Tools for recreation management in parks: the case of the greater Yellowstone's blue-ribbon fishery

The recreationists who visit and enjoy the planet's protected natural areas cause serious ecological damage to the very lands they enjoy. To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation ma nagement as a vital part of their jobs. Managers agree on the importance of pursuing objectives using the least cost mix of tools. To make this choice wisely, the efficacy of various tools in influencing recreationists' behav ior must be assessed. Recreation management is especially salient in many U S National Parks. For example, wild Yellowstone River cutthroat trout insid e Yellowstone National Park are caught an average of 9.7 times during the s ummer fishing season. Although managed as a catch and release fishery, up t o 30% of these fish die each season at the hands of fly anglers. Anglers al so cause streambank erosion, generate air, water and litter pollution, inte ract with wildlife and, for some, degrade the park's scenic quality. In thi s paper we examine the extent to which the behavior of anglers in the great er Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE) is influenced by various management tools, i ncluding general and site-specific access fees, catch rates and regulations regarding the type and size of fish that can be killed. We also inquire wh ether anglers are likely to be self-regulating in that they self-select awa y from crowded fishing sites. Using survey data from anglers at five popula r fishing sites in the GYE, we estimate a two-part model of total site visi tation. The two parts involve a discrete choice site selection decision for any given day and the choice of how many days to visit the GYE in a season . The product of the two decisions is total visitation to a site. We use th e estimates to measure the impact of management tools on total anglers' beh avior. Our results indicate that anglers are averse to complicated regulati ons that target certain species and/or size of fish for releases, and prefe r catch and release managed fisheries or those where all fish can be kept. We find that the total number of anglers' visits is most strongly influence d by catch rates, followed by congestion levels and the cost of site-specif ic access. Increases in costs not specific to a site have little effect on anglers' behavior. These results suggest that increases in the cost of seas on fishing permits or park entrance fees are not likely to reduce fishing p ressure, but can be used to pursue revenue goals. In contrast, requiring an glers to pay a site-specific daily fee may be effective in managing anglers ' ecological impacts, but may be inconsistent with equity goals. (C) 2000 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.