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Factors that limit compliance with low-impact recommendations

Informally Refereed

Abstract

Despite widespread efforts to minimize resource impacts, a number of remote areas continue to suffer from poor backcountry practices. Research to evaluate the effectiveness of low-impact communication strategies as they relate to recall of messages (Cole and others 1997) measured whether or not recreationists were aware of appropriate behavior given certain scenarios; it did not measure actual compliance. Partially in response to the results of that study, it has been hypothesized that a lack of information is not necessarily the only limiting factor in complying with specific low-impact recommendations. We propose a four-stage model of factors that might help to explain some noncompliance with backcountry low-impact recommendations where information is not the limiting factor.

Parent Publication

Keywords

wilderness, outdoor recreation, behavior, resource impacts, information, communication strategies, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Signal Detection Theory

Citation

Harding, James A.; Borrie, William T.; Cole, David N. 2000. Factors that limit compliance with low-impact recommendations. In: Cole, David N.; McCool, Stephen F.; Borrie, William T.; O’Loughlin, Jennifer, comps. 2000. Wilderness science in a time of change conference—Volume 4: Wilderness visitors, experiences, and visitor management; 1999 May 23–27; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-15-VOL-4. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 198-202
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/22025