Strategies for saving: identifying strategies for the future of the national parks

• Main Author: Nyp, Chandler
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: National Parks
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2097/39151

Master of Landscape Architecture === Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning === Timothy Keane === When visiting a national park, what do you expect to see? Beautiful views of scenery, or long lines for crowded overlooks and massive parking lots overflowing with people? With the current state of most national parks, you will most likely be in for all three. Within the last hundred years, the national parks have offered visitors a chance to escape the hustle and bustle of life by offering a place outside of crowded cities and sprawling suburbs. But the increasing popularity of the National Parks comes with a cost: a decline in the nature experience as parks become more crowded and parking lots become more sprawling. What are the impacts of visitors on the national parks, and how can the NPS reduce these impacts? This report begins with background research to determine what impacts visitors have on the National Parks, as well as the strategies and practices park management uses to help combat the negative impacts of visitors. Next, park profiles of 8 of the top visited parks in the nation were developed to understand more about the history of each park, and what impact mitigation practices they have used in the past. Using Manning and Anderson’s matrix for identifying and organizing information about the issues in the national parks and the management strategies and solutions an online survey and a phone interview were developed to gather information on current conditions in the most visited parks (Manning and Anderson 2012). With the information gathered from the interviews, surveys, and park profiles, a set of recommendations for the future of the national parks was identified. The objective of this research was to determine what options are available for national parks to preserve these relaxing vacation destinations for future generations.