1024-0224 Programmatic Form for Kenai National Park

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Social Science Program
Expedited Approval for NPS-Sponsored Public Surveys
1.

2.

Project Title: Determination of standards of visitor experience
and resource condition at Kenai Fjords National
Park

Submission
Date

6-25-2012

Abstract: A survey will be used obtain input from park visitors to inform the development of
standards of quality for visitor experiences and resource conditions in the
backcountry of Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ). Kenai Fjords includes 400 miles of
remote coastline accessible only by boat or floatplane. Suitable landing beaches and
camping areas are limited by the steep fjord topography, thus concentrating visitor
use in the more accessible areas. Higher use densities have been found to lead to
more rapid and severe impacts to natural resources and social values. To protect
visitor experiences and park resources, indicators and standards of quality need to be
developed for these areas. With specific indicators identified and standards for
acceptable conditions defined, staff at Kenai Fjords will be better equipped to manage
recreational use and natural resources in sensitive coastal areas.
(not to exceed 150 words)

3.

Principal Investigator Contact Information
First Name:
Title:
Affiliation:
Street Address:
City:
Phone:
Email:

4.

Christopher
Last Name: Monz
Assistant Professor
Utah State University
Utah State University, College of Natural Resources, 5205 Old Main Hill
Logan
State: UT
Zip code: 84322-5205
(435) 797-2773
Fax: (435) 797-4048
[email protected]

Park or Program Liaison Contact Information
First Name:
Title:
Park:
Park
Office/Division:
Street Address:
City:
Phone:
Email:

Laura
Ecologist
Kenai Fjords National Park
Resource Management

Last Name: Phillips

Kenai Fjords National Park, PO Box 1727
Seward
State: AK
Zip code: 99664
(907) 224-7542
Fax: (907) 224-7505
[email protected]

Project Information
5. Park(s) For Which Research is
to be Conducted:
6. Survey Dates:

Kenai Fjords National Park

06/15/2012

to

09/15/2012

7. Type of Information Collection Instrument (Check ALL that Apply)
Mail-Back
Questionnaire

 On-Site
Questionnaire

Face-to-Face
Interview

Telephone
Survey

Focus
Groups

Other (explain)
8.

Survey Justification:
(Use as much space as
needed; if necessary
include additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

Social science research in support of park planning and management is
mandated in the NPS Management Policies 2006 (Section 8.11.1, “Social
Science Studies”). The NPS pursues a policy that facilitates social science
studies in support of the NPS mission to protect resources and enhance the
enjoyment of present and future generations (National Park Service Act of
1916, 38 Stat 535, 16 USC 1, et seq.). NPS policy mandates that social science
research will be used to provide an understanding of park visitors, the nonvisiting public, gateway communities and regions, and human interactions with
park resources. Such studies are needed to provide a scientific basis for park
planning, development operations, management, education, and interpretive
activities.
Literature Review. Impacts caused by visitors in coastal areas of national parks
in Alaska are an increasing challenge for management. Kenai Fjords National
Park (KEFJ) includes approximately 400 miles of remote coastline that is
accessible only by boat or floatplane. Preserving these resources and
maintaining high quality visitor experiences are integral to the mission and
purpose of KEFJ. Park managers need clearly defined management objectives
to determine at what point management action must be taken to reduce
impacts on resources and experiences.
KEFJ recently completed a revision of its method for assessing resource
conditions at coastal backcountry campsites. The result is a protocol to guide
continued monitoring and analysis of trends in campsite conditions. If these
monitoring data are to be used to protect visitor experiences and park
resources, indicators and standards for resource conditions and experiences
must be developed. The first step in this process will be to identify indicators
of visitor experiences and resource. Once indicators variables have been
identified, the next step will be to formulate standards of quality, or identify
the minimum acceptable condition of indicator variables. This will be
accomplished by administering a survey to backcountry visitors. The visitor
survey described here will be used to solicit this input. A survey of backcountry
visitors to KEFJ was conducted in the summer of 2010. The only other visitor
study conducted at the park was a 2001 survey of front-country visitors to the
Overlook Loop Trail at Exit Glacier (Vande Kamp et al, 2005).

The results of the 2010 backcountry survey identified several indicators of
quality for visitor experience and resource conditions that can be used to
guide management of the coastal backcountry areas of KEFJ. The next step is
to establish quantitative standards for each of the indicators to define their
minimum acceptable conditions. Under this procedure—often referred to as
Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP)—indicators are monitored
and, when standards are exceeded, management actions are taken to reduce
those impacts. This approach has been applied in a number of NPS units
(Manning, 2007), and the use of indicators and standards has now been
adopted into the NPS general management planning process. With specific
indicators identified and standards for the acceptable conditions of the
indicators defined, KEFJ will be better equipped to manage recreational use
and natural resources in sensitive coastal areas.

9.

Survey Methodology:
(Use as much space as
needed; if necessary
include additional
explanation on a
separate page.)

(a) Respondent Universe:

The respondent universe for this study will be backcountry visitors 18 years old
and older to Kenai Fjords National Park from May-September 2012.
In 2009, approximately 276 groups visited Aialik Bay, the most-used area of
the coastal backcountry. This estimate was based on the park’s voluntary
backcountry registration system (VBR) and ranger contacts with visitors on the
coast. This number is It is likely that this was an underestimation of total
backcountry use, as only commercial guided trips are required to file VBRs and
rangers are [were] unable to contact all visitors.

(b) Sampling Plan/Procedures:

Sampling will take place for approximately 120 days throughout the summer
use season, and will be stratified to include both midweek and weekend
periods. We expect to contact approximately 150 groups during the sampling
period. The individual with the most recent birthday in the group will be asked
to complete the survey.
Due to the small backcountry visitor population, researchers will attempt to
sample each group encountered in order to achieve an adequate sample size.

Backcountry visitors will be intercepted at popular landing beaches and public
use cabins and asked to participate in the study by completing an on-site
questionnaire. Surveys will also be administered at various visitor use locations
in the town of Seward to visitors returning from a backcountry trip. Most
backcountry users access the coast via water taxi. Several companies offering
water taxi services are located in Seward. All of the companies dock at the
Seward Small Boat Harbor, with the exception of one, which lands at a
different location southwest of town. Researchers accompanying staffed
backcountry patrols will only be able to access backcountry areas a limited
number of times throughout the sampling period. Thus contacting visitors at
docking locations in Seward will ensure that a representative and acceptable
sample size will be obtained.

(c) Instrument Administration:

An on-site questionnaire will be administered to park visitors by a Utah State
University graduate student and park resource intern staff. Visitors agreeing to
participate in the study will be given a questionnaire and asked to complete it
and return it to the survey administrator at that time. An interviewer will be
present and available to answer any questions the respondents may have.
All visitors approached will be read the following script:
“Excuse me, sir/ma’am. We’re conducting a survey of backcountry users for
Kenai Fjords National Park to better understand visitor use. Your participation
is voluntary and all responses are anonymous. Did you visit any backcountry
coastal areas during your trip?”
If YES – then ask, “has any member of your group participated in this
survey before?”
If “YES” (already asked to participate) then, “Thank you for
participating in this study but you have already provided us with
the information we need. Have a great day.”
If “NO” (has not been previously asked to participate) then,
“Thank you for participating in our survey today. Would you be
willing to answer some important questions regarding your visit
here? This should only take about 10 minutes.” “Who in your
group (at least 18 years old) has the next birthday?
If NO– (soft refusal) - ask them if they would be willing to answer the
non-response bias questions (listed below) and then thank them for their
time.
1. How did you access the coast?
2. How crowded did you feel on this visit?
3. How many times have visited Kenai Fjords National Park
before this trip?
Record responses in spaces provided on the tracking sheet
If NO– (hard refusal) - end the contact and thank them for their time.

During the survey administration the respondents will be asked to rate a series
of photographs to indicate their acceptable level of crowing based on the
number of people shown in the photographs (see photo posters). The survey
administrator will show the respondents a series of photographs. The
photographs will be shown to the respondent one at a time. The order that
photos will be presented to different respondents will alternate between
incrementally increasing and decreasing the number of people A total of
nineteen photographs (one set of 10 and one set of 9) will be used for the
crowding questions.

(d) Expected Response Rate/Confidence Levels:
In total, we expect to contact 150 backcountry groups. We anticipate that 75%
(n=112) of the individuals contacted will complete the surveys.
A survey of backcountry visitors in 2010 yielded thirteen completed
questionnaires. This small sample was the result of a truncated sampling
period (July 15 – Aug 15) and difficulties experienced in contacting visitors. In
2001, an on-site survey at the Overlook Loop Trail at Exit Glacier achieved a
response rate of 77.2%. Survey findings are estimated to be accurate within +/7% using the 95% confidence level.
Number of Initial
on-site Contacts
150

Expected
Response
Rate
75%

Expected
Number of
Responses
112

Margin of
Error +/- %
7%

(e) Strategies for dealing with potential non-response bias:
Non-response bias will be examined by comparing selected characteristics of
the sample population with characteristics observed and recorded in every
group contacted (e.g., group size, gender and group type). Additionally, all
visitors approached will be asked to answer three key questions from the
survey:
1. How did you access the coast?
2. How crowded did you feel on this visit?
3. How many times have visited Kenai Fjords National Park before this
trip?
These results and observational data will be recorded and compared to results
from respondents completing and returning the questionnaire to see if nonresponse bias is present. The results of the check for non-response bias will be
reported and implications for data interpretation will be discussed in any
reports prepared for the NPS managers.
(f) Description of any pre-testing and peer review of the methods
and/or instrument (recommended):
The survey instrument has been reviewed by park staff to ensure that it
addresses issues of interest and relevance to the management of the park. The
methods employed in the survey instrument have been used in a number of
NPS units and have proven effective in formulating standards of quality for
selected indicator variables.
The survey instrument was pretested with a small group of respondents to
assess question clarity, reliability, and amount of time needed to complete the
questionnaire.

10

Burden Estimates:

With an anticipated response rate of 75%, we plan to approach 150
individuals. We expect that the initial contact time will be at least three
minutes per person (150 x 3 minutes = 8 hours). We will ask all visitors
contacted to answer 3 questions that will be used for the non-response
check. We expect that 38 (25%) people will refuse to participate in the
survey for those individuals we will record their reason for refusal and ask
them to answer 3 questions that will be used for the non-response check.
For those who agree to participate (112) that it will take an additional 10
minutes to complete the survey (112 response x 15 minutes = 28 hours).
The burden for this collection is estimated to be 36 hours.

11.

Total Number of Initial
Contacts

150

Estimated Time (mins.) to
Complete Initial Contact

Expected number of
responses

112

Time to complete and
return surveys

3

15

Estimated Burden
Hours
Estimated Burden
Hours
Total Burden Hours

8

28
36

Reporting Plan: A final report of survey results will be prepared and provided to the park by
December 31, 2012. The key estimates will be descriptive in nature, primarily
measures of central tendency (mean and median), dispersion (standard
deviation), and frequency distributions.
Responses to open-ended questions will be coded to identify key themes related
to the backcountry visitor experience. Means for responses to closed-ended
questions will be computed to identify resource conditions or elements of the
visitor experience that may require management attention. Responses to
questions regarding the acceptability of various conditions will be aggregated and
graphed to create social norm curves for each indicator variable. The minimum
acceptable condition of each indicator will be computed via linear interpolation.
Statistical tests of significance (ANOVA, chi-square) will be used when appropriate
to identify differences in responses between groups of visitors (e.g. commercial
day trippers, independent paddlers, overnight visitors, etc.). All statistical tests
will be completed using the SPSS (SPSS Inc., IBM, Chicago) statistical software
package.
One electronic version (in PDF file format) and 2 hard copies of the final report
will be provided to the NPS Social Science Division at the following address:
National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW (2300) Washington, DC 20240, for inclusion
in the Social Science Studies Collection.

REFERENCES CITED
Manning, R.E. (2007). Parks and Carrying Capacity: Commons Without Tragedy. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

Vande Kamp, M., D. Johnson, and R. Manning. 2005. Managing Exit Glacier’s Popularity: Social Science Looks at
Visitor Experience. Alaska Park Science 3(2): 28-33).