This data can be very useful for forest planning and decision making. The information provided can be used in economic efficiency analysis that requires providing a value per National Forest Visit. This can then be compared to other resource values. The description of visitor characteristics (age, race, zip code, activity participation) can help the forest identify the type of recreation niche they fill. The satisfaction information can help management decide where best to place limited resources that would result in improved visitor satisfaction. The economic expenditure information can help forests show local communities the employment and income effects of tourism from forest visitors. In addition, the credible use statistics can be helpful in considering visitor capacity issues.

Definition of Terms

NVUM has standardized definitions of visitor use measurement to ensure that all national forest visitor measurements are comparable. These definitions are basically the same as established by the Forest Service since the 1970s, however the application of the definition is stricter. Visitors must pursue a recreation activity physically located “on” Forest Service managed land in order to be counted. They cannot be passing through, viewing from non-Forest Service managed roads, or just using restroom facilities. The NVUM basic use measurements are national forest visits and site visits. Along with these use measurements basic statistics, which indicate the precision of the estimate, are given. These statistics include the error rate and associated confidence intervals at the 80 percent confidence level. The definitions of these terms follow.

National forest visit - the entry of one person upon a national forest to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time. A national forest visit can be composed of multiple site visits.

Site visit - the entry of one person onto a national forest site or area to participate in recreation activities for an unspecified period of time.

Recreation trip – the duration of time beginning when the visitor left their home and ending when they got back to their home.

Confidence level and error rate - used together these two terms define the reliability of the estimated visits. The confidence level provides a specified level of certainty for a confidence interval defining a range of values around the estimate. The error rate (which is never a bad thing like making an error on a test) is expressed as a percent of the estimate and can be used to obtain the upper and lower bounds of the confidence interval. The lower the error rate and the higher the confidence level the better the estimate. An 80 percent confidence level is very acceptable for social science applications at a broad national or forest scale. The two terms are used to describe the estimate. For example: At the 80 percent confidence level there are 240 million national forest visits plus or minus 15 percent. In other words we are 80 percent confident that the true number of national forest visits lies between 204 million and 276 million.

CHAPTER 1: SAMPLE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

The NVUM Process and Definition of Terms

To participate in the NVUM process, forests first categorized all recreation sites and areas into five basic categories called “site types”: Day Use Developed Sites (DUDS), Overnight Use Developed Sites (OUDS), Wilderness, General Forest Areas (GFA), and View Corridors (VC). Only the first four categories are considered “true” national forest visits and were included in the estimate provided. Within these broad categories (called site types) every open day of the year for each site/area was rated as high, medium or low last exiting recreation use. Sites/areas that are scheduled to be closed or would have “0” use were also identified. Each day on which a site or area is open is called a site day and is the basic sampling unit for the survey. Results of this forest categorization are shown in Table 1.

A map showing all General Forest Exit locations and View Corridors was prepared and archived with the NVUM data for use in future sample years. NVUM also provided training materials, equipment, survey forms, funding, and the protocol necessary for the forest to gather visitor use information.

NVUM terms used in the site categorization framework are defined below:

Site day - a day that a recreation site or area is open to the public for recreation purposes.

Site types -- stratification of a forest recreation site or area into one of six broad categories as defined in the paper: Forest Service National Visitor Use Monitoring Process: Research Method Documentation, May 2002, English et al. The categories are Day Use Developed sites (DUDS), Overnight Use Developed Sites (OUDS), General Forest Areas (GFA), Wilderness (WILD), and View Corridors (VC). Another category called Off-Forest Recreation Activities (OFRA) was categorized but not sampled.

Proxy – information collected at a recreation site or area that is related to the amount of recreation visitation received. The proxy information must pertain to all users of the site, it must be an exact tally of use and it must be one of the proxy types allowed in the NVUM pre-work directions (fee receipts, fee envelopes, mandatory permits, permanent traffic counters, ticket sales, and daily use records).

Nonproxy – a recreation site or area that does not have proxy information. At these sites a 24-hour traffic count is taken to measure total use for one site day at the sample site.

Use level strata - for either proxy or nonproxy sites, each day that a recreation site or area was open for recreation, the site day was categorized as either high, medium or low last exiting recreation traffic, or closed. Closed was defined as either administratively closed or “0” use. For example Sabino Picnic Area (a DUDS nonproxy site) is closed for 120 days, has high last exiting recreation use on open weekends (70 days) and medium last exiting recreation use on open midweek days (175 days). This accounts for all 365 days of the year at Sabino Picnic area. This process was repeated for every developed site and area on the forest.

Constraints On Uses of the Results

The information presented here is valid and applicable at the forest level. It is not designed to be accurate at the district or site level. The quality of the visitation estimate is dependent on the preliminary sample design development, sampling unit selection, sample size and variability, and survey implementation. First, preliminary work conducted by forests to classify sites consistently according to the type and amount of visitation influences the quality of the estimate. Second, visitors sampled must be representative of the population of all visitors. Third, the number of visitors sampled must be large enough to adequately control variability. Finally, the success of the forest in accomplishing its assigned sample days, correctly filling out the interview forms, and following the sample protocol influence the error rate. The error rate will reflect all these factors. The smaller the error rate, the better the estimate. Interviewer error in asking the questions is not necessarily reflected in this error rate.

Large error rates (i.e. high variability) in the national forest visit (NFV), site visit (SV) and Wilderness visit estimates is primarily caused by a small sample size in a given stratum (for example General Forest Area low use days) where the use observed was beyond that stratum’s normal range. For example, on the Clearwater National Forest in the General Forest Area low stratum, there were 14 sample days. Of these 14 sample days, 13 days had visitation estimates between 0-20. One observation had a visitation estimate of 440. Therefore, the stratum mean was about 37 with a standard error of 116. The 80% confidence interval width is then 400% of the mean, a very high error rate (variability). Whether these types of odd observations are due to unusual weather, malfunctioning traffic counters, or a misclassification of the day (a sampled low use day that should have been categorized as a high use day) is unknown. Eliminating the unusual observation from data analyis could reduce the error rate. However, the NVUM team had no reason to suspect the data was incorrect and did not eliminate these unusual cases.

The descriptive information about national forest visitors is based upon only those visitors that were interviewed. If a forest has distinct seasonal use patterns and activities that vary greatly by season, these patterns may or may not be adequately captured in this study. This study was designed to estimate total number of people during a year. Sample days were distributed based upon high, medium, and low exiting use days, not seasons. When applying these results in forest analysis, items such as activity participation should be carefully scrutinized. For example, although the Routt National Forest had over 1 million skier visits, no sample days occurred during the main ski season; they occurred at the ski area but during their high use summer season. Therefore, activity participation based upon interviews did not adequately capture downhill skiers. This particular issue was adjusted. However, the same issue- seasonal use patterns- may still occur to a lesser degree on other forests. Future sample design will attempt to incorporate seasonal variation in use.

Some forest visitors were counted and included in the total forest use estimate but were not surveyed. This included visitors to recreation special events and organization camps.

The Forest Stratification Results

The results of the recreation site/area stratification and sample days accomplished by this forest are displayed in Table 1. This table describes the population of available site days open for sampling based on forest pre-work completed prior to the actual surveys. Every site and area on the forest was categorized as high, medium, low, or closed last exiting recreation use. This stratification was then used to randomly select sampling days for this forest. The project methods paper listed on page one describes the sampling process and sample allocation formulas in detail. Basically, at least eight sample days per stratum are randomly selected for sampling and more days are added if the stratum is very large. Also displayed on the table is the percentage of sample days per stratum accomplished by the forest.

Table 1. Population of available site days for sampling and percentage of days sampled by stratum

	Nonproxy			Proxy
Strata	Total days in nonproxy population	Days sampled # percent		Total days in proxy population	Days sampled # percent
OUDS H	48	2	4.2	9,257	12	0.1
OUDS M	392	13	3.3
OUDS L	1,448	10	0.7
DUDS H	149	12	8.1	1,470	10	0.7
DUDS M	204	10	5.4
DUDS L	1,649	11	0.6
Wild H	86	10	11.6
Wild M	118	9	7.6
Wild L	439	9	2.1
GFA H	934	34	3.6	135	4	3.0
GFA M	5,061	70	1.4
GFA L	17,280	29	0.2
TOTALS	27,808	218		10,862	26

CHAPTER 2: VISITATION ESTIMATES

Visitor Use Estimates

Visitor use estimates are available at the national, regional, and forest level. Only forest level data is provided here. For national and regional reports visit the following web site: (http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/nvum).

Table 2. Tahoe National Forest annual recreation use estimate

National Forest Visits

Site Visits

Wilderness Visits

Visits

Error

Rate

Visits

Error Rate

Visits

Error

Rate

3,690,127

22.0 %

4,451,970

19.2 %

16,990

17.2 %

The forest participated in the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) project from October 2000 through September 2001. The forest coordinators were Jerry Cowan and Anne Green. The forest was assigned 244 interview days and accomplished 244 of them (accomplished 100 percent). The forest coordinators reported a fairly normal snowfall for winter recreation. However, the forest had several forest fires from August 12 through September 12 of the sample year that closed various parts of the forest. In addition visitors stayed away from the forest because of fire restrictions even when fires were not burning.

Recreation use on the forest for fiscal year 2001 at the 80 percent confidence level was 3.69 million national forest visits +/- 22 percent. There were 4.45 million site visits, an average of 1.2 site visits per national forest visit. Included in the site visit estimate are 16,990 Wilderness visits.

A total of 2,094 visitors were contacted on the forest during the sample year. Of these, 4 percent refused to be interviewed. Of the 2,010 people who agreed to be interviewed, about 8 percent were not recreating, including 1 percent who just stopped to use the bathroom, 2 percent were working, 4 percent were just passing through, and 1 percent had some other reason to be there. About 92 percent of those interviewed said their primary purpose on the forest was recreation and 95 percent of them were exiting for the last time. Of the visitors leaving the forest agreeing to be interviewed, about 85 percent were last exiting recreation visitors (the target interview population). Table 3 displays the number of last-exiting recreation visitors interviewed at each site type and the type of interview form they answered.

Table 3. Number of last-exiting recreation visitors by site type and form type 1/

Form Type	Day Use	Overnight	General Forest	Wilderness
Basic	239	24	524	104
Satisfaction	119	15	251	52
Economics	103	16	253	44

1/ Form type means the type of interview form administered to the visitor. The basic form did not ask either economic or satisfaction questions. The Satisfaction form did not ask economic questions and the economic form did not ask satisfaction questions.

Description of Visitors

Basic descriptors of the forest visitors were developed based upon those visitors interviewed then expanded to the national forest visitor population. Tables 4 and 5 display gender and age descriptors.

Table 4. Gender distribution of Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Gender

Male 70.4

Female 29.6

Table 5. Age distribution of Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Age Group	Percent in group
Under 16	13.6
16-20	1.0
21-30	22.5
31-40	17.2
41-50	22.8
51-60	11.9
61-70	7.3
Over 70	3.7

Visitors categorized themselves into one of seven race/ethnicity categories. Table 6 gives a detailed breakout by category.

Table 6. Race/ethnicity of recreation visitors

Category	Total percent national forest visits
Black/African American	1.3
Asian	2.8
White	89.3
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.2
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	1.9
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino	1.9
Other	2.7

Less than one (0.6) percent of forest visitors were from another country. The survey did not collect country affiliation. Visitors most frequently reported zip codes are shown in Table 7. The forest can determine what percent of local visitor use they have by comparing the local forest zip codes to those listed. The zip code data for the forest will also soon be available on a database. There were about 510 different zip codes reported. This information can be used with programs such as “zipfip” or census data for more extensive analysis.

Table 7. Zip codes of Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Zip Code	Frequency	Percent
96161	145	8.8
89509	48	2.9
96160	45	2.7
96162	39	2.4
95631	87	2.2
95959	33	2.0
96145	28	1.7
95945	26	1.6
95603	25	1.5
89503	20	1.2
95949	16	1.0
95661	15	0.9
89511	14	0.8
89502	13	0.8
95678	13	0.8
95922	13	0.8
89431	12	0.7
89436	12	0.7
89506	12	0.7

Average number of people per vehicle and average axle count per vehicle in survey

There was an average of 2.1 people per vehicle with an average of 2.0 axles per vehicle. This information in conjunction with traffic counts was used to expand observations from individual interviews to the full forest population of recreation visitors. This information may be useful to forest engineers and others who use vehicle counters to conduct traffic studies.

CHAPTER 3: WILDERNESS VISITORS

Several questions on the NVUM survey form dealt directly with use of designated Wilderness. Wilderness was sampled 52 days on the forest. There were 51.3 percent male and 48.7 percent female visitors to Wilderness on the forest. Tables 8 and 9 display the age distribution and race/ethnicity of Wilderness visitors.

Table 8. Age distribution of Tahoe NF Wilderness visitors

Age Group	Percent in group
Under 16	5.1
16-20	1.7
21-30	14.0
31-40	29.7
41-50	18.1
51-60	19.3
61-70	9.4
Over 70	2.6

Table 9. Race/ethnicity of Tahoe NF Wilderness visitors

Category	Total percent national forest visits
Black/African American	0.3
Asian	3.9
White	92.3
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.0
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.8
Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino	2.7
Other	0.0

The Wilderness visitors were from a wide variety of zip codes. The distribution of Wilderness visitor zip codes is shown in Table 10. There were over 100 different zip codes reported.

Table 10. Zip codes of Tahoe NF Wilderness visitors

Zip Code	Frequency	Percent
96161	17	7.5
96145	12	5.3
89509	8	3.5
96162	7	3.1
95816	6	2.6
96146	6	2.6
96160	5	2.2
94123	4	1.8
95404	4	1.8
96141	4	1.8
96143	4	1.8
94118	3	1.3
94618	3	1.3
95403	3	1.3

The average length of stay in Wilderness on the forest was 6.0 hours. In addition, all visitors were asked on how many different days they entered into designated Wilderness during their national forest visit even if we interviewed them at a developed recreation site or general forest area. Of those visitors who did enter designated Wilderness, they entered 1.4 different days.

None of those interviewed in Wilderness said they used the services of a commercial guide.

Table 11 gives detailed information about how the Wilderness visitors rated various aspects of the area. An general example of how to interpret this information: If the visitors had rated the importance of the adequacy of signage a 5.0 (very important) and they rated their satisfaction with the adequacy of signage a 3.0 (somewhat satisfied) then the forest might be able to increase visitor satisfaction. Perhaps twenty-nine percent of visitors said the adequacy of signage was poor. The forest could target improving this sector of visitors for increased satisfaction by improving the signage for Wilderness. NOTE: For a few of these satisfaction elements, fewer than 10 individuals responded. These sample sizes were considered too small to yield reliable results. Consequently, data for these elements in Table 11 are suppressed.

Wilderness visitors on the average rated their visit 4.3 (on a scale from 1 to 10) concerning crowding, meaning they felt there were an average number of people there. No one said the area they visited was overcrowded (a 10 on the scale) and 1.2 percent said there was hardly anyone there (a 1 on the scale).

Table 11. Satisfaction of Tahoe NF Wilderness visitors

Item Name	Item by Percent response by * P F A G VG					Mean Satisfaction Of Visitors (n)**	Mean Importance To Visitors (n)**
Scenery	0.0	0.0	0.0	9.7	90.3	4.9 16	4.9 15
Available parking	1.9	4.4	14.7	34.4	44.6	4.2 16	3.2 15
Parking lot condition	0.0	13.7	26.8	27.7	31.7	3.8 13	2.9 12
Cleanliness of restrooms	-	-	-	-	-	- 7	- 7
Condition of the natural environment	0.0	0.0	5.1	36.5	58.4	4.5 16	4.6 15
Condition of developed recreation facilities	-	-	-	-	-	- 5	- 6
Condition of forest roads	0.0	0.0	0.0	34.3	65.7	4.7 11	3.9 10
Condition of forest trails	0.0	2.5	2.9	52.3	42.4	4.3 16	4.2 15
Availability of information on recreation	0.0	0.0	14.0	44.7	41.3	4.3 13	4.2 12
Feeling of safety	0.0	0.0	0.0	8.4	91.6	4.9 16	4.2 15
Adequacy of signage	0.0	1.0	36.6	38.2	24.3	3.9 15	3.8 13
Helpfulness of employees	-	-	-	-	-	- 8	- 7
Attractiveness of the forest landscape	0.0	0.0	0.0	11.7	88.3	4.9 16	4.9 15
Value for fee paid	0.0	0.0	0.0	52.8	47.2	4.5 13	5.0 12

* Scale is: P = poor F = fair A = average G = good VG = very good

** Scale is: 1= not important 2= somewhat important 3=moderately important 4= important 5 = very important

n = number of people who responded to this item

CHAPTER 4: DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT

A description of visitor activity during their national forest visit was developed. This basic information includes participation in various recreation activities, length of stay on the national forest and at recreation sites, visitor satisfaction with national forest facilities and services, and economic expenditures.

The average length of stay on this forest for a national forest visit was 12.8 hours. Over eleven percent (11.4%) of visitors spent the night on the national forest.

In addition, visitors reported how much time they spent on the specific recreation site at which they were interviewed. Average time spent varied considerably by site and is displayed in Table 12.

Table 12. Site visit length of stay (in hours) by site/type on Tahoe NF

Site Visit Average	DUDS	OUDS	Wilderness	GFA
9.0	4.1	51.8	6.0	16.3

The average recreation visitor went to 1.2 sites during their national forest visit. Forest visitors sometimes go to just one national forest site or area during their visit. For example, downhill skiers may just go the ski area and nowhere else. About 85 (85.1) percent of visitors went only to the site at which they were interviewed.

During their visit to the forest, the top five recreation activities of the visitors were viewing natural features, relaxing, downhill skiing, hiking/walking, and driving for pleasure (see Table 13). Each visitor also picked one of these activities as their primary activity for their current recreation visit to the forest. The top primary activities were downhill skiing, hiking/walking, relaxing, viewing natural features, and fishing (see Table 13). Please note that the results of the NVUM activity analysis DO NOT identify the types of activities visitors would like to have offered on the national forests. It also does not tell us about displaced forest visitors, those who no longer visit the forest because the activities they desire are not offered.

Table 13. Tahoe National Forest activity participation and primary activity

Activity	Percent participation	Percent who said it was their primary activity
Camping in developed sites (family or group)	10.1	3.8
Primitive camping	1.5	0.3
Backpacking, camping in unroaded areas	2.4	0.6
Resorts, cabins and other accommodations on Forest Service managed lands (private or Forest Service run)	3.1	0.3
Picnicking and family day gatherings in developed sites (family or group)	9.0	1.1
Viewing wildlife, birds, fish, etc on national forest system lands	34.8	0.2
Viewing natural features such as scenery, flowers, etc on national forest system lands	59.3	5.7
Visiting historic and prehistoric sites/area	17.8	4.9
Visiting a nature center, nature trail or visitor information services	2.6	0.0
Nature Study	9.3	0.0
General/other- relaxing, hanging out, escaping noise and heat, etc,	39.9	6.8
Fishing- all types	12.4	6.1
Hunting- all types	3.9	3.1
Off-highway vehicle travel (4-wheelers, dirt bikes, etc)	13.3	3.9
Driving for pleasure on roads	21.2	5.3
Snowmobile travel	0.3	0.2
Motorized water travel (boats, ski sleds, etc)	6.3	1.7
Other motorized land/air activities (plane, other)	0.2	0.1
Hiking or walking	37.6	10.6
Horseback riding	0.3	0.2
Bicycling, including mountain bikes	4.2	1.2
Non-motorized water travel (canoe, raft, etc.)	5.3	1.2
Downhill skiing or snowboarding	37.8	36.4
Cross-country skiing, snow shoeing	3.4	2.7
Other non-motorized activities (swimming, games and sports)	16.4	3.8
Gathering mushrooms, berries, firewood, or other natural products	2.6	0.9

Use of constructed facilities and designated areas

Twenty-five percent of the last exiting recreation visitors interviewed were asked about the types of constructed facilities and special designated areas they used during their visit. The most used facilities and areas were: downhill ski areas, nonmotorized trails, forest service roads, scenic byways, and developed campgrounds. Table 14 provides a summary of facility and special area use.

Table 14. Percentage use of Tahoe NF facilities and specially designated areas

Facility / Area Type	Percent who said they used (national forest visits)
Developed campground	6.2
Swimming area	5.6
Hiking, biking, or horseback trails	22.5
Scenic byway	9.8
Designated Wilderness	0.4
Visitor center, museum	1.7
Forest Service office or other info site	0.6
Picnic area	4.8
Boat launch	5.3
Designated Off Road Vehicle area	0.7
Other forest roads	12.3
Interpretive site	0.8
Organization camp	0.0
Developed fishing site/ dock	2.4
Designated snowmobile area	0.2
Downhill ski area	57.5
Nordic ski area	3.0
Lodges/Resorts on National Forest System land	3.3
Fire Lookouts/Cabins Forest Service owned	0.1
Designated snow play area	0.0
Motorized developed trails	0.8
Recreation residences	0.1

Economic Information

Twenty-five percent of visitors interviewed were asked about the primary destination of their recreation trip. Since some people may incorporate a visit to the national forests as only part of a larger trip away from home, not all visitors chose the national forest as their primary destination. Of the 20 percent of visitors that went to other places tan just this forest on their recreation trip, 40 percent said this forest was their primary trip destination.

Visitors were asked to select one of several substitute choices, if for some reason they were unable to visit this national forest. Their responses are shown in Table 15.

The average total length of time that recreation visitors on the forest were away from home on their trip was 149 hours. In the 12 months prior to the interview the visitors had come to this forest 4.5 times to participate in their identified main activity.

Table 15. Substitute behavior choices of Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Substitute Choice	Percent who would have…
Gone somewhere else for the same activity	67.0
Gone somewhere else for a different activity	8.0
Come back another time	10.6
Stayed home	13.6
Gone to work at their regular job	0.2
None of these	0.5

Average yearly spending on outdoor recreation

In a typical year, visitors to this forest spent an average of $3120.80 on all outdoor recreation activities including equipment, recreation trips, memberships, and licenses.

Visitors’ average spending on a trip to the forest

Visitors estimated the amount of money spent per person within a 50-mile radius of the recreation site at which they were interviewed during their recreation trip to the area (which may include multiple national forest visits, as well as visits to other forests or parks). This information is available in a separate report and data file that can be used for planning analysis.

Visitor Satisfaction Information

Twenty-five percent of visitors interviewed on the forest rated their satisfaction with the recreation facilities and services provided. Although their satisfaction ratings pertain to conditions at the specific site or area they visited, this information is not valid at the site-specific level. The survey design does not usually have enough responses for every individual site or area on the forest to draw these conclusions. Rather, the information is generalized to overall satisfaction with facilities and services on the forest as a whole.

Visitors’ site-specific answers may be colored by a particular condition on a particular day at a particular site. For example, a visitor camping in a developed campground when all the forest personnel are off firefighting and the site has not been cleaned. Perhaps the garbage had not been emptied or the toilets cleaned during their stay, although the site usually receives excellent maintenance. The visitor may have been very unsatisfied with the cleanliness of restrooms.

In addition to how satisfied visitors were with facilities and services they were asked how important that particular facility or service was to the quality of their recreation experience. The importance of these elements to the visitors’ recreation experience is then analyzed in relation to their satisfaction. Those elements that were extremely important to a visitor’s overall recreation experience and the visitor rated as poor quality are those elements needing most attention by the forest. Those elements that were rated not important to the visitors’ recreation experience need the least attention.

Tables 16 through 18 summarize visitor satisfaction with the forest facilities and services at Day Use Developed sites, Overnight Developed sites and General Forest areas. Wilderness satisfaction is reported in Table 11. To interpret this information for possible management action, one must look at both the importance and satisfaction ratings. If visitors rated an element a 1 or 2 they are telling management that particular element is not very important to the overall quality of their recreation experience. Even if the visitors rated that element as poor or fair, improving this element may not necessarily increase visitor satisfaction because the element was not that important to them. On the other hand, if visitors rated an element as a 5 or 4 they are saying this element is very important to the quality of their recreation experience. If their overall satisfaction with that element is not very good, management action here can increase visitor satisfaction.

Table 16. Satisfaction of Tahoe NF recreation visitors at Developed Day Use sites

Item Name	Item by Percent response by * P F A G VG					Mean Satisfaction Of Visitors (n)**	Mean Importance To Visitors (n)**
Scenery	0.0	0.0	0.1	13.0	87.0	4.9 36	4.7 35
Available parking	0.0	4.2	12.7	30.4	52.7	4.3 38	4.0 34
Parking lot condition	0.0	8.3	17.3	51.8	22.5	3.9 36	3.3 33
Cleanliness of restrooms	0.5	11.7	11.6	52.0	24.3	3.9 31	4.4 32
Condition of the natural environment	0.0	4.4	0.2	22.8	72.7	4.6 32	4.6 31
Condition of developed recreation facilities	0.0	0.1	20.1	39.9	39.8	4.2 28	3.9 26
Condition of forest roads	0.0	0.0	0.2	50.3	49.6	4.5 29	4.0 26
Condition of forest trails	0.0	0.7	32.0	1.8	65.5	4.3 19	4.0 18
Availability of information on recreation	6.8	0.2	13.7	39.6	39.7	4.1 24	4.1 22
Feeling of safety	0.0	0.1	9.3	50.8	39.9	4.3 36	4.3 34
Adequacy of signage	0.4	4.9	19.6	49.1	25.9	4.0 30	3.9 29
Helpfulness of employees	0.1	4.8	19.3	38.5	37.3	4.1 25	4.1 23
Attractiveness of the forest landscape	0.0	0.0	0.2	22.3	77.4	4.8 31	4.7 29
Value for fee paid	0.0	5.1	24.7	34.8	35.3	4.0 31	4.6 27

* Scale is: P = poor F = fair A = average G = good VG = very good

** Scale is: 1= not important 2= somewhat important 3=moderately important 4= important 5 = very important

n= number of responses on which rating is based.

Table 17. Satisfaction of Tahoe NF recreation visitors at Developed Overnight sites

Item Name	Item by Percent response by * P F A G VG					Mean Satisfaction Of Visitors (n)**	Mean Importance To Visitors (n)**
Scenery	0.0	0.0	10.8	1.4	87.8	4.8 15	4.8 15
Available parking	0.0	0.0	3.3	40.4	56.4	4.5 15	4.6 15
Parking lot condition	0.0	1.8	3.1	69.2	26.0	4.2 14	3.4 14
Cleanliness of restrooms	0.0	0.0	13.0	44.7	42.3	4.3 14	4.7 14
Condition of the natural environment	0.0	0.0	11.0	42.2	46.8	4.4 15	4.9 15
Condition of developed recreation facilities	0.0	0.0	15.9	49.3	34.8	4.2 14	4.0 14
Condition of forest roads	0.0	5.3	1.4	54.2	39.1	4.3 15	4.3 15
Condition of forest trails	0.0	0.0	0.0	68.6	31.4	4.3 11	4.6 11
Availability of information on recreation	17.4	10.8	22.3	25.4	24.1	3.3 12	4.0 12
Feeling of safety	0.0	0.0	0.0	33.0	67.0	4.7 15	4.3 15
Adequacy of signage	0.0	5.7	33.8	22.9	37.5	3.9 15	4.7 15
Helpfulness of employees	0.0	0.0	4.4	40.0	55.6	4.5 14	4.3 14
Attractiveness of the forest landscape	0.0	0.0	0.0	34.3	65.7	4.7 15	4.5 15
Value for fee paid	0.0	0.0	0.0	38.8	61.2	4.6 12	4.6 12

* Scale is: P = poor F = fair A = average G = good VG = very good

** Scale is: 1= not important 2= somewhat important 3=moderately important 4= important 5 = very important

(n) = number of responses upon which this rating is based

Table 18. Satisfaction of Tahoe NF recreation visitors in General Forest Areas

Item Name	Item by Percent response by * P F A G VG					Mean Satisfaction Of Visitors (n)**	Mean Importance To Visitors (n)**
Scenery	0.0	0.1	2.0	8.6	89.3	4.9 152	4.8 153
Available parking	4.9	3.4	6.5	55.1	30.1	4.0 138	4.0 138
Parking lot condition	2.1	1.8	14.6	54.8	26.6	4.0 89	3.6 91
Cleanliness of restrooms	3.2	36.2	12.8	20.3	27.5	3.3 40	4.6 42
Condition of the natural environment	0.1	1.3	4.3	27.0	67.3	4.6 152	4.8 150
Condition of developed recreation facilities	1.0	31.3	7.3	29.5	31.0	3.6 41	4.6 44
Condition of forest roads	1.2	3.6	11.3	26.6	57.3	4.4 77	3.6 78
Condition of forest trails	0.4	0.6	14.4	49.6	35.1	4.2 130	4.5 131
Availability of information on recreation	4.9	4.8	13.0	32.6	44.6	4.1 120	4.3 119
Feeling of safety	0.3	0.2	3.2	14.2	82.1	4.8 152	4.6 150
Adequacy of signage	16.3	3.7	11.4	46.5	22.2	3.5 138	4.4 135
Helpfulness of employees	3.2	0.0	7.4	42.0	47.4	4.3 54	4.6 56
Attractiveness of the forest landscape	0.0	1.4	3.0	11.8	83.8	4.8 148	4.8 152
Value for fee paid	1.6	2.5	5.3	11.3	79.3	4.6 56	4.8 54

* Scale is: P = poor F = fair A = average G = good VG = very good

** Scale is: 1= not important 2= somewhat important 3=moderately important 4= important 5 = very important

(n) = number of responses upon which this rating is based

Crowding

Visitors rated their perception of how crowded the recreation site or area felt to them. This information is useful when looking at the type of site the visitor was using since someone visiting a designated Wilderness may think 5 people is too many while someone visiting a developed campground may think 200 people is about right. Table 19 summarizes mean perception of crowding by site type on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means hardly anyone was there, and a 10 means the area was perceived as overcrowded.

Table 19. Perception of crowding by recreation visitors by site type (percent site visits)

Perception of crowding	Overnight Developed Sites	Day Use Developed Sites	Wilderness	General Forest Areas
10 Over crowded	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.7
9	0.0	0.1	4.2	1.0
8	12.2	0.2	6.2	1.6
7	0.2	8.9	14.7	4.6
6	5.1	0.0	4.2	3.7
5	43.3	17.9	9.4	21.0
4	30.7	5.2	16.1	4.7
3	5.3	30.8	17.8	11.1
2	0.2	14.2	25.8	36.2
1 Hardly anyone there	3.1	22.7	1.7	15.4

Other comments from Tahoe National Forest visitors

Visitors were asked if there were any accommodations or assistance that the forest could offer that would be helpful to the visitor and anyone in their group to improve their recreation experience. Visitor responses are summarized below.

Table 20. List of comments received from Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Site Name	Is there any other accommodation or assistance we could offer? Comments
BIG BEND VISITOR CENTER	Come to National Forest because dogs are allowed.
	Better trail markings at Horse Tail Falls Trail.
MANZANITA BEACH and PICNIC AREA	Trash containers and toilets closer to the beach & picnic area (rather than in parking lot) would help.
	Need refreshments or machine vending sodas & snacks.
	More campgrounds and more spread out sites
	More trash cans in picnic area
(1) FS 03/ BARKER PASS GFA	Too dusty!
	Need H2O
	Excellent facility with no usage fee- advocate more facilities with no fee
	Good job - keep it up- (Bothered by some areas, gun fire -Blackwood Canyon area
(5) FS 06/THELIN GFA	Too much straw - fire hazzard
	More mountain bike single tracks
	Do not do anymore development on this road.
	Trail head brochures
(6) 80/NEGRO GFA	Keep horses off PCT
(7) 80/CASTLE GFA	Need more maintenance employees
(13) CO. 787/PROSSER GFA	Keep facilities open
(14) DONEER CET TH GFA	Some trail work needed
(15) 89/CET GFA	Too many trees cut down stop! Ruining the Trail.
	Less signage - keep area as original as possible, place trash can at T.H.
(17) 89/886 GFA	Need more boat trailer parking at Stampede
(18) 89/SAGEHEN GFA	89 / Sagehen sign on 89 needed
	Improved condition of fire pits (need supervision)
(20) 80/894 GFA	Take less water from dams
	Loose no parking sign at ramp, Bbboat dock needed at Stampede; better parking for boat unloading and loading, better signage for boat ramp
	More H2O, bigger campground not on road.
	Road construction nuisaince
	Boat dock at Stampede; OHV trails - better markings (include map)
	Know that the money I put into the forest service stays within the recreation forest service fund.
	Make sure trails kept open for equestrians use
	Showers at campgrounds
	A fish cleaning area and a dock at boat ramp at Stampede.
	Better info when facilities open & closed
	Another boat ramp at Stampede - more campgrounds
	Need loading dock at Stampede ramp
	Fish cleaning station at Stampede
	Poor condition after earlier timber harvests make area prone for fires.
	Reservation system web site should have phone number for contact.
	Showers at the campgrounds
	Do not over develop, 10 mph speed limit on lake
(28) 89/LTS GFA	Need more PCT signs. Better pull outs for trailors.
	Foresters need to clean up logging slash after themselves
	Ability to access fire permts online.
	Clean up forest slash from logging
	Stop littering
	Need FS employees in White Rock area & Bowerman, too many unattended fires
	More MT Bike trails
	Open road earlier in spring
	Availability of a payphone needed
	Better game management
(38) GOLD LAKE GFA	Stop clear cutting
	Mark 4 wheel trails on both sides - warnings. Road to Tamarak Lake has boulders on it. And other roads - or change sign for high clearance only.
	Modify the survey form!
	Box w/maps and envelope for donation at trails, trail sign a trail Y's on trail (round lake).
	Round Lake Y in trail needs sign
	Idea of limiting over populated or over used areas
(44) BASSETTS GFA	Trail signs giving distances should be improved
	Great trails keep horses out!
	More horse camps. Places near trails etc.
	Trail maintenance - cut back brush
	Would like to see lat. & long on maps for G.P.S.
	Prevent any development on Sierra Buttes
	At Sand Pond - lower rest room needs rehabilitation, dogs at Sand Pond - enforcement needs.
	Better signs for trails
(51) CAL IDA GFA	Campgrounds were better under FS management, Downed wood is hazardous - need logging cleanup
(58) COTTAGE CRK ROAD GFA	More water in the lake
	More info available
	Need handicap access to lake at Bullards Bar especially for fishing (ex; Little Grass Valley Lake
(63) Bloomfield GFA	Put distances on signs on Forest roads so one can tell if he/she is almost to destination.
(4) BOWMAN GFA	Replace Grouse Ridge Trail signs - missing
	Bull Pen to Rock Lake milage is incorrect on sign
	More docents especially at higer alt.
	Reduce traffic to Aroa over crowded
	People pack it in/ pack it out - too much trash
	Trail signs needed to be stood up & repaired
	More fire conditions signs in forest, more FS presence in campground at dusk and night
(82) FRENCH MEADOWS BOAT RAMP GFA	Need longer & wider spurs in campgrounds, GET RID OF CONSESSIONAIR
(84) SUGAR PINE BOAT RAMP GFA	Telephone should be available for safety, parking pass should apply to all family vehicles
	Should be no parking fee for Forest Hill residents
	Don’t feel there should be a fee for parking
(85) BIG TREE INTERP TH GFA	To have signs and trail guide brochures available at this site!
(88) FOESTHILL DIVIDE ROAD GFA	Should make OHV trails at China Wall one way (One way loops)
	Restrooms cleaner / camping fees too high! Need toilet paper!
	Limit motorcycles and gunfire - designated areas only!
(89) MOSQUITO RIDGE ROAD GFA	Would like to see more FS presence
(90) IOWA HILL ROAD GFA	Disappointed to see trash left by forest users.
	Parking fees should not exist - tax payers have constitutional rights for public access to public lands.
(96) DRIVERS FLAT RAFTEWR EXIT GFA	Increased water flow (earlier) for rafter
	Toilets along the river
FIVE LAKES / Wilderness	No road sign for 5 Lakes Trail
	Keep area's available no condo's
	Vegetation on trails needs to be cut back.
	Too crowded
	Restrooms needed
	Better signage to find all 5 lakes
	Brochures w/maps at 5 Lakes Trail head - display good
	Where trails meet - sign both sides of trail
	Access to drinking water
	Provide doggie bags & garbage can at Trail head
	Garbage cans- trail heads
	Poop bags on trailhead & garbage can
	Why discourage dogs and let horses on trail?
	Doggie litter bags @ trail heads
	More land for environmental recreation - less for off roaders and loggers
Picayune/ Wilderness	Less logging in area adjacent to recreation area and wilderness.
	Prefer Forest Service managing Campgrounds
	Horse excrement on hiking trails - no good!
GROUSE overnight	Info regarding forest info etc, maps at entrance to rec areas
	Having water available
CONVICT FLAT PICNIC	Do something about foul odors from camground restrooms
SAND POND DAY USE	Rental of row boats by hour on Sardine Lake.
	More trash cans needed
	New restrooms needed at Salmon Creek Campground.
	Vendor (snacks)
	Sand Pond sign on Gold Lake HWY needed.
	Info distribution poor in townsite Downieville & 49 corridor
	Fire permit infor signs unclear - need phone number to get better information
	Additional picnic tables needed
JACKSON CRK. Overnight	Road to Canyon Creek needs improvement
GROUSE MEADOWS overnight	Availability of showers would be helpful. Better restroom facilities, sink & flush toilets.
DONNER PICNIC Day Use	Fordyce Lake needs signs.
	Running water at Donner Picnic Area
	Campsites further apart for privacy
	Better on-line information on Forest Reservation
	More trails open to mountain bikes
	Drinking water needed at this site
	Need signs at trail crossings and along trails, Running water at picnic facilities.
BOWMAN overnight	Better access to some forest areas
	Better logging clean up in surrounding area
	Road signs - not posted at intersecting roads, general information hard to find.
Oregon Creek Day Use	Refurbish table and BBQ pedastals, more trash pick ups - remove poison oak on trails, pack it in, pack it out!
	Trim underbrush by beach for safety
	Less logging in some areas. Restrict dogs from certain beach areas.
	More river access to Yuba River
	Clean dead trees off beach area Oregon Creek
	Need more handicapped facilities, such a trails, etc. Oregon Creek! Dog leash Enforcement, please!
	Clean up after logging operations
	Pack in Pack out signs needed.
	To much litter and to many people
GIANT GAP CG	Have campgrounds open during winter season.

Donald B.K. English

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: SAMPLE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION

Table 2. Tahoe National Forest annual recreation use estimate

Table 3. Number of last-exiting recreation visitors by site type and form type 1/

Table 5. Age distribution of Tahoe NF recreation visitors

Table 12. Site visit length of stay (in hours) by site/type on Tahoe NF

Use of constructed facilities and designated areas

Visitors’ average spending on a trip to the forest