Backcountry Visitor Impact Assessment in Katmai National Park and Preserve and the Alagnak Wild River, 2007

Kim, H

Visitor impacts were documented in the backcountry of Katmai National Park and Preserve and Alagnak Wild River from June through September 2007. Site data for campsites, human waste, trash, and other visitor-related impacts such as fire rings and cut stumps were collected by rangers during routine backcountry patrols. These data are the first broad scale documentation of backcountry visitor impacts in Katmai. Crosswind Lake near Moraine Creek recorded the highest concentration of impacts overall, with 82 impact sites located in an area of less than 6 hectares including 26 human waste sites and 51 trash sites. Moraine Creek, another area of high use, recorded along 9 km of its length 16 campsites and numerous related human waste and trash issues. The highest density of campsites was found at the Nonvianuk outlet area with 12 campsites recorded in less than 6 hectares. Hallo Bay showed a moderate level of use compared to Moraine and Nonvianuk. It is not clear whether the higher amounts of impacts are related to higher levels of use, or if “Leave No Trace” practices are not being applied specifically in these areas. In either case, these visitor impacts should be monitored more intensively in the future to prevent park resources from being degraded. Other backcountry areas not surveyed by this project but known to have high visitor numbers should be targeted in the future to assess visitor impacts.