Visitor preference for forest scenery in the Ouachita National Forest

Abstract

The majority of forest visitors interviewed between June through October 1991 and April through October 1992 preferred forest scenery that was "undisturbed, "contained a "variety of natural features," or was associated with "natural" or "beauty" descriptions.Few respondents preferred "younger tree species with open areas."Results suggest that undisturbed conditions are important along with vegetation management to support a variety of natural features.Slight differences are noted when examining preferences by respondents' sex, age class, education level, principal recreation activity, month visited, and sites where interviewed.The order of questions appeared to affect the respondents' forest scenery descriptions.Interviews were conducted as part of an onsite survey involving a larger recreation-user study (CUSTOMER survey) for sites among four USDA forest Service Ouachita National Forest ranger districts.Recommendations are made for using CUSTOMER survey data in future forest scenery preference research.

Citation

Herrick, Theresa A.; Rudis, Victor A. 1994. Visitor preference for forest scenery in the Ouachita National Forest. Proceedings of the symposium on ecosystem management research in the Ouachita Mountains: pretreatment conditions and preliminary findings; 1993 October 26-27; Hot Springs, AR.