6 Major Findings of Research and Manager Comments

1. Carrying capacity decisions as applied to range and wildlife are based on ecological consideration (loss of vegetation, soil erosion/compaction),
application to outdoor recreation requires consideration of other
(natural resource factors--physical and biological, social factors--customer
perceptions/opinions -sights/sounds/atmosphere/etc., managerial--legal directive, resource constraints,
agency policies, etc.)

2. With any recreational use of an area each of the factors (natural resource, social, managerial) will change.

3. Limits of acceptable change should be developed and expressed as management objectives. Management objectives should identify and describe, explicitly and quantitatively , the natural resource, social, and managerial conditions to be maintained or restored--management objects should be based on research findings, public input, and managerial judgments

4. Any one recreational area can have many different capacities, depending on the objectives set for it, there is a need to consider
within a regional planning framework--actions cause reactions

5. Carrying capacity management for recreation is about: number of people, type of activity, timing of activity, location of activity, visitor behavior

6. Carrying capacity is a management concepts. The manager, ultimately, must decide the uses that are appropriate and acceptable and the kinds and amounts of impact that are tolerable. Research can help, but the final decision is a value decision.