random variation of input parameters. The file runs on ExtendSim 10 but it is not compatible with previous versions of ExtendSim products.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

See BWCAW technical report for a user's guide and tutorial for this simulation model.

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Supplements: \Supplements\BWCAW_zone_lake.csv is a comma-delimited ASCII text file containing a list of the travel zones by numeric code and the lakes held within each travel zone.

Row 1: contains the list of numeric travel zones that range from 11, 22, 23, all the way to 800

Row 2-25: The data below each listed travel zone are the names of the lakes that can be found within that travel zone. There are up to 24 lakes in some zones.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

None provided

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:

Supplements: \Supplements\Final_BWCAW_2010-2012_report_2020.pdf is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file containing the technical report "Social conditions, visitor flow & travel simulation model for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness". This report contains detailing efforts, findings, and future directions for social conditions and visitor flows in the BWCAW.

Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:

None provided

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20200513

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Christopher Armatas

Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Institute

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical

Address: 790 East Beckwith Avenue

City: Missoula

State_or_Province: MT

Postal_Code: 59801

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 406-542-4192

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: christopher.armatas@usda.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999