ledge and advice of friends. More detailed information 

 also may improve the credibility of information. 



6. An information campaign cannot rely entirely on 

 written material. Other research (Fazio 1979) has 

 shown that brochures are often a much less important 

 channel of communication than face-to-face communi- 

 cation. In the North Carolina Wilderness (Roggenbuck 

 and Berrier 1 980), personal contact was no more effec- 

 tive than a brochure alone for total use, but it did 

 increase effectiveness with some types of visitors. 



7. Some ethical issues of truth in information cam- 

 paigns need to be faced. Some overused areas may, in 

 fact, be very attractive, with good fishing, easy trails, and 

 so on. Certainly, false information can never be used, 

 but ethical guidelines are less clear on issues of selec- 

 tivity, completeness, and emphasis. 



8. Finally, managers must be sensitive to the danger 

 of providing too much detailed information and taking 

 away the sense of exploration and discovery that contri- 

 butes to recreational experiences for many people. 



Communication and education still look like prom- 

 ising tools for managing wilderness use. They are well 

 worth the careful, skillful effort required forthem to help 

 achieve objectives of protecting wilderness and pro- 

 viding opportunities for wilderness recreational experi- 

 ences. 



PUBLICATIONS CITED 



Brown, Perry J., and John D. Hunt. 



1969. The influence of information signs on visitor 

 distribution and use. J. Leisure Res. 1(1):79-83. 

 Canon, Lance Kirkpatrick, Steven Adier, and Raymond 

 E. Leonard. 



1979. Factors affecting dispersion of backcountry 

 campers. USDA For. Serv. Res. Note NE-276, 6 p. 

 Northeast. For. Exp. Stn., Broomall, Pa. 

 Fazio, James R. 



1979. Communicating with the wilderness user. 

 Univ. Idaho, Coll. For., Wildl. and Range Sci., Bull. 

 28, 65 p. Moscow. 

 Hendee, John C, George H. Stankey, and Robert C. 

 Lucas. 



1978. Wilderness management. USDA For. Serv. 

 Misc. Publ. 1365, 381 p. Washington, D. C. 



Krumpe, Edwin Ellsworth. 



1979. Redistributing backcountry use by a behav- 

 iorally based communications device. Ph.D. diss. 

 Colo. State Univ., Fort Collins. 



Lime, David W., and Robert C. Lucas. 



1977. Good information improves the wilderness 

 experience. Naturalist 28(4):18-20. 

 Lucas, Robert C. 



1975. Low compliance rates at unmanned trail 

 registers. USDA For. Serv. Res. Note INT-200, 

 6 p. Intermt. For.and Range Exp.Stn.,Ogden, Utah. 

 Roggenbuck, Joseph W., and Deborah L. Berrier. 



1980. The effectiveness of information on dispers- 

 ing wilderness campers: final report prepared for 

 the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station. 1 14 

 p. Dep. For., Virginia Polytech. Inst, and State 

 Univ., Blacksburg. 



Schomaker, John Henry. 



1 975. Effect of selected information on dispersal of 

 wilderness recreationists. Ph.D. diss. Colo. State 

 Univ., Fort Collins, 95 p. 



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