Impact of Gasoline Constraints Should Be Considered in Managing Federal Recreation Facilities

During 1979 and 1980, when gasoline was in short supply and prices rose, the public's use of outdoor recreation facilities was significantly affected. People tended to use facilities closer to home. Recreation officials observed: longer stays at campgrounds; less vehicular movement within and between recreation areas; increased use of tents; and use of smaller cars, trucks, and recreational vehicles. The National Park Service experienced heavy declines in visitation at distant facilities. At the same time, the use of facilities in and near cities increased.

Most Federal agencies have not done enough to respond to indications that people are pursuing recreation closer to home and might want to use less gasoline while doing so. Forest Service policies include encouraging energy efficient transportation systems and locating new facilities near them. In addition, the National Park Service has developed a policy to promote public and nonmotorized transportation. However, neither agency has done much to carry out these policies. The Corps of Engineers and the Water and Power Resources Service (WPRS) have not taken any steps to develop recreation policies which take public gasoline conservation into consideration. Many measures undertaken for environmental protection or public service motives have had incidental gasoline conservation effects, such as shuttle bus service within parks and campground reservation policies. Recreation managers could make greater use of the National Park Service's exchange program by sharing information on gasoline conservation measures. Recreation managers need better forecasts of visitation trends so that they can consider applying their limited resources to facilities where more people are expected to go. Better forecasts will be needed to identify what factors affect recreation patterns and to forecast visitation levels. Forecasting research has been uncoordinated and has focused on determining recreation use at a point in time rather than establishing recreation trends. Statistical forecasting models could help improve recreation planning and management.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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