Kenai Peninsula Borough Trails Commission

 

 

TOPIC NO. 5: MULTIPLE USE

 

How can different user interests be accommodated in a trail system?

 

Three main challenges face trail managers: 1. maintaining user safety, 2. protecting natural resources, and 3. providing high quality user experiences. The first two challenges are addressed through suitable location, design, maintenance, management policies and sensitivity to environmental conservation. Providing a high quality user experience presents a more problematic challenge requiring varied and creative solutions - particularly with increasing numbers of trail users and types of trail use.

Outdoor recreation is very popular in Alaska and adds significantly to the well being and enjoyment of living in and visiting the state. Ninety-five percent (95) of all respondents to the Alaska Recreational Preference Survey conducted in all parts of the state in February, 1992 stated that outdoor recreation was somewhat or very important to their resident lifestyle. This is an unusually high percent of the population when compared to the rest of the United States.

 

User Activities

 

Trail uses and experiences vary seasonally and will vary from individual and from trip to trip. Summer uses can include berry picking, bird watching, cutting, gathering and removing of firewood, hunting, fishing, camping, dirt biking, picnicking, swimming, hiking, bicycling/mountain biking, riding horses or other animals, clam digging, rock climbing, rafting, driving off-road vehicles or other motorized vehicles, boating, nature study, and enjoying historical, archeological, scenic or scientific sites.

 

Winter uses can include cutting, gathering and removing of firewood, hunting, fishing, camping, picnicking, hiking, bicycling, riding or horses or other animals, driving off-road vehicles, snowmobiles and other

vehicles, Nordic skiing, alpine skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, dog mushing, skijoring, trapping, tobogganing, ice climbing, mountaineering, sleigh riding, snow shoeing, nature study, and enjoying historical, archeological, scenic or scientific sites.

 

User Goals

 

Most trail activities are enjoyed by individuals or small groups, and may have a simultaneous impact on others in the immediate environment. Quiet enjoyment and exercise is often one goal of a non-motorized outdoor recreationist. The excitement of maneuvering a motorized vehicle at various speeds, and getting to one's destination more quickly may be the goal of another trail user.

 

As a result, there has sometimes been conflict between users of different levels of technology, attitudes toward the environment, standards or behavior, or levels of tolerance for other people. Among the most common and overt conflicts are between equestrians / hikers and mountain bikers; hikers / equestrians and ATV users; and snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. In Alaska, 75 percent strongly or somewhat favor more trails that are designated for non-motorized use only; 21 percent somewhat or strongly disapprove. Fifty-three (53) percent strongly or somewhat favor more trails for legal use of off-road vehicles; 44 percent somewhat or strongly disapprove. User conflict is caused when users have different expectations and desires from their outdoor excursions, and blame another user group if expectations are not met. This is defined as "goal interference attributed to another's behavior".

 

Management Approaches

 

Several elements can be used to maximize enjoyment and reduce conflicts: 1. trail design, 2. user education, and 3. management response. In all of these, the involvement of the public, including users and potential users, is extremely important, both because volunteers are increasingly relied upon to maintain trails, and because it is up to individual behavior to ensure personal safety, conservation of the environment, and an enjoyable experience from outdoor recreation.

 

Design options include assessing the needs of the major user groups – what are their needs in terms of ground surface, curves, widths, speed control, sight distances appropriate to avoid accidents, desired trail

lengths, signage, maintenance level needed, parking, safe egress and access between the roadways and the parking areas, and desired elements necessary to enjoyment of the environmental (e.g., air, visual, noise, wildlife, etc.)? Once known, the management entity then can prescribe certain trails for certain uses, times of year for certain uses, and designate trailhead locations for different recreationists. User needs must be clearly understood and considered in managing a trail system.

 

Offering adequate opportunities for a variety of trail experiences will reduce heavy use on a few trails and will allow users to choose their desired experience. The more trails to choose from, the less opportunity for user goal interference. In addition, more trails allow the opportunity to designate separate trails for different uses which then discourages possibilities of conflict among users.

 

Education of the public and users involves providing adequate information describing each trail in order to help form appropriate expectations, and advising potential users on expected behavior and trail etiquette. The better educated the user public, the less regulation or enforcement is needed and more successful the trail will be in meeting user goals. Education should include the intent of the trail and the benefits of cooperation, implications of problem behavior, trail ethics including courtesy, yield policy, and responsibility for resource protection. The user will also need to know who is the managing entity and how to alert them to trail problems, including trail conditions and user conflicts.

 

Management options include one of two approaches in designating trail uses: 1. "allowing unless specifically prohibited", or 2. "prohibited unless specifically allowed". The U. S. Forest Service recommends using the "allow", "restrict", or "prohibit" options be based primarily on trail design and the environmental and social impacts of each user group. Sometimes the "restrict" or "prohibit" tenets can be difficult to enforce and may polarize user groups if they have not been part of the management development process. Roger Moore's work has emphasized that taking the "lighter hand" is more effective in getting support and cooperation from trail users.

 

Management basics include: letting people know who is responsible for reacting to problems; working with affected users (involved parties "take ownership" of the trail and tend to work to resolve any problems); encourage user group interactions, e.g. combine work maintenance work parties, etc.; and encourage "light handed management" in achieving objectives. This management style is important to offer the freedom of choice and natural environment so important to the outdoor experience. In addition, trails managers need to plan and act locally, including addressing difficult issues on a case-by-case basis; monitor progress; adjust the management or trail use as appropriate; and involve users as early as possible to anticipate user needs and resolve potential user "goal interference" before it happens. This should include new and unanticipated uses, such as the development of the recent skijoring trend. Trail conflicts should be handled directly and openly to keep trail use tension at a minimum, foster cooperation, and strengthen trail constituencies.

 

Among the options in dealing with user conflicts and enforcement are: instituting a hot line; putting in a monitored comment and suggestion box at the trailhead; discussing problems with user groups; allowing permits for trail use; and giving preferential treatment to groups if they maintain a trail/maintenance agreement. Above all, follow-through and consistency is necessary for credibility of the trail managers and the efficient operation of the trail.

 

The most important tenets distilled by Roger Moore are that the critical focus for a trail manager should be: 1. maintaining user safety, 2. protecting natural resources, and 3. providing high quality user experiences.

 

The twelve principles for minimizing conflicts on multiple-use trails are:

 

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