Media exposure and nature

[mcds]

... the affects of increased exposure of hiking and nature activities because of movies like "WILD" and whether this particular movie will have a positive, negative or no affect on the PCT and hiking in general.

Some spots are already over crowded, not that there is anything new about that statement. In the wilderness movement, the issue dates back to at least the unregulated development of Niagra Falls. The April 2001 issue of the International Journal of Wilderness (PDF) covered loved-to-death, including the USFS plan to deal with it, and including pro and con opinion pieces about their plan. It starts with a 'theory' piece discussing various options.

If you read the above, you'll see one of the options is to let popular places be popular, adjusting management and expectations accordingly, the idea being to keep the vast majority of wilderness acreage under light use.

There is some interesting data from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness suggesting that impact does not grow as visitation grows. Instead the impact tapers off as visitation continues to grow. Think of soil compaction at a campsite. After a point, it's fully compacted from a ecological perspective. Jeff Marion, a professor at Virginia Tech, did the BWCAW analysis as a PhD student in 1982, then again this past July. He presented his findings the 50th Wilderness Conference in Albuquerque last week. VT did a story on Jeff here.

So movies like "WILD" may increase the number of enthusiasts, and the PCT and other hiking trails may get that much more trampling, but it may be that the impact of the newcomers on the ecosystem will be much less than impact of the 'first' cadre.

On other points, I agree with what drm wrote, that support for wildlands comes from a much broader base than the vistorship. And to tag onto Stefrobrts post, it's not just about exercise and daily/weekly/annual renewal. I think we've all had singular experiences while out there, singular experiences that we treasure, that have changed us in positive, profound ways, changes that will continue whether we continue hiking or move on to other activities. If "WILD" empowers people to put themselves out there, open/vulnerable to those experiences, then I'd say that's a very good thing for the planet.

... now how much of this will I regret having written.

[retired jerry]

"There is some interesting data from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness suggesting that impact does not grow as visitation grows. Instead the impact tapers off as visitation continues to grow. Think of soil compaction at a campsite. After a point, it's fully compacted from a ecological perspective."

That makes sense.

And if you think of wilderness areas, a trail runs through it with impact along the trail, especially closer to a few area, but most of the wilderness doesn't have humans much.

Like The Three Sisters. Walk between Camp Lake and Green Lakes. There is a huge area with no people even though Green Lakes can be crowded and Camp Lake a little crowded. Put designated campsites at Green Lakes and most of the people will be happy there.

[Aimless]

Very minor observation: I'm pretty sure Green Lakes already has designated campsites. Six or seven of them, iirc.

[mcds]

Funny you should mention Green Lakes.

PDF

Debate continues about how to best provide and protect outstanding opportunities for wilderness experiences (i.e., solitude, primitive recreation, and unconfined recreation), particularly in high-use destinations. This study explores what these experiences mean to wilderness stakeholders attending facilitated deliberations about the management of a high-use destination in the Three Sisters Wilderness, Oregon. We found that similar meanings, but diverse standards, are attributed to these experiential qualities of wilderness. Opportunities for these experiences exist, but achieving any one experience is largely dependent on coping behaviors and making trade-offs between access and experience, as well as between these different experiences. Consequently, management of high-use destinations remains contentious.