Bison Survey

Appendix C: Human-Bison Interaction Survey

Introductory Script for Bison Survey

Hello. I am __________ (name) and am working for the University of Montana in cooperation with Yellowstone National Park. We are doing a survey of visitors stopping at Old Faithful Geyser and Snow Lodge. Would you be willing to answer some questions?

The Paperwork Reduction Act requires approval of all federal government surveys by the Office of Management and Budget. This survey has been approved under this Act. The Office of Management and Budget control number and expiration date is available at your request. Additional information about this survey and its approval is available at your request.* The questions on this survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. All of your answers are voluntary and anonymous.

Thank you.

*Additional Information Provided upon Request.

OMB Approval number:

Expiration Date:

Person Collecting and Analyzing Information: Dr. Wayne Freimund

Department of Society and Conservation

College of Forestry and Conservation

University of Montana

Missoula, MT 59812

(406) 243-5184

16 U.S.C. 1a-7 authorizes collection of this information. This information will be used by park managers to better serve the public. Response to this request is voluntary and anonymous. No action may be taken against you for refusing to supply the information requested. No personal data will be recorded.

You may direct comments on the number of minutes required to respond, or on any other aspect of this survey to:

John Sacklin

Yellowstone National Park

307-344-2020

[email protected]

Human-Bison (Buffalo) Interaction Survey

[Reviewers—please note: Questions #1-#7 will be conducted as an interview. The interviewer will ask the questions and record the answers. Question seven has two parts. First the interviewer will ask the participant to characterize the bison encounters they have had up to that point in the trip by using the list of bison responses in questions seven and checking all that apply. From this data, the interviewer will be able to discern whether the visitor perceived whether bison were altering their behavior due to the encounter. If the visitor identifies one of the last five encounter descriptors, the interviewer will ask the visitor to describe in detail an encounter that demonstrated that result. If the visitor did not check one of those descriptors, they will be asked to describe the interaction that had the greatest effect on their experience. While the respondent continues with the survey, the interviewer will ensure a detailed description of the encounter is recorded. Questions 8-12 will be referenced to the encounter described in question seven.]

1. What type of group are you with on this trip? (check all that apply).

 alone

 family

 friends

 outfitter/guide group

 organization or club (name of organization/club)___________________________________

2. During your visit to the Yellowstone area, how many days will you recreate within Yellowstone National Park? ________________

3. Will you engage in the following activities during your visit to Yellowstone National Park? (please circle yes or no for each activity)

a. snowmobiling YES NO

b. cross-country skiing YES NO

c. snowshoeing YES NO

d. snowcoach touring YES NO

4. Which of the following best describes your primary activity while in Yellowstone national Park?

 cross-country skiing

 snowcoach touring

 snowshoeing

 snowmobiling

 other: ______________________________________________________

5 While on your trip to the Yellowstone area, will you also do the following activities in other areas (such as nearby National Forest lands or National Parks)?:

Activity Number of days

snowmobile _____

cross-country ski _____

down-hill ski _____

snowshoe _____

About Bison Encounters

We are interested in visitors’ experiences and observations watching bison (also known as buffalo) from oversnow vehicles. Please respond to the following questions about your experiences observing bison.

6. When traveling by snowcoach/snowmobile in the park today, did you see bison?

Yes ____ No ____

If yes, on how many different occasions: _____ [fill # of occasions]

[Instruction to interviewers: An occasion is defined as encountering either a lone bison or a group of bison in a specific location at a specific time. Encounters with single bison or groups of bison that are separated by both time and space represent different occasions.]

7. Which of the following best describes the bison’s response to the presence of you and/or the other visitors during the time you watched them? (check all that apply).

• None, the bison did not seem to notice the humans/oversnow vehicles

• The bison appeared to look up or notice, but resumed their activity

• The bison appeared alarmed and vigilant

• The bison traveled apparently to get farther away from the humans/oversnow vehicles, but appeared unhurried

• It appeared that the bison’s desired movement was blocked

• It appeared that the bison’s movement was hurried by the encounter

• It appeared that the humans put the bison to flight (at some point the bison ran)

• It appeared that the bison were defensive and charged or seemed ready to charge humans/vehicles

• Other: ______________________________________________________

INTERVIEWER: If respondent saw bison only once, please ask him/her to respond to the following questions (#8-#13) about that experience.

INTERVIEWER: If respondent indicates that they saw a significant response from bison (bottom six plus “other” category) above, please ask him/her respond to the following questions (#8-#13) based upon the experience in which the bison _______________________ (most significant action)

INTERVIEWER: If the respondent indicates that they saw more than one of the earlier choices, please respond to the following questions (#8-#13) based upon the interaction that had the greatest effect on their experience.

8. What made this experience the one that stands out in your mind?

INTERVIEWER: If respondent checked more than one answer in #7:

8. Which one of the bison reactions you checked had the greatest effect on your experience?

8a. What made this experience one that stands out in your mind?

Please answer Questions #9 through #13 for the bison encounter you listed in #8.

End of interview, visitor completes the following questions (#9-#24)

About Your Bison Encounter

9. Where were the bison when you saw them? (Please check only one).

• At least some bison were on the road

• At least some bison were within 10 ft of the road, but none were on the road

• At least some bison were more than 10 ft from road, but still within 100 yards

• All the bison were more than 100 yards from the road

10. Which of the following best describes what most of the bison were doing when you first saw

them? (Please check only one).

• Don’t remember

• Walking

• Feeding/drinking/plowing snow aside to get to forage

• Laying down

• Interacting with each other

• Interacting with other wildlife

• Interacting with people

• Other:______________________________________________________

11. What sorts of responses did you see among humans (including your group and other groups) in relation to the bison? (Please check all that apply).

• Stopped, but remained on/in snowmobile/snowcoach

• Dismounted snowmobile/exited snowcoach, but remained near vehicle

• Approached bison to get a better look or better picture

• Snowmobiles/snowcoaches weaved through/around bison on road to get past them

• A snowmobile/snowcoach hit a bison

• Other: ______________________________________________________

12. For each of the word pairs below, please check the box that best represents your impression of the bison during the experience you describe above.

	Very	Somewhat	Neither	Somewhat	Very
Healthy						Unhealthy
Agitated						Calm
Active						Inactive

13. For each of the word pairs below, please check the box that best represents your impression of the interaction between bison and visitors described above.

	Very	Somewhat	Neither	Somewhat	Very
Appropriate						Inappropriate
Bad						Good
Well Managed						Poorly Managed
Acceptable						Unacceptable

Questions about Overall Experiences

The questions below apply to your overall experience viewing bison during your trip to the park.

14a. Please rate the importance of each of the following aspects of bison viewing/management.

	Not at all Important	Slightly Important	Moderately Important	Very Important	Extremely Important
Opportunity to view bison					
Number of bison seen					
Proximity of bison to you					
Contribution of the guide to the bison viewing experience					
Guide’s role in managing the visitor-bison interactions					
NPS management of visitor-bison interactions					
Role of NPS in brucellosis control/eradication in YNP bison					

14 b. Please indicate how satisfied you were with each feature during your bison experience at Yellowstone National Park today.

	Very Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neither	Somewhat Satisfied	Very Satisfied	Don’t Know
Opportunity to view bison						DK
Number of bison seen						DK
Proximity of bison to you						DK
Contribution of the guide to the bison viewing experience						DK
Guide’s role in managing the visitor-bison interactions						DK
NPS management of visitor-bison interactions						DK
Role of NPS in brucellosis control/eradication in YNP bison						DK

15. For each of the word pairs below, please check the box that best describes the bison at YNP.

	Very	Somewhat	Neither	Somewhat	Very
Wild						Tame
Restricted						Free
Dangerous						Safe
Authentic						Artificial
Stressed						Peaceful
Entertaining						Boring
Passive						Active

Beliefs about Bison

16. Below are statements that represent a variety of ways people feel about bison and Yellowstone National Park. Please indicate the extent to which you disagree or agree with each statement: (Check one box for each statement.)

	Strongly Disagree	Moderately Disagree	Neither	Moderately Agree	Strongly Agree
Bison are given too much prominence in park planning.					
It is important that bison be respected as wild creatures in Yellowstone.					
Whether or not I would get to see bison, it is important to me that they exist in Yellowstone.					
					
I feel a strong emotional bond to bison.					
Bison are an important part of American identity.					
It is important that Yellowstone always have an abundant bison population.					
					
Bison have spiritual importance to me.					
Bison are an important part of Native American heritage					
It is important to maintain bison populations in Yellowstone so future generations can enjoy them.					
					
Bison should be managed so as to remain wild in Yellowstone.					
If we did not have bison in Yellowstone, we would lose an important part of our cultural heritage.					
Visitor access should take priority over the protection of bison.					
					
It is important to me to know that there are healthy populations of bison in Yellowstone.					
Bison deserve protection, but snowmobiles/snowcoaches do not seem to bother them.					

17. For each of the word pairs below, please check the box that best represents your impression of the winter setting at Yellowstone National Park.

	Very	Somewhat	Neither	Somewhat	Very
Pristine						Polluted
Loud						Quiet
Appropriate						Inappropriate
Acceptable						Unacceptable
Dissatisfying						Satisfying

About You

18. What is your gender? (check one)  Female  Male

19. What is your age? _________________

20. What is the highest level of education you have completed? (check one box)

• 8^th grade or less

• Some high school

• High school graduate or GED

• Some college, business or trade school

• College graduate

• Some graduate school

• Master's, doctoral or professional degree

21. In which of the following kinds of places did you spend the most time while growing up (to age 18)? (check one box)

• On a farm or ranch

• Rural or small town [under 1,000 population]

• Town [1,000 - 5,000 population]

• Small city [5,000 - 50,000 population]

• Medium city [50,000 - 1 million population]

• Major city or metropolitan area [over 1 million population]

22. In what type of community do you now live? (check one box)

• On a farm or ranch

• Rural or small town [under 1,000 population]

• Town [1,000 - 5,000 population]

• Small city [5,000 - 50,000 population]

• Medium city [50,000 - 1 million population]

• Major city or metropolitan area [over 1 million population]

20. Do you live in the United States? (Check one box and fill in the appropriate blank.)

• Yes (What is your zip code? __________)

• No (What country do you live in? ______________________________)