Achievement

Bridge RA Rosemary Hartman examined wilderness use and biodiversity to provide land managers with information about sustainable recreation practices and biodiversity conservation.

Hartman integrated a survey of recreational users in the Trinity Alps Wilderness of California with a survey of native amphibians to see whether recreational fisheries can coexist with native biodiversity. She found that only 23% of users were fishing overall, and fishing was a low priority even among anglers. Further, the majority of visitors to the Trinity Alps had non-consumptive goals for their trip: they appeared to value an area relatively untouched by humans more than they valued any specific recreational opportunity.

Hartman's results suggest that using both visitor preferences and information about native species habitat when choosing which lakes to stock with fish may increase both visitor satisfaction and populations of native species.