FACTORS AFFECTING VISITOR EVALUATIONS OF AIRCRAFT OVERFLIGHTS OF WILDERNESS AREAS

The effect of visitor characteristics (recreation motives, past experi ence, attitudes, and tolerance toward encountering aircraft overflight s) and dose (number, proximity, type, and estimated noise levels of ov erflights) on visitor evaluations of aircraft overflights in wildernes s areas was examined. Using an off-site mail-back survey, we sampled 4 39 visitors to four wilderness areas in Wyoming. Results show that (1) more than one-third of visitors were ''not at all'' annoyed by overfl ights; (2) overflights had a greater effect on visitor solitude and tr anquility than on annoyance; (3) visitor evaluations of overflights ap pear to be multidimensional, consisting of dimensions related to annoy ance, solitude, and tranquility; and (4) both visitor characteristics (especially, attitudes and recreation motives) and dose measures (in p articular estimates of audibility) were strongly related to evaluation s. Findings suggest future wilderness overflight studies should employ a multidimensional evaluative measure of satisfaction as rite depende nt variable and include wilderness visitor characteristics as an indep endent variable. Implications for wilderness policy are discussed.