Recreationist responses to livestock grazing in a new national monument

Abstract

Several U.S. rangeland areas recently have been designated as national monuments to protect scientifically or culturally important resources. Typically recreation and livestock uses have been retained in these areas. Because some people believe protection and use are incompatible, and because monument designation can increase public scrutiny of management while attracting new visitors to the area, we surveyed hunters and hikers in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, about their perceptions of livestock grazing in the monument. We examined associations between visitors' personal characteristics and their reports of how livestock grazing and multiple-use management affect recreation experiences. Recreation activity type was a significant predictor of experience effects, but we found no evidence that the act of designating a national monument itself affected experiences. Locations of current and childhood residence also were significantly associated with experience effects. Because designation tends to attract certain types of visitors more than others, creating rangeland national monuments may foster increased conflict between recreation and livestock grazing uses in those areas.