77 



Fishers enter early, numbers begin to buHd at 7:00 ajn.; rafters come later, their peak does 

 not begin until after 9:00 a.m. A very pronounced peak in overall arrivals occurs at 9:00 

 a.m. About three-quarters of our sample arrived during the Thursday-Sunday period. Boat 

 fishers take trips of about eight hours, shore fishers spend about six hours at their activity, 

 and nonfishing floaters spend about five hours in their trip. 



Although not strictly a "logistics" issue, in Section 4.2 we also include an analysis of average 

 spending patterns. The average Green River user spends nearly $500 on his trip, and over 

 three-quarters report spending between $50 and $500, however very substantial amounts (up 

 to several thousand dollars) are spent by the remaining one-fifth of users. The bulk of funds 

 spent went to the following expenses (in rank order): transportation, food, lodging, and 

 guide services. 



1 JJ Crowding and Carrying Capacity 



Of the estimated two million-plus recreation visits made to the Flaming Gorge National 

 Recreation Area in 1989-90. an estimated 1 14,000 visitors used the Green River study area. 

 Peak season Segment A use accounted for the bulk of visits (92,000), amounting to about 

 SO'yc of the total use in all segments and seasons. An average of 279 persons per day 

 launched from the Spillway during the 1990 peak season and about 340 used the river during 

 the time. Launch rates reached 526 per day during August 1990 and peak floating season 

 daily use is estimated at 650-750 persons per day. 



During the first fishing season, we estimate about 450-500 persons per day used the river 

 and during the second fishing season the number was about half that many. The daily 

 average number of guideboats ranged from less than four in October to more than 14 in 

 June and was highest during the first fishing seiison (about 10.6 launches per day). 



The mean number of people seen by Green River users during their trip was 25 over all 

 .seasons and segments, but was as high as 41 during the Segment A floating season. The first 



