Onsite Survey of Visitor Experience and Preferences at Great Sand Dunes National Park

OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 1024--####

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

National pArk service

great sand dunes Visitor INTERCEPT Survey

Intercept opening script

“Hello, I am working with Great Sand Dunes National Park conducting this survey to improve visitor experiences in the park. May I ask you questions about your Great Sand Dunes experience?”

 If the visitor says YES: [continue by showing the following statement regarding the Paperwork Reduction and Privacy Act.]

 If NO – the interviewer will thank the visitor and ask the non-response bias questions. [The surveyor will ask the three non-response bias questions below and record them in the survey]

1. “How long were you in GRSA today?”

2. “Did you have trouble finding parking in GRSA today?”

3. “On this trip, did you feel crowded at any point in GRSA?”

PAPERWORK REDUCTION and PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT: The Paperwork Reduction Act requires us to tell you why we are collecting this information, how we will use it, and whether or not you have to respond. The National Park Service is authorized by (54 USC §100701) to collect this information. The routine uses of this information will be for the benefit of NPS Managers and Planning staff in Great Sand Dunes National Park (GRSA) in future initiatives related to visitor use and resource management within the site. The data collected will be summarized to evaluate visitor uses and expectations during their visit at GRSA. Your responses to this collection are completely voluntary and will remain anonymous. You can end the process at any time and will not be penalized in any way for choosing to do so. All contact information collected for the purpose of the follow-up survey will be destroyed at the end of the collection period and no personal identifiable records will be maintained or stored for any purposes. Data collected will only be reported in aggregates and no individually identifiable responses will be reported. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number (####-####).

BURDEN STATEMENT: We estimate that it will take about 9 minutes to complete this on-site questionnaire. You may send comments concerning the burden estimates or any aspect of this information collection to: Dr. Wayne Freimund, Professor, 5215 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322; 435-797-0523 (phone) [email protected](email); Bret Meldrum NPS Information Collection Coordinator at [email protected] (email)

Section One: Visitor Characteristics

Topic Area 1- GROUP4

1. Including yourself, how many people are in your personal group today?

Number of adults (18 years or over): _______________

Number of children (under 18 years): _____________

Topic Area 1- GROUP3

2. Which of the following best describes your personal group today? Please mark (●) one.

• Alone

• Family

• Friends

• Family and Friends

• Organized group (please specify): ______________

• Other (please specify): ______________

Topic Area 3- CVIS1

3. Are you a first-time visitor to Great Sand Dunes National Park? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes

• No

Topic Area 3- DEST5

4. On this trip, are you visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park for more than one day? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes (Number of days):__________

• No

Section Two: Visitor Experiences

Next, we want to ask you some questions about your experience in this area of the park. This area of the park includes Medano Creek and the nearby surrounding dunes (see map). This area also includes the “outer dunes”. The outer dunes extend past the first ridge of dunes into the park’s backcountry and are reached by hiking about 1 hour or more from here.

Topic Area 3: DEST26 (VARIATION: limited scope to only include the area of the park as outlined above.)

5. Which of the following places did you visit in this area of the park today? Please mark (●) all that apply.

• Medano Creek

• Nearby dunes surrounding Medano Creek

• Outer dunes

Topic Area 5- ACT11 (VARIATION: Limited scope to activities on the current visit. The simplified question provides pertinent information for managers to understand visitor activities in the area of interest.)

6. Did you participate in any of the following activities while you were in this area of the park today? Please mark (●) one for each row.

	Yes, I participated in this activity today		No, I did not participate in this activity today
Playing in the creek
Picnicking by the creek
Sunbathing by the creek
Hiking in the nearby dunes
Sandboarding or sand sledding in the nearby dunes
Hiking to the outer dunes

NOTE TO REVIEWER

The photos will be uploaded in the Qualtrics survey instrument and randomized from a pool of 100 images. Each respondent will view six images from that pool.

Topic Area 6- VERP1

7. We would like to know how many other people you could see at Medano Creek at one time without feeling too crowded. To help judge this, a series of photographs at Medano Creek show different numbers of visitors.

Please rate each photograph by indicating how acceptable you find the number of people at Medano Creek depicted in the photograph. A rating of “-3” means the number of people depicted would be very unacceptable, and a rating of “+3” means seeing the number of people depicted would be very acceptable. (Please circle one for each photograph).

	Very unacceptable	Unacceptable	Slightly unacceptable	Neutral	Slightly acceptable	Acceptable	Very acceptable
Photo 1	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3
Photo 2	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3
Photo 3	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3
Photo 4	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3
Photo 5	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3
Photo 6	-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3

Topic Area 5- VERP2 (VARIATION: replaced “restricted” with “managed”)

8. Which photograph shows the highest number of people the park should allow at Medano Creek at one time? In other words, at what point should the park manage how many people can visit Medano Creek at one time? If the number of people at Medano Creek at one time should not be managed at any point represented in the photographs, or not managed at all, you may indicate that by marking (●) one of the circles below.

Photo number:

OR

• None of the photographs show a level of use high enough to manage the number of visitors at Medano Creek at one time

• The number of people at Medano Creek at one time should not be managed.

Topic Area 5- VERP2 (VARIATION: Shift from management action to personal behavior changes based on crowding to understand the threshold of crowding before people change their own behavior and how that correlates with perceptions of when/if managers should take action regarding crowding.)

9. Which photograph shows the highest number of people you could see at Medano Creek at one time before you would no longer visit Medano Creek? If none of the photographs show a high enough level of use that you would no longer visit Medano Creek, please mark (●) the circle below.

Photo number:

OR

• None of the photographs show a level of use high enough that I would no longer visit Medano Creek.
  
  
  

Topic Area 6- CROWD27

10. How did the number of people you saw at Medano Creek today compared to what you expected? Please mark (●) one.

• Less than I expected

• About what I expected

• More than I expected

• I did not have any expectations
  
  
  

Topic Area 6- CROWD28 (VARIATION: limited scope to focus on a specific area in the park.)

11. Did you feel crowded at Medano Creek at any time today? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes

• No

Topic Area – DEST13 (Variation: to understand visitor displacement.)

12. Did you spend any time in any areas within the park besides Medano Creek?

• Yes

• No (skip to Q19)

Topic Area 1- DEST17

13. Approximately how long did you spend in the nearby dunes surrounding Medano Creek today?
    
    _____ hours
    
    

Topic Area 6- VERP5 (VARIATION: limited the question scope to a particular area within the park.)

14. Approximately how many other people did you see while you were in the nearby dunes surrounding Medano Creek today?
    ____ people
    
    

Topic Area 6- CROWD30

15. Please rate how acceptable it was to see the number of people you did today while you were in the nearby dunes surrounding Medano Creek. A rating of “-3” means it was very unacceptable, and a rating of “+3” means it was very acceptable. Please circle one for each row.

Very unacceptable	Unacceptable	Slightly unacceptable	Neutral	Slightly acceptable	Acceptable	Very acceptable
-3	-2	-1	0	+1	+2	+3

Topic Area 6- CROWD28

15. Did you feel crowded while you were in the nearby dunes surrounding Medano Creek at any time today? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes

• No

Topic Area 6- CROWD27

15. How did the number of people you encountered while hiking in the outer dunes today compare to what you expected? Please mark (●) one.

• I did not hike in the outer dunes today (skip to Q 19)

• Less than I expected

• About what I expected

• More than I expected

• I did not have any expectations

Topic Area 6- CROWD20 (VARIATION: replaced response scale with yes/no and shifted question wording to match (i.e., “did you” instead of “how”)

15. Did you feel crowded hiking in the outer dunes today? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes

• No

Topic Area 4- TRAFFIC7 (VARIATION: replaced “behind other vehicles” with “in line at” and limited the response options to yes/no.)

15. Did you have to wait in line at the entrance station to enter the park today? Please mark (●) one.

• Yes

• No (SKIP to Q21)
  
  

Topic Area 4- TRAFFIC9

15. If yes, approximately how long did you have to wait in line to enter the park? Please mark (●) one.

• About 5 minutes or less

• About 10 minutes

• About 15 minutes

• About 20 minutes

• About 30 minutes

• About 45 minutes

• About an hour or more
  
  

Topic Area 2- CROWD21

15. How did the number of other visitors you encountered affect your overall experience today? (Select one response)
    
    

Added greatly	Added somewhat	Had no effect	Detracted somewhat	Detracted greatly
1	2	3	4	5

Topic Area 4- PARKING15

15. Were any of the following potential issues a problem for you during your visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park today? Please mark (●) one for each row.

	Yes	No
Difficulty finding a close place to park in this area of the park
Too many people walking on, across, or along the road
Traffic congestion on park roads
Long wait time to use restrooms/facilities
Lack of multi-use paths for biking or walking around the park
Lack of shuttle service to get around the park

Section 3: Park Management

Topic Area 5- CROWD10 (VARIATION: Changed question to limit the scope to yes/no responses and focused wording on park-specific concerns.)

15. For any of the following reasons, please respond “yes: or “no” with each statement about how the park could manage the number of many people visiting Great Sand Dunes National Park at one time, even if it limits when you can visit the park? Please mark (●) one for each row.

	Yes	No	Not sure
To reduce crowding in the park
To prevent parking lots from overfilling
To reduce wait times to enter the park
To reduce environmental impacts

Topic Area 8- MGMTOPT13

15. Please rate your level of support or opposition for each of the following potential management strategies for Great Sand Dunes National Park. Please mark (●) one for each row.

	Strongly oppose	Slightly oppose	Neither	Slightly support	Strongly support
Provide information to visitors prior to their trip to the park about crowding and parking conditions
Increase the amount of designated parking in this area to make it easier for visitors to find parking
Provide a park shuttle bus service to reduce parking congestion
Build multi-use paths for biking and walking around the park
Use a timed-entry system to manage the number of people allowed in the park at one time to reduce crowding and congestion
Manage the number of people allowed in the park at one time on a first-come, first-served basis

Section 4: Background/Demographics

Topic Area 1- RES2

15. What is your zip code, or home country if not U.S.?

OR ___________________________________

Topic Area 1- AGE1

15. What is your age?

Years

1