Visitor preference study in the Moose-Wilson Corridor of Grand Teton National Park

Newman, Peter; Newton, Jennifer; Taff, Derrick; Shr, Yau-Huo

In the summer of 2014, a collaborative team of researchers from the Pennsylvania State University and Utah State University conducted a study examining the social and ecological conditions of the Moose-Wilson corridor (MWC) of Grand Teton National Park (GRTE). The MWC is an area of approximately 10,000 acres, which surrounds the 7.7-mile Moose-Wilson Road at the southern end of GRTE. This area is abundant in both wildlife and plant life. In the past 15 years, several changes that could potentially affect visitor experience have occurred within the MWC. In 2001, more than 1,000 acres of private land within the corridor were transferred to GRTE. Currently it is open to the public as the Laurance S. Rockefeller (LSR) Preserve, and includes a parking lot, hiking trails, access to Phelps Lake, and a visitor center (National Park Service [NPS], 2014). The opening of the LSR Preserve has raised public awareness of this region of the park, and subsequently increased visitation to the area. Also, there has been increased vehicle and bicycle traffic on the narrow two-lane Moose-Wilson Road, which runs through the MWC and provides access to the LSR Preserve. There is neither a bike path nor formalized shoulder on the road (NPS, 2014). Traffic increase coincides with the ongoing construction and community promotion of the “Grand Loop Tour” bicycle path, which includes pathways throughout the Jackson area, both within and outside the park (Friends of Pathways, 2014). Additionally, since 2007, the presence of grizzly bear use of the corridor has become more apparent and sightings have increased, adding a new element related to human wildlife interactions (NPS, 2014). The goal of the 2014 study was to collect data pertaining to the current social and ecological condition within the MWC. These data were descriptive in nature, and can be used to inform park managers about how visitors are experiencing the MWC. However, these data do not provide managers with information regarding evaluative preferences of visitors. This study examines the trade-offs park visitors made among competing attributes in order to achieve a high quality experience within the Moose-Wilson corridor (MWC) of Grand Teton National Park (GRTE) using what is commonly referred to as ‘stated choice modeling.’ The benefit to using stated choice in outdoor recreation research is that it allows researchers and managers to examine attributes of the visitor experience in relation to other attributes, as opposed to examining individual attributes.

Visitor preference study in the Moose-Wilson Corridor of Grand Teton National Park

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