Page 16 - winter 2018 the Rock

16 Friends oF red rock canyon

By Chad Kooistra

apacity (noun) - 1. The maximum amount that something can contain.
C Fully occupying the available area or space. 2. The ability or power to do,
experience, or understand something.

ow do we know when visitation at Canyon.
parks and conservation areas has be- We found that 94% of people surveyed rated the
H come a problem? We often use the term overall quality of their experience at Red Rock
‘capacity’ to describe how many visitors and which as good or very good. More than 90% of respon-
Volunteers dedicated to the preservation of Red Rock Canyon
types of activities an area can accommodate before dents rated road conditions and overall BLM staff
recreational experiences become increasingly performance (including level of courtesy and
negative and cultural and natural resources are knowledge about recreation, natural and cultural
damaged. Working with the Friends of Red Rock resources) as good or very good. On the other
Canyon, Southern Nevada Conservancy, the Bureau hand, fewer than 80% of the respondents rated as
of Land Management (BLM) and many volunteers, good or very good the cleanliness of restrooms and
the Great Basin Institute (GBI) has made a lot of other facilities, the presence of law enforcement,
progress over the past few the availability of steward-
months to help the BLM de- ship information about pro-
scribe recreation capacity at tecting cultural and natural
Red Rock Canyon National resources, and information
Conservation Area. about the BLM interpretive
and educational programs.
In the spring of 2017, These findings indicate high
Friends volunteers and staff levels of satisfaction with
from the BLM and GBI most recreational experi-
distributed more than 300 ences at Red Rock and
surveys to visitors at Calico highlight some areas that
Basin, Ash Springs and First can be improved.
Creek Canyon. The surveys
measured visitors’ satisfac- Will Rempel, the Ameri-
tion with different aspects Overall quality of experience at Red Rock Canyon Corps intern working with
NCA sites outside of the Scenic Drive from the spring
of recreation in Red Rock 2017 visitor satisfaction survey (290 respondents) GBI on the project, recently

the Rock - Volume 8 Issue 2