Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve: 2002-2003 wilderness visitor experience data in the Alaska regional context

Metadata:

Identification_Information
Data_Quality_Information
Entity_and_Attribute_Information
Distribution_Information
Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:: Each interview was tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim. No known accuracy issues.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

As the data from this project is in the form of transcribed text, there are no significant numerical inconsistencies in datasets.

Interviews are transcribed verbatim from tape-recordings. They include all the vernacular of regular conversation, with each one not necessarily containing “valuable data”. In one interview (Ryan (10601) in “WRST 2003_entry_interv_data”) the interviewees were from Switzerland; the interview is almost entirely dealing with a language barrier rather than touching on the themes under research. The best guide to “valuable data” are the comments by interviewers preceding entries.

Completeness_Report:

Unfortunately there is no summary data file for the 2003 entry interviews available.

Lineage:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field
Methodology_Description:: This project developed in two phases, both of which consisted of qualitative-interpretation research and entry/exit interviews.

Phase I occurred during the 2002 summer season from August 7 (a few days prior to the start of Dall sheep hunting season) until September 8 (originally intended September 30, but visitor numbers dropped after Labor Day and the schedule was modified) in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST).

The sample included both entry and exit interviews with visitors from each of the major backcountry use/user categories at WRST (e.g., various types of resident and non-resident hunters, and non-hunting backcountry visitors). Visitors were contacted immediately before or after their backcountry trips in the two primary gateway communities where the National Park Service (NPS) maintains administrative facilities: Slana and Kennicott/McCarthy. Basic descriptive data, were collected prior to each interview by the interviewer and describes each group being interviewed.

A total of 54 entry interviews and 14 exit interviews were conducted. Some were conducted with individuals and some with groups, so the 68 total interviews included 99 total visitors.

1. At Slana, an interviewer stationed at the front-desk in the visitor center was able to observe all incoming visitor traffic and solicit interviews from potential sample candidates. Usually, listening to visitors’ conversations with each other or NPS personnel was enough to identify them as likely backcountry users who were eligible to be included in the study. Visitor contacts were made between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., seven days a week (the operating hours of the visitor center).

a. 36 entry interviews and 3 exit interviews were conducted in Slana. Of that total, 1 exit interview and 31 entry interviews were conducted specifically with hunters.

2. Kennicott and McCarthy are separate communities located five miles apart in the heart of WRST, at the end of the 60-mile long McCarthy Road. Both communities are located on the far side of the Kennicott River and are only accessible by air or footbridge in the summer. Interviewers depended largely on cooperation from the air and guide services to keep apprised of backcountry visitor traffic in the area.

a. Visitors traveling by air to the backcountry were identified in advance from the flight schedules and were frequently contacted and interviewed at the airstrip. Guided visitors usually stayed in McCarthy for a night both before and after their backcountry trips, and were contacted and interviewed at one of several restaurants in the community. A few interview participants were contacted more or less accidentally, by a “roaming” interviewer patrolling the area during a period in which there were no scheduled backcountry flights or guided visitors.

b. Visitor contacts occurred between approximately 7:00 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., corresponding to the busy and unpredictable transportation schedule in the area. 18 entry interviews and 11 exit interviews were conducted in Kennicott/McCarthy. Of those, 10 entry interviews were conducted with hunters.

The interview guides were used like a checklist to make sure all interviews produced relevant and comparable information. However, the questions were not necessarily asked verbatim or in order.

Rather than a list of specific questions, the exit guide contained a list of themes to be addressed, suggested lead-in questions, and suggested probing questions. Almost every interview proved to be unique and required a slight adaptation of the lead-in questions in the guide. For instance, when participants indicated early on that they did not encounter any other visitors during their trip, then all questions about conflict became hypothetical.
Methodology_Citation:

Methodology:

Methodology_Type: Field
Methodology_Description:: Phase II of this study was proposed and planned following the results of the 2002 research. It was conducted during the 2003 summer season, from mid-June to early August. This phase was focused more on recreational use, rather than various hunter/non-hunter conflicts.

The sample included representatives from each of the major use/user categories impacted by the Backcountry Management Plan (non-guided recreation visitors, guided recreation visitors, local and nonlocal visitors). Visitors were contacted prior to, or following, their backcountry trips in the two primary gateway communities, Slana and McCarthy/Kennicott, just as in Phase I. Basic descriptive data, were collected prior to each interview by the interviewer and describes each group being interviewed.

A total of 99 interviews were conducted, with 51 entry interviews and 48 exit interviews.

The general procedure for contacting visitors was for the field researcher to approach sample candidates (anyone who looked like a backcountry visitor or had been identified by a commercial services provider or Park Service employee as a backcountry visitor), identify and then introduce themselves. The field researcher determined sample candidates’ eligibility with a few questions regarding the nature of their visits. The researcher then asked selected sample candidates if they would be willing to participate in an interview.

1. In Slana, visitor contacts were made at the ranger station between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., seven days a week, the same (operating hours) as in the previous phase. 14 entry interviews and 4 exit interviews were conducted here.

2. In the McCarthy/Kennicott area most recreational visitors relied on the local air services (McCarthy Air and Wrangell Mountain Air) and some used guide services (St. Elias Alpine Guides and Kennicott Wilderness Guides) to access the backcountry. Thus, field researchers depended largely on cooperation from the air and guide services for information about backcountry visitor use in the area. Visitor contacts occurred seven days a week, although often outside of the regular business hours, as flights into the WRST backcountry are largely weather dependent and could be early in the morning or late in the evening when conditions permitted.

Entry interviews used an interview guide that began with a series of fixed, short-answer questions, followed by several broader questions. Exit interviews were similarly conducted using a pre-arranged set of topics and suggested lead-in questions that did not follow a fixed question format.
Methodology_Citation:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:: See methods section above.
Process_Date: Unknown

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Overview_Description:

Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:: Below you will find a complete description of the data files included in this data publication.

\Data\WRST 2002_entry_interv_data.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the transcribed entry interviews from Phase I of the research. Interviews are anonymous and listed by date. (Interview guide: \Supplements\WRST 2002_entry_interv_guide.pdf)

\Data\WRST 2002_entry_summary_data.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing basic numeric data from the Phase I entry interviews. Variables are described below.
DATE = date of interview (mm/dd/yyyy where mm=day, dd=day, yyyy=year)
CODE = unique interview id -- matches transcript
ID = unique entry # assigned
# OF RESPONDENTS = number of people interviewed in group
MALE/FEMALE = gender of interviewees (M=male; F=female)
HOME STATE = home state (2-letter postal abbreviation) or country
# OF VISITS = number of visits to the park, including this one
PURPOSE OF TRIP = primary reason for visiting (1=subsistence hunting; 2=recreational hunting; 3=hiking; 4=floating; 5=climbing; 6=other)
NOTES = comments

\Data\WRST 2002_exit_interv_data.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the transcribed exit interviews from Phase I of the research. Interviewees are given pseudonyms, with small comments from the interviewer preceding each entry. Interviews are listed by date. (Interview guide: \Supplements\WRST 2002_exit_interv_guide.pdf)

\Data\WRST 2002_exit_summary_data.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing basic numeric data from the Phase I exit interviews. Variables are described below.
DATE = date of interview (mm/dd/yyyy where mm=day, dd=day, yyyy=year)
CODE = unique exit # assigned
ID = unique interview id -- matches transcript
# OF RESPONDENTS = number of people interviewed in group
MALE/FEMALE = gender of interviewees (M=male; F=female)
HOME STATE = home state (2-letter postal abbreviation) or country
# OF VISITS = number of visits to the park, including this one
PURPOSE OF TRIP = primary reason for visiting ((1=subsistence hunting; 2=recreational hunting; 3=hiking; 4=floating; 5=climbing; 6=other))
GUIDED? = did the group use a guide? (N=no; Y=yes; (GUIDE)=interviewee is a guide)
NOTES = comments

\Data\WRST 2003_entry_interv_data.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the transcribed entry interviews from Phase II of the research. Interviews are listed by date, along with the interviewer, interviewer comments, and interview location. All interviewees have been given pseudonyms. (Interview guide: \Supplements\WRST 2003_entry_interv_guide.pdf)

\Data\WRST 2003_exit_interv_tabular_data.csv: Comma-delimited ASCII text file containing basic numeric data from the Phase II exit interviews. Variables are described below.
ID = interview Identification Number
SITE = sampling site (1=Slana; 2=McCarthy/Kennicott)
MONTH = sampling month (1=June; 2=July; 3=August)
NUMPART = number of interview participants
MALE = number of male participants
FEMALE = number of female participants
PREVVIS = number of interview participants who have previously visited WRST
NPREVVIS = number of interview participants who have NOT previously visited WRST
RESIDEN = residence of interview participants
AKRES = number of participants that are Alaska residents
NAKRES = number of participants that are NOT Alaska residents
GUIDED = whether interview participants were guided (0=no guide; 1=guide)
GROUPSIZ = number of people in group
FLOWNIN = whether interview participants were flown into the backcountry (0=not flown in; 1=flown in)
PLANLEN = l of planning for WRST trip
LEARN = how interview participants learned about WRST
MAPS = WRST preparation included maps (0=no; 1=yes)
PILOTS = WRST preparation included talking to pilots (0=no; 1=yes)
GUIDES = WRST preparation included talking to guides (0=no; 1=yes)
EXPPEOP = WRST preparation included talking to experienced people (0=no; 1=yes)
GBOOKS = WRST preparation included using guidebooks (0=no; 1=yes)
INTERNET = WRST preparation included using the internet (0=no; 1=yes)
GEAR = WRST preparation included getting necessary gear (0=no; 1=yes)
ACADEMIC = WRST preparation included academic info on WRST (0=no; 1=yes)
WORKOUT = WRST preparation included working out (0=no; 1=yes)

\Data\WRST 2003_exit_interv_data.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the transcribed exit interviews from Phase II of the research. These interviews were formatted specifically to be included in the final report (\Supplements\WRST 2003_final_report.pdf) and as such the document begins with a guide to interview numbers and listings. Entries are listed by those numbers, not by date. Interviewees are given pseudonyms, and listed with the interviewer and interview location. (Interview guide: \Supplements\WRST 2003_exit_interv_guide.pdf)
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:: Supplemental files included with this data publication are described below.

\Supplements\WRST 2002_entry_interv_guide.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the interview guide for 2002 entry interviews.

\Supplements\WRST 2002_exit_interv_guide.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the interview guide for 2002 exit interviews.

\Supplements\WRST 2002_report.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing a draft project report "2002 Wrangell-St. Elias Fall Visitor Study" summarizing the findings of the 2002/Phase I interviews and potential future research.

\Supplements\WRST 2003_entry_interv_guide.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the interview guide for 2003 entry interviews.

\Supplements\WRST 2003_exit_interv_guide.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the interview guide for 2003 exit interviews.

\Supplements\WRST 2003_final_report.pdf: Adobe Acrobat PDF/a file containing the final project report including findings from both phase I and II "Understanding Wilderness Visitor Experiences at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in the Alaska Regional Context - Summer 2003 Visitor Study".

Distribution_Information:

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20180529

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: Alan E. Watson
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research 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: 406-542-4197

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: awatson@fs.fed.us

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

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999