Public Access Management as an Adaptive Wildlife 

Management Tool 

By Douglas S. Ouren and Raymond D. Watts 

Open-File Report 2005–1349 

U.S. Department of the Interior 

U.S. Geological Survey 
U.S. Department of the Interior 

Gale A. Norton, Secretary 

U.S. Geological Survey 

P. Patrick Leahy, Acting Director 

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2005 

For product and ordering information: 

World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod 

Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS 

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, 

its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: 

World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov 

Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS 

Suggested citation: 

Ouren, D.S., and Watts, R.D., 2005, Public access management as an adaptive wildlife 

management tool: U.S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Discipline, Open-File Report 

2005-1349, 10 p. 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply 

endorsement by the U.S. Government. 

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual 

copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted material contained within this report. 
Contents 

Background .........................................................................................................................................................................1

2004 Annual Objectives .....................................................................................................................................................1

Meetings with Collaborators and Partners................................................................................................................1

Selection and Deployment of Vehicle Counters .......................................................................................................1

Literature Review............................................................................................................................................................2

Testing of GPS Technology...........................................................................................................................................2

GPS Collar Purchase and Deployment .......................................................................................................................2

2004 Products ..................................................................................................................................................................2

Goals and Objectives for FY2005......................................................................................................................................2

Appendix I. Available Motorized Vehicle Monitoring Technologies......................................................................10

iii
Public Access Management as an Adaptive Wildlife Management Tool 

2004 Preliminary Report 

Primary Contact and Principal Investigator 

Douglas S. Ouren, USGS Fort Collins Science Center; 2150 Centre Ave. Bldg. C, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526-

8118. E-mail doug_ouren@usgs.gov. Phone 970-226-9476. 

Co-Investigator 

Raymond D. Watts, Rocky Mountain Mapping Center and Fort Collins Science Center, 2150 Centre Ave. Bldg. C, 

Fort Collins, Colorado 80526-8118. E-mail rwatts@usgs.gov, Phone 970-226-9378. 

Background 

Wildlife populations across the United States are benefiting from improved wildlife management 

techniques. However, these benefits also create new challenges including overpopulation, disease, increased winter 

kill, and forage degradation. These issues have become the challenges for natural resource managers and 

landowners. Specifically, elk (Cervus elaphus) populations in the Gunnison River Valley of Colorado are growing 

and causing increased resource damage on public and private lands. On public lands elk threaten sage grouse habitat 

and compete with domestic livestock for available forage; on private lands they diminish available livestock forage. 

Management of elk and elk habitat in this area is a shared responsibility of the NPS (Black Canyon of the Gunnison 

National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area), BLM (Uncompahgre Field Office), USFS (Gunnison 

National Forest), and the CDOW (Colorado Division of Wildlife). All of these agencies participate in this research 

and adaptive management project. 

One key issue in the Black Mesa – Black Canyon area is the interaction between motorized vehicles and. 

The working hypothesis for this study is that early season elk movement onto private lands and the National Park is 

precipitated by increased use of Off Highway Vehicles (OHV’s). Data on intensity of motorized use is extremely 

limited. In this study, we monitor intensity of motorized vehicle and trail use on elk movements and habitat usage 

and analyze interactions. If management agencies decide to alter accessibility, we will monitor wildlife responses to 

changes in the human-use regime. This provides a unique opportunity for adaptive management experimentation 

based on coordinated research and monitoring. The products from this project will provide natural resource 

managers across the nation with tools and information to better meet these resource challenges. 

2004 Annual Objectives 

The goals for 2004 were to: 

• develop funding for the full scope of the study, 

• work with management agencies to develop a collaborative foundation for research and applications, 

• initiate traffic monitoring field work, 

• initiate testing of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology for animal tracking in 2005. 

Meetings with Collaborators and Partners 

Our initial meeting with collaborators occurred 18 Feb, 2004. At this meeting we gave a presentation on 

past and present work. Past work has been on investigation of the impacts of the physical presence of roads and 

motorized traffic on wildlife habitat selection, specializing on instrumental observation of motorized traffic on roads 

and trails and continuous GPS monitoring of animal movements. We showed a video of grizzly bear movements in 

the Yellowstone area that illustrated highly variable patterns of movement that would be nearly impossible to 

properly interpret from VHF (very high frequency) collar location data. 

All collaborators were present at a progress meeting on 4 Aug. 2004, where we made a presentation to the 

Habitat Partnership Program, a collection of land owners and federal land managers and the Colorado Division of 

Wildlife in the area. 

Selection and Deployment of Vehicle Counters 

Monitoring motorized vehicle use can be done using a number of different technologies including 

inductive, magnetic, seismic, pneumatic, and infrared methods. We have done significant testing with each of these 

technologies and have found that they all have their advantages and disadvantages which are discussed in Appendix 
2

1. For this project we will be using pneumatic counters on the maintained roads and magnetic counters for the 

majority of the off highway vehicle routes. 

In June 2004 the U.S.F.S. Paonia District of the Gunnison National Forest and the NPS Black Canyon 

National Park purchased pneumatic vehicle monitoring equipment for this project. A total of seven counters were 

purchased for the initial deployment. 

On 19 July 2004 we deployed four vehicle counters to develop baseline values for motorized use in the 

study area. These pneumatic counters provided data on time, date, vehicle type, speed and direction of travel. On 

11 October we installed three additional counters and downloaded data from the first four. Of these four, one 

pneumatic tube with an apparent puncture needed replacement; another had lost some of its anchors. We reanchored this and other pneumatic tubes, thus improving our field installation methods. 

All counters were removed from the field on 12 December. A preliminary traffic analysis is included in 

this report (see pages __). In the upcoming field season we will redeploy the pneumatic counters and will 

complement these with infrared (IR) and magnetic sensors. The IR and magnetic counters will be used primarily in 

areas where OHV’s make up the majority of the use. 

Literature Review 

We are completing a literature review of the impacts of roads on wildlife habitat selection and use. The 

current bibliography has over 3000 citations, with the earliest citations being from 1905. Much of the literature 

deals with physical effects of roads ranging from erosion and sediment control to air quality problems; less than one 

percent of the articles address the impacts of the motorized use of roads on wildlife. 

Testing of GPS Technology 

For the past six months we have been testing the GPS/VHF technology that we will deploy for elk 

movement studies. There are a number of GPS collars available that provide data collection 24 hours a day each day 

of the year with a location precision less than 30 meters. The collars scheduled provide data downloads using a 

VHF receiver. Earlier collars either required physical recovery for download or were unreliable for download by 

radio link. The new collars have proven to transmit data that can be accurately downloaded at ranges up to 10 km. 

This advance in technology provides detailed records of movement on a regular schedule, without waiting for collar 

release and without additional animal handling. 

GPS Collar Purchase and Deployment 

Currently the CDOW plans to provide eighteen GPS/VHF elk collars. CDOW is optimistic that there will 

be funds available to purchase additional collars in the upcoming year. The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and 

Gunnison National Forests, with input from the CDOW and the USGS, have submitted a proposal to the Rocky 

Mountain Elk Foundation for funding for additional collars. Resource management personnel of the Black Canyon 

of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area submitted a NPS proposal to provide 

additional equipment and operational funding for elk monitoring. Unfortunately, their proposal narrowly missed the 

FY 2006 allocation, but the plan is to refine the proposal and resubmit it for FY 2007. 

The elk tracking plan is to deploy collars as they become available, capturing animals in locations at times 

that give greatest likelihood that the individuals are part of problematic populations. As is customary with elk 

movement studies, mature cows will be preferred collar bearers. 

2004 Products 

• Motorized vehicle monitoring results (551 counter days) 

• Study area maps 

• Project and funding proposals 

Goals and Objectives for FY2005 

• continue Motorized Vehicle monitoring 

• use magnetic counters to monitor OHV use 

• deploy GPS/VHF collars on elk 

• conduct project update meetings 

• work on obtaining operational funding from all partners 
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 283082.52 E 4262631.51 N

Survey Duration 8/19/2004 12/12/2004

Period of record (in days) 115

Total vehicle counts 3478

Average speed 40.70 mph

Corral Gulch Road

Day of Week Vehicle Counts

 Corral Gulch Road

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

 Corral Gulch Road

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

8/19 8/25 8/31 9/6 9/12 9/18 9/24 9/30 10/6 10/12 10/18 10/24 10/30 11/5 11/11 11/17 11/23 12/2

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Corral Gulch Road

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

This site is located on Corral Gulch road (FS RD # 719) approximately 1.5 miles from Highway 92 and 

just before FS RD # 2A on USFS lands. This road is currently being used to access an ongoing logging 

operation but is also used as access to private in holdings and recreational pursuits. The Coral Gulch 

road also provides access to FS RD# 713, 716 and 717 all which provide access to the Black Mesa area. 

3
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 275365.47 E 4275202.01 N

Survey Duration 8/20/2004 11/30/2004

Period of record (in days) 102

Total vehicle counts 414

Average speed 22.8 mph

Gould Reservoir Road

Site is on Montrose Cnty RD E 81 and provides access to private lands and to the Poison Spring Ridge 

area whose federal lands are managed by the BLM. The majority of use in this area is recreational. 

Day of Week Vehicle Counts

Gould Reservoir Road

0

20

40

60

80

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

Gould Reservoir Road

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

8/20 8/24 8/30 9/4 9/8 9/12 9/16 9/20 9/24 9/30 10/4 10/8 10/12 10/16 10/20 10/24 11/3 11/11 11/18 11/26

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Gould Reservoir Road

0

10

20

30

40

50

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

4
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 280331.41 E 4270075.81 N

Survey Duration 8/19/2004 11/26/2004

Period of record (in days) 99

Total vehicle counts 3685

Average speed 30.0 mph

Grade Road

Day of Week Vehicle Counts

 Grade Road

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

 Grade Road

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

8/198/238/278/31

9/49/8

9/129/169/209/249/2810/210/6

10/1010/1410/1810/2210/2610/30

11/311/7

11/1111/1511/2011/24

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Grade Road

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

0 1 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Site is on the main the Old Grade Rd(FS RD # 716) just beyond the intersection with the Crystal Creek 

Roads. This route provides motorized vehicle access to the Black Mesa area, including USFS 

motorized vehicle routes FS RD # 717 and # 715) and is used mainly for recreation. This road can also 

provide access to the Corral Gulch road (FS RD # 719). During this monitoring period there was 

logging activity in the Corral Gulch area. 

5
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 276295.42 E 4267173.02 N

Survey Duration 8/19/2004 11/18/2004

Period of record (in days) 91

Total vehicle counts 137

Average speed 13 mph

Pine Ridge Road

 Day of Week Vehicle Counts

 Pine Ridge Road

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

Pine Ridge Road

0

5

10

15

20

8/19

8/22

8/25

8/28

9/1

9/5

9/8

9/11

9/13

9/18

10/4

10/9

10/11

10/13

10/16

10/18

10/20

10/25

10/30

11/8

11/11

11/18

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Pine Ridge Road

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

The Pine Ridge road site is on an unnumbered USFS road just west of highway 92. The counter is 

located approximately .75 miles up the Pine Ridge road from the highway. This road provides access to 

private property as well as to hunting on USFS lands. 

6
Crystal Creek Main Road 

Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 280305 E 4270236 N 

Survey Duration 8/19/2004 12/7/2004 

Period of record (in days) 

93 days (less 19 days due to 

equipment failure) 

Total vehicle counts 4189 

Average speed 42.3 mph 

 Day of Week Vehicle Counts

 Crystal Main Road

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

 Crystal Creek Main Road

0

50

100

150

200

8/198/228/258/288/31

9/39/69/9

9/129/159/189/219/24

10/1110/1610/1910/2210/2510/2810/31

11/311/611/9

11/1211/1511/18

Equipment problem

(hose puncture)

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Crystal Main Road

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Site is on the main road into the Crystal, Montrose Cnty Rd J82(FS road # 713)and Dyer Creek 

drainages. Counter was located at the Forest Service sign just beyond the junction of the Old Grade 

Rd(FS road # 716) and the Crystal Creek Roads. This route provides motorized vehicle access to the 

Dyer creek drainage, including USFS motorized vehicle routes FS RD # 717 and # 715 and is used 

mainly for recreation. pursuits. This road can also provide access to the Corral Gulch road (FS RD # 

719). During this monitoring period there was a logging activity in the Corral Gulch area. 

7
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 269376.19 E 4279339.90 N

Survey Duration 10/15/2004 11/27/2004

Period of record (in days) 43

Total vehicle counts 965

Average speed 24.1 mph

Lek Road

Day of Week Vehicle Counts

Lek Road

0

50

100

150

200

250

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

Lek Road

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10/15

10/17

10/19

10/21

10/23

10/25

10/27

10/29

10/31

11/2

11/4

11/6

11/8

11/10

11/12

11/14

11/16

11/18

11/22

11/25

11/27

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Lek Road

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

The Lek road counter is located on Montrose Cnty RD C77. This is the major motorized access route 

providing access by the BLM and the NPS lands, including the Parvin Gulch area and Red Canyon. 

This road has seasonal closure because of the nearby Gunnison Sage Grouse lek sites. 

8
Location (UTM Zone 13 NAD83) 269842.37 E 4278837.31 N

Survey Duration 10/14/2004 11/1/2004

Period of record 18 days

Total vehicle counts 795

Average speed 45.9 mph

Poison Springs Road

Day of Week Vehicle Counts

Poison Springs Road

0

50

100

150

200

250

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Traffic Volume by Date

Poison Springs Road

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

10/14

10/15

10/16

10/17

10/18

10/19

10/20

10/21

10/22

10/23

10/24

10/25

10/26

10/27

10/28

10/29

10/30

10/31

11/1

24 Hour Traffic Volumes

Poison Springs Road

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

The Poison Springs vehicle counter is located on Montrose Cnty RD D77 within BLM lands. This road 

provides motorized vehicle access to the Poison Springs Ranch and other private properties in the area 

as well as BLM lands on Fruitland Mesa. 

9
10

Appendix I. Available Motorized Vehicle Monitoring Technologies 

Technology is advancing rapidly to help wildlife scientists and managers answer questions about the intensity of 

motorized vehicle use. There are six major technologies for counting vehicles: 

1. Inductive loop. A wire loop is buried in the roadway, through which an alternating current is passed. The 

presence of an electrical conductor (vehicle) over the loop changes the voltage-current relationship 

(inductive reactance), and an instrument senses the presence of the conductor. This technology is 

frequently employed to trigger traffic signals. Installation is a complex field operation, and the system 

requires careful tuning to the proper sensitivity. This technology cannot count nonmetallic objects, such as 

skiers and hikers. 

2. Pressure sensor. The most common device is the pneumatic tube sensor. One tube system counts axle 

crossings, with no discrimination of speed, travel direction, or vehicle type. Two-tube pneumatic systems 

add these significant parameters. Instrument packages are robust and operate for many months on one 

battery pack. Disadvantages are easy visibility and possible vandalism, vulnerability to snowplowing and 

other mechanical operations, and missed counts in snow or muddy conditions. Pneumatic systems count 

neither snowmobiles—because they have a low-pressure footprint—nor humans on foot or ski. 

3. Magnetic. There are several types of magnetometers capable of sensing nearby magnetic objects. 

Automobiles and trucks are sufficiently magnetic to be detected, but snowmobiles with aluminum engine 

blocks may not be. This is an area of current investigation. Advantages are insensitivity to environmental 

conditions and invisibility (the instrument package can be buried in or alongside the road). Disadvantages 

are inability to count nonmagnetic objects and sensitivity to small changes in the earth’s magnetic field. 

4. Seismic. These instruments sense shaking caused by vehicle passage. They are most effective when 

installed on bridges or other weight-bearing structures, and otherwise must be very close to the passing 

vehicle. Instruments are expensive and installation difficult. Seismic systems do not sense lightweight or 

slow traffic. 

5. Photographic. Older film systems had significant mechanical and power limitations. Newer digital camera 

systems also have power and memory limitations. It is possible, however, to couple these systems with 

triggering sensors (the other five listed here) and provide unambiguous identification of the cause of the 

triggering counter. 

6. Infrared. These are passive sensors that detect radiant temperature changes. They contain small optical 

components that measure average temperature over a certain field of view. Infrared counters sense vehicles, 

animals, and people—a wide range of observations. This wide range can, however, be a disadvantage; 

there is no direct way, short of pairing the counter with a camera, to identify the cause of an event. 

For the present study, we will be using a combination of pneumatic, infrared and magnetic monitoring equipment.