The National Visitor Survey is an information collection of visitors to National Wildlife Refuges via a survey instrument with the expressed goal of providing refuge managers, planners, and visitor services specialists with a better understanding of visitors’ recreational, educational and informational experiences, as well as visitors’ satisfaction with current services, access, and facilities. Survey results will provide information on the following aspects of National Wildlife Refuge visitation:

• Visitor and Trip Characteristics – key characteristics of national wildlife refuge visitors and visitation, including demographics, activities conducted on and uses of the refuge, recreation participation, and characteristics of a visit (e.g., amount of time, group size and type, number of visits).
• Visitor Spending in Local Communities – visitor spending and willingness?to?pay for the refuge experience.
• Visitor Opinions about the Refuge – importance of and satisfaction with services and facilities; recreational opportunities; transportation?related features; and fees.
• Visitor Opinions about NWRS?wide Topics – visitors’ understanding of the unique mission of the NWRS and the resources refuges protect; visitors’ likelihood of using alternative transportation options in the future; and visitors’ personal involvement in and beliefs about climate change.

Volunteers will contact approximately 160 visitors at the refuge during each sampling period for a total of 320 participants who agreed to fill out a survey. The survey is not given to visitors onsite. Survey recruiters only collect visitor names and addresses. USGS then corresponds by mail with visitors within 10 days of the onsite contact following a standardized sequence of postcards and full survey packets. All visitors who agree to participate are able to complete a survey online or by mail. Completed surveys are then returned to and analyzed by USGS scientists. In the 2010/2011 effort, about half of visitors chose to complete the survey online.