Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Structural equation modeling of users' response to wilderness recreation fees

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): Daniel R. Williams; Christine A. Vogt; Joar Vitterso
    Date: 1999
    Source: Journal of Leisure Research. 31(3): 245-268.
    Publication Series: Miscellaneous Publication
    PDF: Download Publication  (1.4 MB)

    Description

    This paper examines wilderness users' response to recently established overnight camping fees at the Desolation Wilderness in California. Fee program evaluations have typically focused on economic or revenue issues, distributional or equity impacts of various pricing strategies, and questions of price fairness. In the case of wilderness recreation fees, it is also important to recognize the complex public purpose of wilderness and the long history of not having access fees in wilderness. To evaluate these various factors, this paper examines the impact of past wilderness experience and residential proximity on response to wilderness use fees using data from the 1997 Desolation Wilderness Fees Study. The results suggest general support for wilderness use fees, but fees are judged to be less appropriate for wilderness than for more developed recreation facilities and services. Structural equation modeling shows that experienced wilderness users, experienced Desolation Wilderness users, and users residing in close proximity to the Desolation Wilderness are less supportive of fees and less likely to see positive benefits from fees. A history of paying fees for access to other recreation sites and perceptions of wilderness problems, though positively related to past wilderness experience, do not contribute to fee support.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to rmrspubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Williams, Daniel R.; Vogt, Christine A.; Vitterso, Joar. 1999. Structural equation modeling of users'' response to wilderness recreation fees. Journal of Leisure Research. 31(3): 245-268.

    Keywords

    wilderness, recreation fees, pricing, wilderness experience, structural equation modeling

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/29424