Date of Award:

5-2012

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Environment and Society

Committee Chair(s)

Steven W. Burr

Committee

Steven W. Burr

Committee

Dale J. Blahna

Committee

Mark W. Brunson

Committee

Paul M. Jakus

Committee

John C. Schmidt

Abstract

Managing and planning for human use at lakes and reservoirs creates challenges for land and water management agencies in Utah and the country as a whole. In spite of increased attention and research, management problems such as conflicts, accidents, and site impacts continue to occur. These problems have been exasperated by an 800% increase in the number of registered boats statewide over the past 50 years. As such, developing new strategies to address the broad array of management challenges could be beneficial to the recreation management of lakes and reservoirs. This study, conducted in collaboration with Utah State Parks, considers the role of spatial scale in regards to managing these water bodies in Utah.

Understanding the role of spatial scale has been beneficial to the field of ecology; However, it has rarely been considered in regards to managing outdoor recreation areas. Consistent with studies in ecology, data was collected at various spatial scales. Additionally, two distinct groups of respondents participated: (1) park managers and their staff, and (2) visitors (individuals who own boats registered in Utah).

Overall, consistent with ecology, the results suggest that considering larger spatial scales change what factors are the most important and also what management actions are the most appropriate. In short, managers need to consider the implications for their onsite actions to adjacent water bodies and to the state at large. In addition, the results suggest implementing a regional approach is more complicated and inclusive than just the provision of recreation. The organizational capacity of the managing agencies, along with their ability to cooperate with other governmental and private organizations, is also important. However, considering larger spatial scales also increases an agency’s options to address various challenges. As such, recommendations on how a regional approach would be implemented in Utah are included. Finally, this dissertation provides a model for how future regional analyses should be conducted.

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This work made publicly available electronically on December 21, 2012.

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