“To promote perception [of nature] is the only truly creative part of recreational engineering.” Leopold (1966)

The Environmental Perceptionsof

Whitewater KayakersDissertation Proposal

T. Jason Davis

Ph.D. Candidate

Clemson University

Committee Members

Dr. Rob Bixler (Chair)

Dr. Fran McGuire

Dr. Bill Norman

Dr. Dewayne Moore

Problem Statement

Research that has been conducted describing outdoor recreationists (specifically “risk” recreationists) interaction with the natural environment is fragmented, usually involving only one component of the recreation experience. This research is an attempt to better understand whitewater kayakers, specifically their environmental perceptions utilizing widely used outdoor recreation measurements.

Study Objectives

Describe the differences in whitewater kayakers, based on demographics, experience use history (EUH), social group, trip motivations and river being kayaked

Determine the environmental perceptions of whitewater kayakers based on trip motivations, social group, EUH and river being kayaked

Determine if whitewater kayakers’ environmental perceptions can be utilized to categorize them into meaningful groups

Study Objectives

Construct a path model to determine the interrelationships of motivation, social group, river and EUH with environmental perception

Justification24.2 million whitewater recreationists, 12% of adult population (Lewis & Cordell, 1995)Whitewater boating one of the fastest growing human-powered outdoor recreation sports (President’s Commission on the Outdoors, 1987)2.6 million kayakers (Cordell, 1999)Dramatic increase in kayaking: due to increase in technology, diffusion of information and glamorization of “high risk” activities by the media

Justification

Potential resource damage due to increase in the number of kayakers

Less than 1 percent of the river miles in the U.S. have whitewater rapids (Class II or better)

Unique and valuable resource

Definitions

Whitewater KayakerKayakers

Open boaters and whitewater rafters will not be sampled

WhitewaterClass II and above

Canoe

RaftKayak

Environmental PerceptionConceptual Model

MotivesSocial Group

EUH

River

EnvironmentalPerception

Recreation Resource Management

Management

Environment*Activity Setting

Resource User(recreator)

*The actual physical environment and perceived environment

Outdoor Recreation ParticipationWilliams, 1985

Three ComponentsActivities

• Recreation activity (i.e. Whitewater kayaking)

Settings• Natural Environment (i.e. river)

Companions• Social Group (individual, two people, or group)

Three Components of Outdoor Recreation

Activity Setting Companions

Kayaking River (s) Social Group

EUH Motivations Physical Features

Social Milieu

EnvironmentalPerception

Model of Landscape PerceptionZube, Sell, & Taylor

Human

Outcomes

Landscape

Human Component

Past experience (EUH)-behavioral component

Knowledge

Socio-cultural context of individuals and groups

Expectations & values

Landscape Component

Individual elements (i.e. Rocks, trees, etc.)

Landscapes as entities (i.e. River environments)

Built and natural features

Landscape Perception Paradigms

The Expert ParadigmInvolves evaluation of landscape quality by skilled and trained experts.

The Psychophysical ParadigmInvolves assessment through testing general public or selected populations’ evaluations of landscape aesthetic qualities or specific properties.

Landscape Perception Paradigms

The Cognitive ParadigmInvolves a search for human meaning associated with landscape or landscape properties. Information is received by the human observer and in conjunction with past experience, future expectation, and sociocultural conditioning, lends meaning to landscape.

The Experiential ParadigmConsiders landscape values to be based on the experience of the human-landscape interaction, whereby both are shaping and being shaped by the interactive process.

Zube, 1981 Model

InteractionPerson-landscape

Person-person-landscapePerson-group-landscape

LandscapePhysical elementsLocational context

FeaturesComposition

OutcomesInformationSatisfactionStimulation

Psychological well being

Recreation ExperienceExpectationsExperiencesMotivations

Social context

Social GroupsA social group is composed of individuals who recognize themselves as part of that group and are recognized by others as part of that group (Cheek & Burch, 1976)“Social groups, be they composed of family members, peers, neighbors, friends, club associates, workmates, and so on, may be the overriding determinant of recreational choice” (Bammel, 1992 p. 337)Most outdoor activities take place in group settings and involve different people at different times. (Heywood, 1987)

Social Groups

Being with people was the 4th most important reason why people participate in their most favorite activity (Allen & Donnelly 1985)There is a relationship between level of expertise for rock climbers and social groups (Hollenhorst, 1987)

Skill level increase from beginner to highly skilled, social group affiliation changed from family to peers with similar interest

Social Groups

Social group can be a good predictor of level of engagement (involvement) Ewert & Hollenhorst, 1989.

Schuett (1995) classified kayakers based on difficulty of river run or class of river, social motivations for participating in kayaking and group size.

Social Groups

Whitewater kayak social groups as indicated by Schuett (1995)

Classes (commercial trips)

Guide (commercial trips)

Alone

Friends (people you knew before the trip, social activity)

Teachers

Outing clubs

Fellow paddlers (people you didn’t know before the trip)

Motivation“The most prevalent approach to understanding recreation in resource management has been a motivational approach that views recreation as an intrinsically rewarding experience rather than an activity” (Driver & Torcher, 1970 Page #)

Recreational engagement can be defined as “a package of specific psychological outcomes, which are realized from a recreation engagement…” (Manfredo, Driver, & Brown, 1983 p. 264)

Motivation

Motivation is a “specific psychological outcome” behaviors will be expressed that enable the attainment of the desired psychological outcome

There are different motivations for participating in various outdoor recreation activities, but intra-activity differences might also exist

Experience Use History (EUH)

A person with a significant history of engagement in a recreation activity will have different perceptions (schema, routines, skills and habits) than beginners (Schreyer & Lime, 1984)

This difference is more readily apparent in activities that require high level of skill (i.e. rock climbing and whitewater boating)

EUH

“Persons seeking different types of experiences may require different environmental conditions for satisfaction” (Schreyer & Lime, 1984 p. 133)

Setting

The setting in outdoor recreation is an integral part of the experience. In whitewater kayaking, it is essential to the experience.

(less than 1% of the rivers in the U.S. have class II water or higher)

Techniques to describe interactionsRecreation Specialization (Bryan, 1977)

A multidimensional construct with behavioral and affective aspects of which past experience is a strong component. A continuum along which people progress from the general to the specific.

• Novices• Generalists• Technique specialists• Technique/setting specialists

Place Identity (Prohansky, Fabian, & Kamanoff, 1983)Referred to as a combination of attitudes, thoughts, values, beliefs and meanings reaching far beyond emotional attachment and belonging to particular places

Techniques to measure perception

Visitor Employed Photography (VEP)Visitors photograph the landscape and the researcher or group categorizes the photographs

Experience Sampling Model (ESM) Photographs or journals (visitor is cued and asked to record what they are observing)

Visitor Generated list (Perkins, 1990)Visitor is asked to recall the experience and write down what they perceived (

Environmental PerceptionConceptual Model

MotivesSocial Group

EUH

River

EnvironmentalPerception

Proposed Methods

On-site questionnaire

4 regional rivers (Southeast) Nantahala (North Carolina)

Chattooga (South Carolina/Georgia)

Ocoee (Tennessee)

Tallulah Gorge (Georgia)

Post trip intercepts

Study SitesNantahala River

Dam controlled250,000 whitewater trips a yearClass II-IV whitewater (beginner-intermediate)

Chattooga RiverWild and Scenic River (designated in 1974)One of the longest free-flowing mountain rivers in the Southeast28,600 users in 1974, 84,502 users in 1997Class II-VI (beginner-expert)

Study Sites

Ocoee RiverDam controlled highly managed riverClass III-IV rapids (intermediate)Highly used by rafting companiesUSFS, TVA, Tennessee State Parks

Tallulah GorgeDam controlled, Georgia Power, Georgia State ParksReleases in Fall and SpringOnce permitted, now openClass V rapids (expert only)

Variables

EUH

Social Group

Motivations

River kayaked

Environmental Perception

It is hypothesized that

Differences do exist in kayakers based on social group, demographics, EUH and rivers kayakedEnvironmental perceptions are different for kayakers based on motivations, social group, developmental state, EUH and river kayaked.Kayakers can be classified into meaningful groups which are distinct based on environmental perceptions.

It is hypothesized that

It is possible to determine environmental perceptions based on motivations, social group, developmental stage, EUH and river kayaked.

Questions, Comments & Suggestions