CAPABILITIES AND MANAGEMENT UTILITY OF RECREATION IMPACT MONITORING PROGRAMS

A recreation impact monitoring system was developed and applied in 198 4-1986 and in 1991 to all backcountry river-accessed campsites within Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Pennsylvania and New Jers ey. Results suggest that actions implemented by park managers in respo nse to problems identified by the initial survey were highly effective in reducing resource degradation caused by camping. In particular, th e elimination of some designated campsites and installation of anchore d firegrates reduced the total area of disturbance by 50%. Firegrate i nstallation provided a focal point that increased the concentration of camping activities, allowing peripheral areas to recover. As suggeste d by predictive models, additional resource degradation caused by incr eased camping intensities is more than offset by improvements in the c ondition of areas where use is eliminated. The capabilities and manage ment utility of recreation impact monitoring programs, illustrated by the Delaware Water Gap monitoring program, are also presented and disc ussed.