Abstract
Opportunities for unique visitor experiences are among the defining attributes of wilderness. In order to understand and protect these experiences, natural and social scientists have pursued an ever-expanding program of wildland recreation research. While much of the early research sought to identify simple relationships between setting attributes and visitor experiences, recent research efforts have expanded to address the values people hold for wilderness (including nonrecreation values), a variety of types and dimensions of wilderness experiences, and factors that influence those experiences. Whereas early wilderness stewards had few resources other than instinct and personal experience to guide them, managers today have access to a significant body of literature related to defining, managing, and monitoring wilderness experiences. This reading list represents a sample of this information that is organized in a way that is intended to be useful to both managers and researchers. Section I contains both philosophical and empirical papers that address values related to wilderness and wilderness experiences. Section II contains papers that describe wilderness experiences and specific dimensions of those experiences. Section III has references that describe influences on wilderness experiences and approaches to managing them. Section IV addresses long-term wilderness planning and monitoring.
Keywords
wilderness,
wilderness experience,
recreation,
visitor manage
Citation
Puttkammer, Annette; Wright, Vita, series ed. 2001. Linking wilderness research and management-volume 2. Defining, managing, and monitoring wilderness visitor experiences: an annotated reading list. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-79-VOL 2. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 29 p.
