The Role of GIS in Wilderness Planning

Landres, Peter, Spildie, David, Queen, Lloyd, et al. GIS Applications to Wilderness Management. Rocky Mountain Research Station, September 2001, GIS Applications to Wilderness Management, www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_gtr080.pdf.
The authors in this forest service publication outline the role GIS can play in managing remote, designated wilderness areas in the United States. It is key to take in account the age of this paper with the technology in the early 2000’s. The authors begin by stating and even questioning the viability of implementing GIS because the strain of government funds allocated to the United States Forest Service. They highlight the lack of staff being a potential problem along with the active management necessity that would be a waste of resources. Where the problems of active management are real, the authors continue to shed light on the roles of passive management that GIS can perform. Before they dive into this, they explain and define what GIS is and shows how the basic data structure of the system can augment the data that already exists in paper form. The marriage of the data that exists in managing public land, and visually representing the data in a new way can help with the overall management with the lack of resources the forest service is always dealing with. They continue to highlight the passive management applications which include; inventory, monitoring, analysis, and communication. Lastly, the authors conclude that GIS as a tool can be a great way to help managing these remote swaths of land, but the technology that goes into a GIS is limited to the user who puts the data into the GIS which is the key limitation with GIS. The authors do recognize the technology is new when this is written and ultimately realize it will just continue to get better.

Peterson, Kristan, and Martha Lee. “Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Recreation Management Tool: Monitoring Human Impacts at Fossil Creek, Arizona.” Northern Arizona University, 2012, http://nau.edu/forestry/wp-content/uploads/sites/140/2012.KristanPeterson.GeographicInformationSystemsAsA.pdf.
This professional paper dives into practical approaches of GIS as a tool in managing public land. The practicality of the case study in Fossil Creek, Arizona shows a cost effective way GIS can help manage a small piece of land rather than the more well-known larger and broader scales land managers are used to. The potential master’s candidate sites the first publication in this bibliography from the USDA Forest Service and builds upon the eleven year difference amongst the publications. She addresses the concerns Landres and authors have right away. She explains, with proper training and time, along with established budget analysis, the majority of the limitations would be mitigated and GIS can then be utilized effectively. She continues to show examples of GIS applications all over the world to prove GIS is indeed working. The latter half of the paper is the actual case study among a delicate riparian ecosystem in Arizona. The goal is to show GIS as a tool to evaluate the special relationships between human waste sites, informational signs and where the porta potties are located to better establish a management plan within the small recreational site. The results show the obvious connection that the farther away a porta potty is, the likelihood of a visitor using the bathroom in the delicate ecosystem is higher, thus the need for better signage and porta potty placement.

Tricker, James, and Peter Landres. Technical Guidelines for Mapping Threats to Wilderness Character in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, 2017, Technical Guidelines for Mapping Threats to Wilderness Character in the National Wilderness Preservation System, www.wilderness.net/toolboxes/documents/WC/WCM%20Tech%20Report.pdf.
This is a technical report on the application of GIS to map threats to wilderness areas with a methodology and infrastructure to do so. This publication is also like a textbook on how to come up with a strategic scientific approach on wilderness area management.

Wing, Michael, and Bo Shelby. “Using GIS to Integrate Information on Forest Recreation.” Journal of Forestry, vol. 97, no. 1, Jan. 1999, pp. 12–16., https://academic.oup.com/jof/article/97/1/12/4613951.
This journal article takes place in the McDonald Forest near Oregon State University.

Cross, Edward Tyson. “Comparing Spatial Modeling Techniques for Exploratory Mapping: APPLICATIONS IN WILDERENSS CAMPSITE SEARCHES.” Colorado State University, 2010, https://mountainscholar.org/handle/10217/44840.
This thesis demonstrates…..

Stevens, Sarah, “Conceptualizing Wilderness Through GIS” (2007). Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS). 40.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/ugrs/40
This undergraduate research project showcases a concept of mapping wilderness and how it understood amongst the highly populated region of the Northeast.

Carver, Steve, et al. “Keeping It Wild: Mapping Wilderness Character in the United States.” Journal of Environmental Management, no. 131, 22 Aug. 2013, pp. 239–255., https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2013_carver_s001.pdf.
This journal article is a unique approach to what wilderness is to individuals.

Carver, S., Evans, A.J. and Fritz, S. (2002) Wilderness attribute mapping in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Wilderness, 8 (1). pp. 24-29. ISSN 1086-5519. http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/934/
This article takes place in the United Kingdom and

Carver, Steve, et al. “A GIS Model for Mapping Spatial Patterns and Distribution of Wild Land in Scotland.” Landscape and Urban Planning, vol. 104, no. 3-4, 2012, pp. 395–409., https://core.ac.uk/reader/42013783.
This is another international article that discusses the wildlands of the European country of Scotland.

Marion, Jeffery, et al. “The Science of Trail Surveys: The Science of Trail Surveys: Recreation Ecology Provides New Recreation Ecology Provides New Tools for Managing Wilderness Trails Tools for Managing Wilderness Trails.” Park Science, vol. 28, no. 3, 2011, pp. 60–65. https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/41242616/The_science_of_trail_surveys_Recreation_20160115-32385-1j0l4y7.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1552072932&Signature=hLJ91u0V%2BQOoeXdYLv%2BMXPT7Aaw%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DThe_science_of_trail_surveys_Recreation.pdf

The trails within a recreational ecosystem

Ferguson, Don. “GIS for Wilderness Search and Rescue.” FEDUC-463. ESRI Federal User Conference, 20 Feb. 2008, Washington D.C. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a677/c4548a471682414a0c7380ae3bcd10a583c7.pdf

This reading lecture from a conference in Washington D.C. in 2008

Hinterberger, Beate, et al. “GIS-Supported Network Analysis of Visitor Flows in Recreational Areas.” Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas Conference Proceedings, 2002, pp. 28–32., https://mmv.boku.ac.at/refbase/files/hinterberger_beate-2002-gis-supported_networ.pdf.
Monitoring is a key feature in which GIS can

Tarrant, Michael A., and H. Ken Cordell. “Environmental justice and spatial distribution of outdoor recreation sites: an application of geographic information systems.” Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 31, no. 1, 1999, p. 18. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/apps/doc/A55083919/AONE?u=s8405248&sid=AONE&xid=00810705.
The John Muir Wilderness is the pinnacle of wild land in the lower 48 states.

Robinson, C., et al. “A conceptual framework for understanding, assessing, and mitigating ecological effects of forest roads.” Environmental Reviews, vol. 18, 2010, p. 61+. Academic OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/apps/doc/A250323660/AONE?u=s8405248&sid=AONE&xid=eb88f601
This article demonstrates the access to wilderness areas and the infrastructure to get to the remote areas while showing the effects of the pathways in their role in the ecosystem.

This academic article shows