How can trail 

 register data best he 

 converted into estimates 

 of wilderness use? 



The most accurate information on wilderness use would probably be obtained from 

 use of a registration or permit system administered directly by the area managers. 

 The California Region of the Forest Service began requiring registration for wilderness 

 visitors in 1971. This is costly; for most wildernesses, an unmanned self-registration 

 system seems more feasible for now. But everyone does not register. As a result, 

 registration data cannot be taken at face value; they must be converted to estimates of 

 total use. How to make this conversion is the central objective of this study. This 

 required (1) developing and testing a sampling design to provide estimates of current 

 use, and (2) establishing relationships between use and trail register data so that 

 use estimates with specifiable levels of precision could be made in future years, based 

 on register data. 



Several sorts of automatic counting devices were also tested. To aid in developing 

 use estimation methods applicable to other wilderness-type areas having different kinds 

 of use and varying conditions, we investigated the relationship of registration rates 

 to visitor characteristics and to other factors such as season and weather. To help 

 raise registration rates, we probed reasons for nonregistration. 



The Mission Mountains Primitive Area was selected for study because it was large 

 enough and complex enough to offer a thorough test of the sampling model but not so 

 large as to make fieldwork for a pilot test too formidable. The Area's administrators 

 felt it had a substantial amount of both foot and horse travel, day and overnight 

 use, and summer and fall use; thus, the area seemed to be representative in important 

 ways of many wilderness-type areas within the National Forest System. 



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