Date of Award

Spring 2026

Abstract

Wilderness areas are managed to provide opportunities for solitude, primitive recreation, and the preservation of Wilderness Character Qualities (WCQs), yet visitor experiences within these landscapes are shaped by perceptions of crowding, environmental impacts, management conditions, and more. As visitation to protected areas increases, understanding how visitors perceive and respond to wilderness conditions is critical for sustaining experience quality and informing management. Despite advances in operationalizing WCQs as perceptual and motivational constructs, few studies have embedded WCQ perceptions within a visitor typology framework capable of capturing heterogeneity across wilderness contexts. This gap limits the ability to translate WCQ perceptions into targeted management strategies. Grounded in stress–coping theory and the Interagency Visitor Use Management Framework, this study positions WCQ motivations, perceptions, and contextual conditions as drivers of coping behaviors and experiential outcomes.

This study examined wilderness visitor experiences across the White Mountain National Forest using 1,086 on site intercept surveys collected during summer 2024 across six wilderness areas. The survey measured WCQ motivations, crowding, coping behaviors, experience use history, management preferences, and sociodemographic characteristics. Hierarchical cluster analysis followed by k means clustering identified visitor typologies that transcended individual wilderness units. Results indicated three groups, Protection Oriented, Core, and Casual Visitors, that differed in WCQ prioritization, crowding, coping behaviors, and acceptance of management actions. Findings suggest social, behavioral, and contextual factors shape visitor decision making and experience quality. These findings suggest visitor differentiation reflects underlying perceptual and behavioral orientations rather than site specific effects, reinforcing the value of typology-based approaches for adaptive visitor use management. This study offers a transferable framework integrating WCQ perceptions, behavioral adaptation, and management preferences to support adaptive wilderness stewardship.

Keywords: Wilderness, Wilderness Character Qualities, Visitor Use Management, Outdoor Recreation, Crowding, Coping, Substitution, Visitor Typologies

Document Type

Master's Thesis

First Advisor

Michael D Ferguson

Second Advisor

Forrest G Schwartz

Third Advisor

Shannon H Rogers

Degree Name

Master of Science

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