Visitor Impacts to Wildlife and their Management Jeff Marion, Unit Leader Cooperative Park Studies Unit Virginia Tech/Dept. of Forestry Patuxent Wildlife.

Visitor Impacts to Wildlife and Visitor Impacts to Wildlife and their Managementtheir Management

Jeff Marion, Unit LeaderJeff Marion, Unit LeaderCooperative Park Studies UnitCooperative Park Studies UnitVirginia Tech/Dept. of ForestryVirginia Tech/Dept. of ForestryPatuxent Wildlife Research CenterPatuxent Wildlife Research Center

Presentation ObjectivesPresentation Objectives

1. Provide a review of visitor impacts to wildlife.

2. Review the range of management actions available to avoid or minimize wildlife impacts.

Resource Protection and Resource Protection and Recreation Provision: Recreation Provision: The Dual The Dual

MandatesMandates

The National Park Service shall:

... promote and regulate the use of the ... National Parks ... to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects … by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

NPS Organic Act of 1916

Mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System:

“To administer a national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats … for the benefit of present and future generations…“

National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997

Recreational Use: Potential Recreational Use: Potential for Wildlife Disturbancefor Wildlife Disturbance

Recreational Use: Potential Recreational Use: Potential for Wildlife Disturbancefor Wildlife Disturbance

Wildlife-related recreation – Participation in wildlife

watching (feeding, observing, photography) increased 63%

from 1980 to 1995.

Fishing participation

increased 12% and

hunting participation

decreased 8%.

(USFWS data, 1999)

Non-consumptive Recreation: Non-consumptive Recreation: A Misnomer ?A Misnomer ?

Consumptive: Hunting/fishing: direct removal of

wildlife.

Non-consumptive: Hiking, wildlife viewing, etc.:

many indirect and some direct impacts to wildlife.

Implications – Substantial increases in non-

consumptive recreation require an expansion of

visitor and resource management efforts targeted

towards reducing wildlife impacts.

Visitor Impacts to WildlifeVisitor Impacts to Wildlife

Habitat alteration

Wildlife disturbance / harassment

Modification of wildlife behavior

Displacement: food, water, cover

Reduced health & reproduction

Increased mortality

Potential Impacts of Non-Potential Impacts of Non-Consumptive RecreationConsumptive Recreation

Habitat Modification – alteration of wildlife habitat through vegetation or soil disturbance.

Examples: Loss of trees, shrubs, or groundcover, vegetation compositional changes, loss of organic litter, compaction and erosion of soil

Locations: Recreation facilities, trails, campsites, wildlife viewing areas

Potential Impacts of Non-Potential Impacts of Non-Consumptive RecreationConsumptive Recreation

Disturbance / Harassment – events which cause excitement and/or stress, disturbance of essential activities, severe exertion, displacement, and sometimes death.

Examples:

Unintentional – Hiking and camping in areas of critical

wildlife habitat.

Intentional – Snowmobilers chasing deer,

photographers pursuing wildlife subjects.

Potential Impacts of Non- Potential Impacts of Non- Consumptive RecreationConsumptive Recreation

Wildlife Feeding – establishment of unnatural and unhealthy food dependencies that may alter wildlife behavior or populations.

Examples:

Unintentional – Campground food scraps, poorly stored

food obtained by bears.

Intentional – Feeding deer or campground chipmunks

and birds.

Recreation Impacts: Recreation Impacts: Consequences for WildlifeConsequences for Wildlife

Alteration of Behavior – animals may modify their daily activities.

Avoidance – development of a negative association

with humans.

Habituation – waning of response to repeated disturbance, not associated with a positive reward.

Attraction – development of a positive association with humans because of rewards (most frequently food related).

Recreation Impacts: Recreation Impacts: Consequences for WildlifeConsequences for Wildlife

Displacement – animals are forced away from preferred habitats either during certain times (temporal displacement) or in certain places (spatial displacement).

New habitats are unfamiliar, often have lower quality food and cover, or increased competition and predation.

Recreation Impacts: Recreation Impacts: Consequences for WildlifeConsequences for Wildlife

Alteration of Wildlife Populations and Species Composition – decreased natality and increased mortality may affect wildlife population structure and size. Species may become locally extinct or new species, possibly non-natives, may move in.

Wildlife Responses to Wildlife Responses to RecreationRecreation

Wildlife responses to recreation activities are highly

variable, dependent upon recreationists’ behaviors, the

context of disturbance, and learned responses.

Responses are often inconsistent, even within a single

species and population, e.g., flight distances of peregrin

falcons in New Mexico varied by a factor of 22.

Entire populations can be affected by single disturbance

events, e.g., colony abandonment of a rookery.

Wildlife Responses to Wildlife Responses to RecreationRecreation

Recreationists’ Behaviors – most wildlife can tolerate or adapt to repetitive activities that pose no threat. The frequency, magnitude, duration, type, and timing of recreationists’ behaviors are important elements. Unexpected, loud noises and rapid movements elicit the

greatest responses. Travel in the direction

of wildlife elicits a greater response than travel away from or parallel to wildlife.

Wildlife Responses to Wildlife Responses to RecreationRecreation

Context of Disturbance – wildlife reactions to recreational disturbances are guided by contextual influences: season of year, location, availability of cover, and wildlife vulnerability.

Severity of recreational disturbance is greater: In the wintertime when food availability is low and

energy expenditures are high,

In seasons when animals are breeding, nesting, birthing, and raising young,

During hunting seasons when animals are more wary.

Management Interventions - Management Interventions - OverviewOverview

Spatial and temporal zoning

Visitor concentration vs. dispersal

Design and provision of facilities

Visitor education

Regulations and enforcement

Management Interventions – Management Interventions – Spatial and Temporal ZoningSpatial and Temporal Zoning

Spatial Zoning – Use education, facility location, and regulations to discourage or prohibit visitor use of critical or sensitive wildlife habitat.

Temporal Zoning – Establish area closures only during seasons or times when wildlife are particularly sensitive to disturbance.

Management Interventions –Management Interventions –Concentrate or Disperse?Concentrate or Disperse?

A containment strategy is generally more effective than dispersal in minimizing wildlife disturbance. Wildlife can adapt to consistent locations and patterns

of visitor activity. Visitor dispersal fragments wildlife habitat and causes

greater wildlife disturbance.

Management Interventions – Management Interventions – Recreation FacilitiesRecreation Facilities

Develop trails and recreation sites in locations least sensitive to wildlife disturbance.

Surface trails and sites and install site borders or fencing as needed to hinder off-trail traffic.

Management Interventions – Management Interventions – Recreation FacilitiesRecreation Facilities

Provide wildlife viewing platforms, towers, or blinds to permit high quality low impact viewing.

Plant and manage vegetation to establish buffers between recreational sites and areas of sensitive wildlife habitat.

Management Interventions – Management Interventions – Visitor EducationVisitor Education

Visitor Education – Environmental education and interpretation programs can increase visitor knowledge, encourage favorable attitudes and ethics about wildlife protection, and promote adoption of low impact recreational practices.

Effectiveness studies: 1) Personal communication 2) Video / slide programs 3) Brochures 4) Signs

Leave No Trace, Inc. (LNT)Leave No Trace, Inc. (LNT)

LNT, Inc. partners with federal land agencies, outdoor product manufacturers, retailers, outfitters, user groups and others to promote minimum impact messages for public and private lands.

A non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and inspire responsible outdoor recreation through education, research and partnerships.

Bureau of Land Management

U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service

National ParkService

U.S. ForestService

The Seven LNT PrinciplesThe Seven LNT Principles

1. Plan Ahead and Prepare

2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

3. Dispose of Waste Properly

4. Leave What You Find

5. Minimize Campfire Impacts

6. Respect Wildlife

7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors

Keep wildlife wild.Never feed wildlife or allow themto obtain human food or trash.

Wildlife attracted to human foodoften suffer nutritionally and expose themselves to predatorsand other dangers.

Respect WildlifeRespect Wildlife

Respect WildlifeRespect Wildlife

Feeding wildlife destroys their health, alters natural behaviors, and teaches them life-threatening habits.

Respect WildlifeRespect Wildlife

Wildlife can’t read signs, but you can. Keep wildlife wild by not feeding them!

Respect WildlifeRespect Wildlife

Bears that obtain food become “problem bears” that must be relocated or killed.

Protect your food, hang bear bags oruse bear-proof food canisters.

Respect WildlifeRespect Wildlife

Enjoy wildlife at a distance.

You are too close if your presence elicits a response from wildlife.

Management Interventions – Management Interventions – Regulations and Regulations and

EnforcementEnforcement Visitor Regulation – Establishment and reinforcement

of rules that directly modify visitor behavior to reduce visitor impacts to wildlife.

Regulations may be justified to prohibit:

Recreational activities in critical or sensitive areas

Recreational activities during sensitive times

Feeding of wildlife

Pets running loose

Wildlife harassment

The EndThe End

Carrying Capacity:Carrying Capacity:

The Art of The Art of Avoiding Avoiding

Undesirable Undesirable Future ConditionsFuture Conditions