A Management Process for Improving the Resource and Social Sustainability of Camping: A Case Study in the US Desolation Wilderness

Jeffrey L. Marion () and Nathaniel Maretzki
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Jeffrey L. Marion: Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech, 3644 Indian Meadow Dr., Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA
Nathaniel Maretzki: Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-22

Abstract: Protected area managers have long employed unregulated or dispersed camping policies that allow visitors to select and create campsites, frequently in flat areas where problems with campsite proliferation, expansion, severe resource impacts, social crowding, conflicts, and noise occur. This study fills a research gap by providing guidance based on recreation ecology studies and a US wilderness case study for evaluating and adopting a camping containment strategy in areas of higher use. Four efficient steps are described and illustrated involving campsite inventory, monitoring, and occupancy surveys, selection of preferred sustainable campsites, and implementation of a camping containment strategy and supporting practices. Case study findings are presented to illustrate the guidance and reveal the potential efficacy of implementing camping containment strategies that shift camping to preferred sustainable established or designated campsites as part of a visitor use adaptive management process. As demonstrated, such policies can accommodate heavy visitation with substantially reduced campsite numbers, aggregate area of camping impact, and an improved potential for higher quality social conditions.

Keywords: camping impact; sustainable camping management; recreation ecology; visitor use management; dispersed camping; wilderness management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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