Visitor Diversity through the 

Recreation Manager Lens: 

Comparing Forest Service Regions 8 (U.S. South) 

and 5 (California)

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Nina S. Roberts, Kristin L. Hanula

United States Department of Agriculture

Forest Service

Research & Development

Southern Research Station

General Technical Report SRS-205
The Authors:

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service, 

Southern Research Station, Athens, GA 30602; Nina S. Roberts, Professor, 

Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, San Francisco State University, 

San Francisco, CA 94132; Kristin L. Hanula, former Graduate student, 

University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602.

March 2015

Southern Research Station

200 W.T. Weaver Blvd.

Asheville, NC 28804

www.srs.fs.usda.gov

Cover photos 

Clockwise from top left: Spring on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest (photo 

by Jessica Mou); persons fishing at Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest 

in California (photo by Nina Roberts); children participate in the Latino Legacy “Native 

Plant Gardening” program on the Sam Houston National Forest, near Houston, TX (photo 

by Tamberly Conway); hikers posing for photograph after hiking in the Tahoe National 

Forest (photo by Nina Roberts); recreation visitors participating in the Los Angeles 

Wilderness Program pump water (photo by Monica Cota); Latino Legacy—Amigos del 

Bosque (“Friends of the Forest”) team members interact with community members at a 

local Hispanic community event near Houston, while one visitor completes a survey about 

conservation education and outreach preferences (photo by Tamberly Conway).
Visitor Diversity through the 

Recreation Manager Lens: 

Comparing Forest Service Regions 8 (U.S. South) 

and 5 (California)

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Nina S. Roberts, Kristin L. Hanula

iii

Contents

INTRODUCTION1

Minority Group Access to Outdoor Recreation: Why is it Important?1

THE CHANGING FACE OF THE SOUTH2

REACHING OUT: CONNECTING WITH RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY VISITORS3

The Forest Service’s Response to California’s Mosaic3

“PROVIDE IT...BUT WILL THEY COME?”4

OUR STRATEGY AND METHODS7

WHAT WE LEARNED8

A Look at the Southeast, Region 88

Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky11

Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana11

National Forests in Mississippi11

National Forests in North Carolina11

National Forests in South Carolina12

National Forests and Grasslands in Texas13

National Forests in Virginia14

Region 5: California from the North to the South15

Angeles National Forest15

Eldorado National Forest16

Klamath National Forest17

Lassen National Forest17

Mendocino National Forest17

Sierra National Forest18

Tahoe National Forest19

CONCLUSIONS19

REFERENCES21

Abstract

In response to changing demographics and cultural shifts in the U.S. 

population, the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture has 

initiated a range of “culturally transforming” management practices 

and priorities aimed at better reflecting both the current and future 

U.S. population (USDA 2011). This makeover also calls attention 

to the various publics served by the Forest Service and questions 

whether the Agency’s services and programming are reasonably 

accessible by racial and ethnic minority populations within the U.S. 

populace. Although a priority for upper level management, the actual 

implementation of recreation visitor services may be difficult to 

achieve given competing management demands. The present study 

is an effort to generate greater understanding of the priority given 

to visitor diversity by forest managers in two of the Forest Service’s 

most racially and ethnically diverse regions: the 13 Southern States 

(not including Puerto Rico) that compose Region 8, and Region 5 

(California only). Importantly, we want to understand better what this 

emphasis on visitor diversity means from the perspective of National 

Forest recreation managers. We identify management priorities and 

challenges facing recreation managers in their attempts to connect 

with (i.e., outreach and/or engage) and understand culturally and 

ethnically diverse visitors. Results indicate that managers in both 

regions consider visitor diversity important, but fiscal constraints 

and understaffing inhibit more targeted programming. As expected, 

results indicate more programming aimed at diverse recreation visitors 

in Region 5 compared to Region 8, although racial, ethnic, and, 

increasingly, cultural diversity are prevalent in a number of key areas 

adjacent to National Forest lands in the South.

Keywords: Community engagement strategies, national forest 

recreation, National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey, racial and ethnic 

diversity, recreation managers, visitor constraints.

INTRODUCTION

Minority Group Access to Outdoor Recreation: 

Why is it Important?

Ethnic and racial minority group outdoor recreation 

participation is important for several obvious reasons. 

First, National forests are public resources supported by 

tax revenues. Wherever practical, taxpaying residents 

should have information and equitable access to these 

areas. Secondly, conservation and land management 

organizations understand that engagement with various 

groups is important for environmental preservation. 

Traditionally, these groups’ base of support has been 

mostly from middle and upper income non-Hispanic 

white constituents, but changing demographics 

continually point to the necessity of engaging other 

racial and cultural groups. Third, natural, outdoor areas 

are important places for physical activity. Hispanics and 

African Americans are more likely than non-Hispanic 

whites to have compromised health (Taylor and others 

2007). Outdoor areas on National forests can provide 

the space to help the American public both maintain and 

enhance physical fitness and overall health.

We would also argue that minority engagement with 

National Forest recreation areas could help to cultivate 

practical and ongoing relationships between communities 

of interest and the Forest Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture. Such connections are mutually beneficial, 

as they can aid in building social capital in traditionally 

underserved communities by expanding support and 

information networks at the local level. The Forest 

Service may also gain the respect and support of locals 

Visitor Diversity through the 

Recreation Manager Lens: 

Comparing Forest Service Regions 8 (U.S. South) 

and 5 (California)

Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Nina S. Roberts, Kristin L. Hanula
2

through these interactions. One practical example of 

how such reciprocity could play out is provided by the 

Agency’s current efforts to include minority, lower 

income groups, and youth input into the Forest Service’s 

new Planning Rule (see http://www.fs.usda.gov/

planningrule) (U.S. Federal Register 2012). The Agency is 

making a concerted effort to outreach to groups that have 

not traditionally contributed to National Forest planning, 

but the challenges of doing so are acknowledged by 

the Agency. Forest-based recreation represents a viable 

avenue by which the public could become more familiar 

with the Agency, thereby creating a path or basis upon 

which meaningful contributions to forest management 

could be made.

THE CHANGING FACE OF THE SOUTH

In recent decades, the social processes of migration and 

immigration have transformed southern cities and towns 

into multicultural communities seeking to balance takenfor-granted traditions and culture with the needs and 

views of its newer members (Winders 2005, 2008). As 

an example, the small town of Clarkston, GA, just east 

of Atlanta, had a total population of 4,539 in 1980 that 

was 90 percent white, non-Hispanic (U.S. Census Bureau 

1982a, 1982b). By 2010, the population had increased 

to 7,554, was just 13.6 percent non-Hispanic white, 

and the town was home to refugees from more than 40 

countries due to Clarkston’s designation as an immigrant 

resettlement location (Bixler 2005, St. John 2009, U.S. 

Census Bureau 2012a). On a larger scale, the Hispanic 

populations of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee 

increased 324 percent, 440 percent, and 284 percent 

respectively from 1990 through 2000. The increases were 

less from 2000 through 2010 in each of these States (96.1, 

111.1, and 132.4 percent, respectively), but Hispanic 

growth exceeded that of white, non-Hispanics by at least 

9 to 1, and 3 to 1 for African Americans in this most 

recent period (U.S. Census Bureau 2000, 2012b).

A primary factor “pulling” Hispanics to the Southeast 

in the 1990s was the region’s comparatively stronger 

economy, particularly in the construction, service, 

textile, and agricultural industries (Hernández-León 

and Zúñiga 2000, Johnson-Webb and Johnson 1996, 

Zúñiga and Hernández-León 2001). Importantly, less 

restrictive Federal regulations governing movement of 

immigrant and migrant guest workers allowed these 

laborers to branch out from traditional immigrant 

gateway areas in the Southwestern United States such 

as southern California.

Los Angeles Wilderness Training (LAWT) is a 

Los Angeles-based organization that trains adults 

who work with children to lead camping and 

backpacking trips into natural and wild areas 

adjacent to the city of Los Angeles, CA. LAWT 

also has a free Gear Library available to alumni, 

who can borrow tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, 

ground pads, clothes, and boots for their trips. 

The LAWT Web site is 

www.lawildernesstraining.org.

Participants in the Los Angeles Wilderness Program 

participate in a wilderness leadership training program on 

the Angeles National Forest. (photo by Stephen Vodantis)

Hikers check out a newt on the trail. (photo by 

Chelsea Griffie)
3

Figure 1—National forests in Region 5. (Map created by Shela Mou)

Cities

National forests

States

A variety of studies have looked at the impact of recent 

migration and immigration on education, health care, 

transportation, employment, and housing in the Southeast 

(Atiles and Bohon 2002, Bohon and others 2005, 

Harrison and Scarinci 2007, Johnson-Webb and Johnson 

1996, Smith and Winders 2008). However, few studies 

document immigrants’ interaction with the region’s 

public recreation resources, although some public lands 

managers in the South have called for studies focusing 

on diverse publics. In 2008, the Georgia Department of 

Natural Resources asked the University of Georgia’s 

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources to 

conduct a visitor study to gather data on racially and 

ethnically diverse visitors to Georgia State parks because 

of the increase in numbers of Hispanics visiting the 

parks (Larson and others 2012). The Warnell School of 

Forestry conducted a similar effort in 2010 and 2012, 

both on- and off-site in north Georgia at various distances 

(0 to 75 miles) from the Chattahoochee National Forest 

(Parker 2013). The primary aim was to collect data on a 

diverse public’s perceptions of National Forest recreation 

visitation, including data on visitation constraints from 

both those who visit National forests and those who do 

not. Again, both data collections highlight the increasing 

interest among public land management agencies for 

information on non-traditional visitors (or potential 

visitors) to publicly managed outdoor recreation areas. 

Managers understand that these “newer” publics represent 

demographic changes that can, over the longer term, 

influence land management policy and funding.

REACHING OUT: CONNECTING WITH 

RACIAL AND ETHNIC MINORITY 

VISITORS

The Forest Service’s Response to 

California’s Mosaic 

There is no majority ethnic or racial group in California. 

In 2010, 39.4 percent of the State’s population was white, 

non-Hispanic; 13.9 percent Asian; 6.6 percent African 

American; and 37.6 percent Hispanic (U.S. Census 

Bureau 2012c). Large pockets of California’s Hispanic 

population are concentrated in Southern California, 

primarily in and around Los Angeles and in the San 

Joaquin Valley. Persons of various Asian and Pacific 

Islander, Middle Eastern, and African American descent 

have long and flourishing histories throughout the State 

as well. 

In 1987, four supervisors for National forests in the 

Pacific Southwest—Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres, 

and San Bernardino—recognized the need for recreation 

programming to be more inclusive of various racial and 

ethnic groups, given the increase in Hispanic visitors 

to National forests in the region (Chavez 2001, 2002; 

Chavez and Olson 2009; Chavez and others 2008)(fig.1).

As a result, a Forest Service research unit was established 

in Riverside, CA with the express purpose of documenting 

and devising management solutions addressing 

racial and ethnic diversity on southern California 

forests. Additionally, numerous programs targeting 
4

urban-proximate Hispanic communities have since been 

initiated in southern California with great success.

More recently, attention to diverse recreationists in 

California resulted in a Pacific Southwest Station 

publication, “Serving Culturally Diverse Visitors in 

California: A Resource Guide” (Roberts and others 2009). 

This publication is intended for recreation managers, 

primarily, and highlights strategies and options for 

communication, services, and facilities. Additionally, 

this guide provides recommendations for partnership 

development and innovative ideas for community 

engagement and outreach. Content includes information 

about Forest Service programs and services in California 

as well as those of other Federal agencies (e.g., National 

Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers). Additionally, the 

publication highlights sample models from various nonprofit organizations across the country, with suggestions 

for how Forest Service managers in California can benefit 

from incorporating these ideas or replicating programs.

For instance, the publication describes the California 

Consortium, a well-known community engagement 

program funded by the Forest Service with programs 

located in northern, central, and southern California. 

The Consortia throughout the State serve predominantly 

Hispanic and Hmong populations. They provide 

educational activities for families and encourage young 

people to consider careers in natural resources by 

facilitating internships and job placement opportunities. 

Outdoor Outreach is another example showcased by the 

publication, whereby “at-risk” youth are empowered to 

make positive, lasting changes in their lives through a 

variety of outdoor and adventure programs. 

“PROVIDE IT...BUT WILL THEY COME?”1

Similar cultural diversity exists in and around National 

forests in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South 

Carolina, with traditionally high percentages of African 

Americans and, in many instances, growing Hispanic 

populations. Yet few studies have examined potential 

constraints faced by African American visitors to southern 

National forests (Johnson and others 2007, Parker 2013, 

Smith and Anderson 2010). This is likely due to the 

comparatively small number of visits made by African 

Americans to National forests in the South. While 

local African Americans do value the land and natural 

environment, broadly (Finney 2014). This relative lack of 

engagement from a recreational use standpoint continues 

to raise the question of why they are not recreating 

outdoors in numbers proportionate to their presence in the 

local population. 

The present study draws on data from the National Visitor 

Use Monitoring Survey (NVUM) collected from 2002 

through 2003 and 2005 through 2009.2 Using preliminary 

NVUM data, Johnson and others (2007) compared 

recreation visits for three regions of the country with 

relatively high racial and ethnic minority populations—

African Americans in the South (Region 8), Hispanics 

in the Southwest, (Regions 3 and 5) and Asians in the 

Pacific Northwest (Region 6). From 2002 through 2003, 

estimated visits by Hispanics to the Los Padres and the 

San Bernardino National Forests in southern California 

were close to 25 and 20 percent, respectively. Percentage 

visitation by Hispanics to these forests approached the 

population proportion for Hispanics in southern California 

counties in the early 2000s (34.96 percent).3 Similarly, 

estimated visits by persons of Asian descent to National 

forests in California and Oregon were consistent with 

the proportion of Asians in both these States in the 

year 2000 (10.9 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively) 

(U.S. Census Bureau 2002). 

More recent NVUM estimates (2005 through 2009) from 

round two sampling show somewhat lower percentages 

1

 From Johnson, C.Y.; Bowker, J.M.; Green, G.; Cordell, H.K. 2007. 

“Provide it... but will they come?” a look at African American and 

Hispanic visits to Federal recreation areas. Journal of Forestry. 

105 (5): 257-265.

2

 NVUM is a national survey of recreation visitors to National Forests 

and Grasslands in the United States. The 2000 through 2004 data are 

available as data tables accessible through NRIS NVUM 1.5 software. 

U.S. Forest Service employees may download NRIS NVUM from the 

following website: http://fsweb.nris.fs.fed.us/products/NVUM_Results/

install/index.php. See specific instructions at http://apps.fs.usda.gov/

nrm/nvum/results. [Date accessed: August 15, 2014].

3

 San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Kern, 

Imperial, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Inyo Counties. 

(U.S. Census Bureau, 2002).

St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in 

Apalachicola, FL. (photo by Cassandra Johnson Gaither)
5

Table 1—Percent of visits accounted for by race and ethnicity to National Forests in 

Regions 3, 5, and 8 

Region/Forest

African 

American

Asian 

American Hispanic

White,

non-Hispanic

Region 3

Carson 0.4 1.8 24.8 94.3

Gila 0.3 0.3 29.0 97.7

Region 5

Angeles 4.9 10.0 19.5 83.9

Los Padres 2.4 4.5 16.2 90.2

San Bernardino 3.3 6.3 17.6 89.5

Region 8

Chattahoochee-Oconee 1.6 1.7 4.0 96.9

Francis Marion and Sumter 4.3 2.0 3.8 91.7

National Forests in Alabama 0.2 1.0 0.9 98.3

National Forests in Mississippi 2.8 0.0 0.1 94.2

Source: National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey 2005–2009.

of visits by Hispanics to forests in southern California 

(USDA Forest Service 2013a). Hispanics represented 

19.5 percent of visits to the Angeles, 16.2 percent of visits 

to the Los Padres, and 17.6 percent of visits to the San 

Bernardino, respectively (USDA Forest Service 2013a). 

Visitation estimates for the Carson and Gila National 

Forests in New Mexico (Region 3) showed Hispanics 

contributing to an average of about 27 percent of the visits 

to these forests (USDA Forest Service 2013a) (table 1).

Visitation estimates for persons of Hispanic and Asian 

descent in the West provide some support for the 

demographic theory of racial and ethnic recreation 

visitation, which offers a proximity explanation for 

the lack of minority visits to outdoor recreation areas. 

Simply put, people recreate in areas to which they have 

access (Hutchison 1987, Stodolska and others 2013). 

Again, in 2010, Hispanics accounted for 37.6 percent of 

California’s population and an average of 41.9 percent 

of the population in 11 southern California counties 

proximal to National forests (U.S. Census Bureau 2012c). 

Hispanics accounted for 46.3 percent of New Mexico’s 

population. Persons of Asian descent (non-Hispanic) 

accounted for 3.7 percent of Oregon’s population in 

2010 (U.S. Census Bureau 2012c). To be sure, visitation 

rates for Hispanics are well below the Hispanic 

proportions in the relevant States; however, visits by 

Hispanics and Asians indicate a considerable measure of 

engagement with National forests in both the Southwest 

and the Pacific States.

In contrast, estimated visits by African Americans 

to National forests in the South that have adjacent 

higher-than-average African-American populations 

are drastically lower than the proportion of African 

Americans surrounding these forests. As an example, 

the African-American population exceeds 60 percent in 

some counties adjacent to the Talladega National Forest 

in Alabama; the Chattahoochee-Oconee in Georgia; the 

Homochito, Delta, and Tombigbee in Mississippi; and the 

Francis Marion in South Carolina. However, on average, 

African Americans made only 2 percent of visits 

Children participate in the Latino Legacy “Native Plant 

Gardening” program on the Sam Houston National Forest, 

near Houston, TX. (photo by Tamberly Conway)
6

to forests in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South 

Carolina from 2005 through 2009 (USDA Forest Service 

2013a). Further, the average Hispanic share of visits to 

these forests is the same as visits by African Americans, 

even though African Americans account for a much 

larger share of the general population in each of these 

States (USDA Forest Service 2013a).

In the South, social and cultural definitions of forested 

areas may detract from African-American visitation to 

these places. Johnson and Bowker (2004) argue that 

historical associations of both wild and cultivated lands 

with oppression—in the form of plantation agriculture, 

harsh working conditions in forest products industries, 

and episodic violence—have combined to produce a 

“wildland aversion” among many contemporary African 

Americans. A more straightforward explanation may 

be that African Americans recreate predominantly on 

State or privately held land. However, Larson and others 

(2012) also report significantly lower numbers of African 

Americans (vis-à-vis non-Hispanic whites) visiting three 

Georgia State parks.

Anderson and Smith (2009) and Smith (2012) argue that 

a given community’s engagement with a local National 

Forest depends largely on the level of social capital 

within that community (e.g., social structures, information 

exchange, and strength of civic organizations). In the case 

study of Louisville, MS, near the Tombigbee National 

Forest, Anderson and Smith (2009, p. 8) argue that ”The 

contextual history of slavery, and the role that the national 

as well as State governments played in it, is critical to 

understanding if and how natural resource management 

agencies like the USDA Forest Service can invest in the 

social capital of rural communities.” These factors, they 

argue, along with high poverty rates and contemporary 

social segregation in Louisville, contribute to the 

Tombigbee National Forest as a racialized landscape that 

may inhibit the forest from contributing to social capital 

formation in Louisville.

Culturally based programming promoted by National 

forests in the South occurs less frequently than in the 

West, although we identified one successful outreach 

program centered in Houston, TX titled Urban 

Connections, Hispanic Legacy. The program targets 

Hispanic children and their families in the Houston 

metropolitan area. 

Latino Legacy—Amigos del Bosque (“Friends of the 

Forest”) team members interact with community members 

at a local Hispanic community event near Houston, 

while one visitor completes a survey about conservation 

education and outreach preferences. (photo by Tamberly 

Conway)

Annie Hermansen-Baez of the Southern Research Station 

poses by the Bosque Móvil (“Forest Bus”), a mobile 

forestry education initiative sponsored by Stephen F. 

Austin State University, the Texas A&M Forest Service, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service. The 

bus visits Hispanic cultural festivals and other Hispanic 

events. (photo by Tamberly Conway)
7

Through the interagency-funded More Kids in the Woods 

Program initiated in 2007, Hispanic Legacy promotes 

conservation education in Hispanic communities by 

stressing conservation ethics and by highlighting 

Hispanic history and contributions to forest history and 

management. A prominent feature of the program is its 

Bosque Móvil (“Forest Bus”), a traveling bus that visits 

Hispanic cultural festivals and other Hispanic events 

(Stephen F. Austin State University 2010). The bus is 

stocked with bilingual conservation and management 

material, hands-on activities, and various other exhibits. 

The program is sponsored jointly by the Forest Service, 

Texas A&M Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, and Stephen F. Austin State University, among 

other local organizations.

Hispanic Legacy, however, is not region-wide. It is not 

available in other southern cities with growing Hispanic 

populations due to a number of factors, including lack of 

funding and personnel. Also, there are few comparable 

programs geared to either urban or rural AfricanAmerican populations, although the lack of intentional 

nature contact for African Americans in the South may 

pervade rural areas as well. Johnson and others (2009)

remark on the unfamiliarity of African-American children 

with nature in a rural, coastal South Carolina community.

OUR STRATEGY AND METHODS

While findings on recreation demand by racial and 

ethnic groups are informative, it is equally important 

to understand constraints that managers may face in 

attempting to modify sites or otherwise respond to 

various socio-cultural groups’ recreation preferences. To 

obtain managerial input into this issue, we interviewed 

professionals responsible for recreation management 

on National forests in Regions 8 and 5 regarding their 

ability to be responsive to diverse recreation visitors. 

Interviews were conducted in three phases during the 

summer and fall of 2009 and summers of 2010 and 2011. 

Responses for each forest were summarized and reported 

accordingly. A total of 47 managers and supervisors were 

contacted, 20 in Region 8 and 27 in Region 5. Managers 

were primarily at the forest level but also included 

supervisors and regional recreation managers. Of the 20 

contacts made in Region 8, 11 managers responded. 

In Region 8, managers responded to each question for all 

of the National forests in a given State with the exception 

of six locations: the Ouachita, Chattahoochee-Oconee, 

Daniel Boone, Kisatchie, Francis Marion and Sumter, and 

George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. In 

these cases, responses were provided for a specific forest. 

Ten of the 13 States that make up the Southern Region 

were represented.

The following tabulations show the forests 

represented:

National Forests and Grasslands represented in 

Region 8 were:

Alabama: National Forests in Alabama

Arkansas: Ouachita

Georgia: Chattahoochee-Oconee

Kentucky: Daniel Boone

Louisiana: Kisatchie

Mississippi: National Forests in Mississippi

North Carolina: National Forests in North Carolina

Oklahoma: Ouachita

South Carolina: Francis Marion and Sumter

Texas: National Forests in Texas

Virginia: George Washington and Jefferson

National Forests represented in Region 5 were:

Angeles

Eldorado

Klamath

Lassen

Mendocino

Sierra

Tahoe

Florida teenagers participate in the Florida Indian Youth 

Program on the Apalachicola National Forest. (photo by 

USDA Forest Service)

Seventh-graders from Union Point STEAM Academy 

estimate tree height using hypsometers at Scull Shoals on 

the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia. 

Students assisted by Joan Scales of the Georgia Forestry 

Commission. (photo by Cassandra Johnson Gaither)
8

Figure 2—National forests in Region 8. (Map created by Shela Mou)

In Region 5, the Klamath, Sierra, Tahoe, Angeles, 

Eldorado, Lassen, and Mendocino National Forests 

were represented. Nine managers out of 27 responded 

(33 percent). Responses were provided for individual 

forests. Two managers responded for the Sierra and the 

Lassen. The interview process consisted of 16 openended questions related to management priorities and 

challenges, views on recreation visitor diversity, length of 

the manager’s time at the forest, and perceptions of local 

culture and demography. Management from 7 of the 18 

forests in California was represented. 

WHAT WE LEARNED

A Look at the Southeast, Region 8

National Forests in Alabama—The National Forests 

in Alabama are comprised of four forests: William B. 

Bankhead, Talladega, Tuskegee, and Conecuh. These 

forests encompass roughly 667,000 acres, with the 

northernmost forest (Bankhead) located in the Southern 

Appalachian Mountains, the Talladega in the Cumberland 

Plateau, and the Tuskegee and Conecuh in the Coastal 

Plain (fig. 2). Extensive recreation opportunities are 

available on each forest. The Tuskegee is the smallest 

national forest in the State and also the smallest in the 

United States. It is contained in a single county, Macon 

County, which is noted for high poverty rates and a large 

African-American population (81.8 percent). Historically 

black Tuskegee University is located in the county as well.

We interviewed the forest supervisor and a recreation 

manager for the National Forests in Alabama in 2009 

and 2010. The top three problems recreation managers 

encountered at that time related to the high demands that 

come with heavy use of the forests, budget constraints, 

loss of personnel due to attrition, and the lack of a 

statewide strategic vision for recreation. Compared 

to other management priorities, diversification of the 

visitor base for Alabama National Forests along racial 

and ethnic lines was considered “moderately important.” 

The supervisor stated that there was already a diverse 

recreation user base due to the overall ethnic diversity in 

the general population. Forest managers did not strive to 

increase use for any particular groups. The assumption was 

that the diversity of the general public would be reflected 

in the population of visitors to the National Forests in 

Alabama. The supervisor said that the largest barrier for 

non-white groups visiting the forest may be entry fees. 

Explaining this particular constraint, he stated: “If you 

have families with a lower income in the poverty areas, it’s 

hard to get out and go pay five dollars.” 

The recreation manager also expressed that “economics” 

and “cultural factors” or perhaps unfamiliarity with 

forest resources were likely barriers to greater minority 

recreation participation. At the time of data collection, 

there were no programs aimed at increasing racial or 

ethnic diversity of forest visitors; instead, forest managers 

aimed to increase use generally, although there were 

school and trail partnerships and camping programs in 

place to increase overall use. 

National Forests in Arkansas/Oklahoma—The 

Ouachita National Forest is spread across Arkansas and 

Oklahoma. The forest spans 1.8 million acres in central 
Arkansas and stretches across to eastern Oklahoma. We 

interviewed a recreation manager who indicated the 

primary problems experienced on the forest were capacity 

issues, or specifically “to be able to essentially operate 

all our facilities up to standard,” and lack of staffing. The 

manager emphasized that all of the top concerns were 

strongly correlated to insufficient budget; specifically, he 

said that the budget issues resulted in a lack of personnel 

resources on the forest. He estimated that the recreation 

workforce had decreased by about 20 percent in the 5 

years prior to this 2010 interview.

The manager had worked on the Ouachita 6 years, and 

he conveyed that the socio-demographic composition in 

counties adjacent to the forest had changed somewhat 

over the years he had been affiliated with the forest, 

notably with a growing Hispanic population. Indeed, 

the increase in the Hispanic population was at least 50 

percent in nearly all of the 13 counties adjacent to the 

Ouachita from 2000 through 2010, while the percentage 

of African Americans declined in 7 of the 13 counties and 

the percentage of non-Hispanic whites declined in 11 of 

the surrounding counties. The manager also surmised that 

working class people mostly populate the nearby counties, 

except in the areas around Hot Springs, AR, where 

there are retirees of a higher income class. However, 

diversifying the ethnic and racial composition of visitors 

on the forest was a very low priority at this area compared 

to other issues. Explaining the reason behind this position, 

the manager commented: 

They’re just trying to keep the areas open and 

maintained, and who uses them is just not 

a priority. They’re just trying to keep them 

open.... And we haven’t had the luxury to focus 

our efforts on... what particular user is going to 

benefit from that open recreation area. I guess 

our goal and objective has been more basic and 

that’s just, let’s keep it open so we have a place 

for people to recreate.

The manager remarked that upper income whites who 

are retired and have the time and resources to pursue 

recreational interests made most visits to the forest. For 

the Ouachita, this profile is consistent with the general 

population surrounding the forest. This assessment is 

confirmed by NVUM results showing that 96.8 percent of 

visits are accounted for by whites (USDA Forest Service 

2013a). Still, the manager observed that Hispanic visitors 

were more likely to use day use sites on the forest, larger 

picnic sites in particular, and that their recreation seemed 

to be more family oriented. The manager also relayed 

that he did not perceive any barriers that different racial 

groups faced recreating on the forest; however, there 

was a concerted effort to provide signs in Spanish. The 

manager stated that managers would like to increase 

visitor diversity, but at that time there were no plans or 

programs in place aimed at doing so.

National Forests in Georgia—The ChattahoocheeOconee National Forest is operated as one unit 

administratively but split into the Chattahoochee and 

the Oconee National Forest physically, totaling more 

than 865,000 acres. The Chattahoochee portion is in 

north Georgia at the southern end of the Appalachian 

Mountains. The Oconee reserve is located roughly 150 

miles to the south; it is situated in the agricultural region 

of the Piedmont.

The forest supervisor we interviewed had been in his 

position nearly 2 years and the recreation supervisor 

nearly 4 years. The top problem revealed by these 

managers was with concessionaires, particularly regarding 

fee compliance. This involved theft from fee tubes located 

in recreation areas. Managers described it as a “chronic 

problem.” Other key issues were deferred maintenance; 

dispersed recreation with many access points and entry 

issues, which made it difficult for forest staff to monitor 

visitors; lack of staffing; and keeping up with necessary 

maintenance. Unauthorized dispersed recreation was 

especially problematic. The supervisor commented: 

One issue that we face is with our dispersed 

recreation, being a forest that’s very fragmented 

and very close to large populations, there’s just 

a lot of different access to the forest, which is a 

good thing. However, having so much access to 

such a large population, it means that folks are 

recreating not necessarily in the areas where we 

want them to, particularly along rivers and 

streams and in corridors that 

are hard to 

manage. 

9

Blood Mountain Wilderness signage on the 

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest 

(photo by Jessica Mou)
10

...Our dispersed recreation actually is growing in 

popularity, and of course it’s free to the public, 

and we just don’t have a plan for managing that 

type of recreation. We’re very comfortable with 

our developed [recreation], but the dispersed is 

becoming more and more of a challenge.

In addition, the recreation supervisor noted that the lack 

of Agency personnel had resulted in an increase in the 

number of concessionaires on the forest. She felt that the 

lack of clearly designated revenue areas made it difficult 

to manage and maintain concessions on the forest. 

Both managers stated that retirees and the working class 

made up much of the population of counties adjacent 

to the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. For the 

recreation supervisor, “diversity” of forest visitors related 

more to recreationists coming from metropolitan Atlanta 

than racial or ethnic differentiation. However, the forest 

supervisor believed there had been somewhat of 

a demographic change in areas surrounding the 

Chattahoochee, especially increases in the Hispanic 

population. When asked what forest personnel would 

like to know about different racial or ethnic groups 

recreating on the forest, the supervisor stressed that he 

would like to understand better what both the Hispanic 

and African-American communities would like to have 

for recreation opportunities on the forest. The recreation 

supervisor surmised that the lack of non-white visitors to 

the forest was likely due to the lack of ethnic and racial 

diversity near the forest. This was more the case near the 

northern, Chattahoochee portion of the forest, where the 

population mix is largely white. However, as discussed, 

there is considerable diversity in counties adjacent to the 

Oconee preserve south of metro Atlanta. The recreation 

supervisor also felt that a significant barrier for non-white 

Various photos depicting typical flora and fauna in the spring time on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. 

(photos by Jessica Mou)
11

visitors may be the lack of existing visitor diversity, that 

non-whites may feel uncomfortable traveling to places 

that are overwhelmingly white.

The managers felt they were able to be responsive to the 

inquiries of non-traditional users on the forest, who were 

defined as anyone who is “non-Caucasian.” In general, 

however, recreation managers have very little contact 

with these non-traditional users. There were no current 

plans aimed at increasing ethnic diversity on the forest. 

However, the forest supervisor explained, “We’re starting 

to think about that [plans to increase diversity] to better 

understand it, but we need some information, such as 

your survey; that type of information might provide us 

help.” In addition, the recreation supervisor said that 

forest staff worked with local volunteer groups that reach 

out to underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.

Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky

The Daniel Boone in northern Kentucky is one of the 

larger National forests in the east, with 2.1 million acres 

of land within its proclamation boundary. However, 

the Forest Service manages only about one-third of 

these acres. Land fragmentation represents an ongoing 

controversy for forest managers because forest 

boundaries are often disputed by adjacent landowners. 

Red River Gorge is a popular geologic feature on the 

forest.

A recreation manager interviewed in 2010 indicated 

that the top forest concerns were budget (insufficient 

funding leading to needs on the forest going unmet), 

lack of staffing, and high recreation usage. The sociodemographic mix around the forest has somewhat 

changed over the years, with an increase in various 

Hispanic populations. For recreation managers, 

diversifying the ethnic and racial composition of visitors 

was considered “not important” due to the challenge of 

“insufficient staffing.” Still, recreation managers were 

interested in learning more about both the recreation 

interests of diverse visitors on the forest and what group 

sizes are most common for different racial and ethnic 

groups. Language was the main barrier facing racial and 

ethnic groups on this forest because all of the information 

about forest activities is in English. In terms of plans 

aimed at increasing visitor diversity, forest managers had 

some conservation programs in place in inner cities. The 

managers also identified the need to address diversity 

issues after conducting a forest-wide interpretive plan.

Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana

The Kisatchie National Forest contains 604,000 acres 

of public land and is the only national forest in the State 

of Louisiana. The forest contains a range of traditional 

outdoor recreation activities, as well as the remains of 

U.S. Army post Camp Claiborne dating back to World 

War II. Top forest concerns on the Kisatchie included 

deferred maintenance, lack of staffing, and “getting 

recreation recognized as an important function within 

the forest.” Concerning the lack of staffing, recreation 

managers indicated they were meeting forest needs, but 

lack of staffing remained a constant struggle.

The recreation manager we interviewed had worked for 

the Forest Service for 21 years and for the Kisatchie 

about 12 years. She described many of the people living 

in counties near the forest as long-time, lower income 

residents. She perceived the social mix as mostly 

unchanged over the years, although she noted an increase 

in Hispanics near the southernmost Calcasieu Ranger 

District. Diversifying recreation visitors on the forest was 

important: “We’re welcoming diversity.” She said forest 

managers were looking more closely at Hispanic visitors 

to determine whether they should begin to provide 

signs in Spanish.

The manager believed that the biggest barrier for ethnic 

and racial recreation visitors on the Kisatchie was the 

lack of public awareness. There were programs designed 

for school children that relayed information about the 

various recreation possibilities on the forest. Forest 

personnel were also working with 4-H groups across 

the State and with the Louisiana School for the Deaf to 

help encourage people with hearing disabilities to visit 

the forest.

National Forests in Mississippi

Approximately 1.2 million acres of public lands are 

contained in Mississippi’s six National forests: De 

Soto, Homochito, Bienville, Delta, Tombigbee, and 

Holly Springs. These six preserves are distributed fairly 

evenly throughout the State from north to south. We 

spoke with a forest recreation program manager whose 

responses reflected conditions for all National forests in 

the State. Here, too, the most compelling problem facing 

forest managers was budgetary concerns. The program 

manager relayed that the managers of National forests in 

Mississippi were interested in learning more about the 

recreation interests of visitors, but managers said that 

they received very little contact from anyone they would 

consider “non-traditional” visitors. There were no plans 

in place focused on increasing diversity on these forests. 

National Forests in North Carolina

The Nanatahala, Pisgah, Uwharrie, and Croatan National 

Forests make up the National Forests in North Carolina. 

The Pisgah and Nantahala in western North Carolina hug 

the Southern Appalachian Mountains, and the Uwharrie 

and Croatan are in the central Piedmont and Coastal 

Plain regions, respectively. The renowned Nantahala 
12

River runs through the Nantahala National Forest. The 

river is a popular whitewater rafting venue and trout 

fishing resource. 

The forest supervisor for the National Forests in 

North Carolina told us that illegal dumping (and the 

resulting environmental damage), budget concerns, 

and user conflicts on forest trail systems were the top 

problems recreation managers experienced. Decreased 

funding, in turn, exacerbated the related problem of 

facility degradation. Diversifying the racial and ethnic 

composition of visitors was considered “somewhat 

important,” but the immediate priority was to simply 

try to maintain facilities with a limited budget. The 

supervisor had been in her current position about 4 

years when she was interviewed. She noted that the 

Hispanic population in counties surrounding some of 

the forests was increasing; however, she was not certain 

of this given her relatively short duration as forest 

supervisor. She added that if the Hispanic population 

was indeed increasing, then the National Forests in 

North Carolina should pay more attention to developing 

bilingual interpretive material. Recreation managers had 

not received any contact from non-traditional visitors; 

therefore, it was noted they had not had a chance to 

interact. The National Forests in North Carolina did not 

have any plans or programs focused on increasing 

visitor diversity. 

National Forests in South Carolina

The two National forests investigated in South Carolina 

were the Francis Marion and Sumter National forests. The 

recreation manager interviewed represented perspectives 

on both forests. The Francis Marion (258,864 acres) is 

a part of the Middle Atlantic coastal forests eco-region. 

The Sumter (370,000 acres) contains Ellicott Rock 

Wilderness, which spans three States, and the Chattooga, 

a National Wild and Scenic River.

The recreation manager we interviewed felt that one of 

the larger issues for the National forests in South Carolina 

is the regionalized nature of the Forest Service. 

He explained:

[The structure] tends to be decentralized as 

an agency from the Washington office down. 

And so we all kind of reinvent the wheel, so 

to speak, in terms of accomplishments and 

targets; we don’t have a real good way to 

manage our accomplishments, at least that’s my 

perception.... When we set our program of work 

up for the following year, it’s somewhat of a 

challenge to get us some accountability on some 

aspects of the program; some things are easy to 

track, others are harder.

Similar to other forests across the region, budgetary 

concerns were another top problem. Specifically 

Sliding Rock on the Pisgah National Forest. (photo by USDA Forest Service)
13

concerning the appropriation process, forest managers did 

not know how much funding they would receive until late 

in the fiscal year. Managers on the forest tried to deal with 

this issue by prioritizing a list of projects and outcomes 

and then adjusting to funding constraints. Added to 

this problem was a lack of staffing. Those working in 

recreation on these forests tend to have many different 

responsibilities; they are not just focused on recreation. 

The recreation manager believed these multiple tasks 

made it more difficult to focus on the recreation 

program alone. 

People living adjacent to the forest span the spectrum 

from poor and working class communities along the coast 

(Francis Marion) to affluent populations in this same area. 

In the Piedmont region closer to the Sumter there are 

also affluent communities intermixed with retirees and 

the working classes. This manager said that the Hispanic 

population had “skyrocketed” in the Piedmont and 

Mountainous areas adjacent to the Sumter in the time he 

had worked on the forest (101⁄2 years).

The importance of diversifying the ethnic and racial 

composition of visitors was considered ”somewhat 

important,” but this goal had to be considered along with 

many others. In addition, there were no clear performance 

standards for meeting a goal of “visitor diversification.” 

The manger explained: 

With all the other things that we have on our 

plate, that [increasing visitor diversity] tends 

to get left behind a little bit. But it probably 

needs to be a more important thing, and we’ve 

done some brochures in Spanish and some 

signs in Spanish, particularly through the Wild 

Scenic River Corridor since we get a lot of folks 

down there, especially in certain areas.... The 

Hispanics like to congregate in large groups 

and swim, so we had some issues with safety. 

So we’ve certainly done, or have done some 

signing in Spanish alerting folks to some safety 

hazards.... But with all the other things we have 

on our plate and a finite amount of people to 

do the work it takes to put behind that... and 

again, there’s really no major way to measure 

that performance; there’s really no way, if 

that’s an important thing to accomplish, there’s 

nothing that really says you do this, you get 

brownie points for doing it or, or you get a good 

performance review for doing it.

The recreation manager felt that managers on the forest 

have a general understanding of the preferences and 

patterns of Hispanic families recreating on the forests. 

The manager noted that Hispanic families tended to 

utilize the forest during the day and in large family 

groups. The manager stated that the larger group 

sizes for Hispanics necessitated changing facilities to 

accommodate larger groups, but that the relatively low 

budgets prohibited managers from making such changes. 

He cited an example of a recreation site in the Piedmont 

that received higher-than-average visitation by Hispanics. 

Management had been trying to upgrade facilities at this 

location but had been unsuccessful due to lack of funding. 

He further explained, however, that overall visitation at 

the site was lower than sites on the coast that typically 

attract more whites. He believed heavier-use sites would 

stand a better chance of having funds allocated to them, 

other factors equal, because of relatively higher visitation 

at these locations.

National Forests and Grasslands in Texas

The National Forests and Grasslands in Texas include 

four National forests in east Texas—the Davy Crockett, 

Angelina, Sabine, and Sam Houston—and the CaddoLyndon B. Johnson Grasslands in northeast Texas. We 

spoke with a recreation manager who had been in her 

position 26 years. She commented that problems she 

encountered had to do with administrative processes 

that could be daunting tasks for those working on these 

forests. The manager explained that the maps for travel 

management (i.e., navigating through the forests) were 

poorly organized (e.g., type of vehicle and season use 

were not labeled), unclear, and printed in black and white, 

which was a requirement. She felt the maps were very 

confusing both to users and to Forest Service staff. 

The manager also iterated that unmet visitor preferences 

are another top problem with which recreation managers 

must contend. She stated: 

There’s a huge emphasis on developed 

recreation sites, developed campsites. That’s 

where we put our money, time, and resources, 

and in many cases that’s not where the public 

is interested in going. They’re interested in 

dispersed recreation. They’re interested in trails 

or just going out hunting and fishing in the 

general forest area.

The three forests located in rural east Texas (Angelina, 

Davy Crockett, and Sabine) are surrounded by working 

class communities and, in some instances, communities 

with very high poverty rates. The recreation manager 

noted that in some instances people in the poorer 

communities hunt for subsistence, rather than for 

recreation. Since this manager had been in her position, 

the racial and ethnic diversity of communities surrounding 

the four National forests had changed considerably. 

She explained that the town where her office is located, 

Lufkin, TX, is predominantly Hispanic, and noted that 

this population had grown significantly over the past 20 

years. There are also counties near some of the forests 
14

that are “heavily African American.” She believed 

that diversifying the ethnic and racial composition of 

recreation visitors was considered “very important” to 

recreation managers. She stated: 

I think it’s a very important issue because we 

need to understand our customer or visitor; and, 

their ethnic background is part of what they’re 

all about, and it’s going to have an impact on 

the type of activities they would like to be 

engaged in.

Hispanic interests (extended-family focused) are 

subjects about which some, yet not all, managers are 

knowledgeable. Similar to managers elsewhere, this 

manager commented that Hispanics typically visit in 

larger group sizes; and that some recreation sites should 

be modified for groups with larger than average sizes. She 

acknowledged that forest managers had less contact with 

African-American visitors: 

...we unfortunately are not good at bringing in 

the African-American visitor, and I think a lot of 

it is security; they would like to have more of a 

feeling of security when they go out to a place 

that is out in the middle of nowhere.

However, she mentioned that a conservation educator had 

been hired to develop interpretive programs for school 

districts near Houston, TX, that would target Hispanic 

populations around Houston. The manager considered 

any groups who are not white and young people as nontraditional groups. Recreation managers at these forests 

had received very little contact from non-traditional users, 

so the managers had not had a chance to be responsive to 

non-traditional visitors. Additionally, the manager felt that 

the Forest Service, as an Agency, had not kept abreast of 

current technologies and social media such as YouTube, 

Facebook, and Twitter that would allow younger people 

better access to Agency information and programming.

National Forests in Virginia

The George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in 

eastern Virginia combine to make one of the larger public 

land areas in the Eastern United States. They span nearly 

2 million acres in Virginia, with a smaller number of acres 

spilling into West Virginia and Kentucky. The Blue Ridge 

Parkway, managed by the National Park Service, also runs 

through the forest. The adjacent Monongahela National 

Forest in West Virginia expands this public land coverage 

by nearly one million acres.

We interviewed a recreation manager who had been on 

the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests 

for 4 years. The top issues confronting management were 

illegal off-road vehicle usage and the proximity of large 

populations to the forest. Managers here were interested 

CADDO NATIONAL 

GRASSLANDS

The CADDO comprises 17,785 acres and contains 

three lakes. The largest, Lake Coffee Mill, is 

651 acres with one developed recreation area 

containing 13 picnic units and an improved boat 

ramp. Lake Davy Crockett is 388 acres in size and 

has two developed recreation areas. West Lake 

Davy Crockett has 11 camping units, while the 

east side has four picnic units and an improved 

boat ramp. Forty-five acre Lake Fannin is 

accessible for fishing from the east side only and 

has an unimproved earthen boat launch site.

LYNDON B. JOHNSON 

NATIONAL GRASSLANDS

The LBJ comprises more than 20,250 acres with 

one developed recreation area located at Black 

Creek Lake. The recreation area consists of seven 

picnic units, seven walk-in camp units, one 

improved boat ramp, and an accessible fishing 

bridge. No drinking water is available. The lake is 

approximately 30 acres in size. 

The Cottonwood-Black Creek Hiking Trail is 

4 miles long and connects the two lakes. It 

is rated moderately difficult. There are nearly 

75 miles of multipurpose trails which run in the 

Cottonwood Lake vicinity.

TADRA Point is a designated trailhead camping 

facility that is a primary access point for the 

75-mile LBJ Multiuse Trail system. Restrooms 

and parking facilities are provided.

Other popular lakes include Clear Lake and 

Rhodes Lake. Clear Lake is approximately 

20 acres in size and has a concrete boat ramp 

and a 50-foot wheelchair accessible fishing pier. 

Rhodes Lake is approximately 15 acres and has 

no facilities

Text taken verbatim from: USDA Forest Service. Caddo-LBJ 

National Grasslands, [Online]. Available: http://www.fs.usda.

gov/detail/texas/about-forest/districts/?cid=fswdev3_008440 

[Date accessed: August 8, 2014].
15

in learning more about the recreation interests of visitors. 

Knowing more about visitor mobility would be valuable 

in that “...access is an issue with certain ethnic groups 

that aren’t as mobile, it seems, as others.” She felt that 

language differences and fear of law enforcement officers 

are the largest barriers for Hispanics: 

...and there’s a great fear of law enforcement 

officers. They [Hispanic visitors] think if they 

go to the woods they’re going to get arrested 

because that’s what happens back home and on 

the border, so anybody in uniform, they think 

they’re going to get arrested.

In addition, few African Americans visit the forest: 

“We have a significant African-American population in 

Virginia, but we aren’t having users of the forest.” She 

attributed the lack of African-American visitation to a 

preference for urban culture and to a lack of mobility. 

Recreation managers here have been able to be responsive 

to non-traditional users, whom they described as African 

American, although recreation managers hear very 

little from these non-traditional users. Forest managers 

have been working through schools to help educate the 

public about recreation opportunities and to encourage 

forest visitation. 

Region 5: California from the North to the South

The Federal Government manages close to one-half of 

California’s 100 million acres of public lands. Eighteen 

National forests, spanning 20 million acres, are included 

in the National Forest System. These forests are located 

on the State’s North Coast, in the Cascade and Sierra 

Nevada ranges, and southward from Big Sur to the 

Mexican border in the South Coast range. California’s 

National forests include world-renowned destinations 

such as Mt. Shasta, Lake Tahoe, Mt. Whitney, and the Big 

Sur coast. These National forests constitute one-quarter of 

National Forest recreation sites in the country.

Angeles National Forest

The Angeles National Forest is situated in the San Gabriel 

Mountains north of Los Angeles. The forest features 3 

Wilderness areas (Cucamonga, San Gabriel, and Sheep 

Mountain), 10 lakes and reservoirs, and 240 miles of 

rivers and streams. The Angeles abuts several sprawling 

metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles and San 

Bernardino. 

The recreation manager interviewed had worked on the 

forest 9 1⁄2 years. He felt that the biggest concerns on 

the forest were the lack of staffing, budgetary shortfalls, 

and costs to collect and enforce the fee program. In the 

manager’s opinion, the ethnic and racial diversity of 

residents had remained about the same; many of the 

people in counties adjacent to the forest are longtime, 

working class residents. In terms of efforts to increase the 

racial and ethnic diversity of forest visitors, the manager 

stated: 

...we don’t have any problem trying to diversify. 

We have a very heavily diverse group of forest 

users.... Hispanics are regular forest visitors.... 

The afternoon, Sunday meal, especially with the 

large, Hispanic community, that [meal] seems to 

be a very family oriented and a very culturally 

important activity in their lives.

Recreation visitors participating in the Los Angeles Wilderness Program pump water. (photo by Monica Cota)
16

There are also a large number of Asian visitors that come 

to the forest as members of organized hiking groups.

The manager did not believe there were any barriers that 

different ethnic or racial groups might encounter in their 

attempts to visit the Angeles, and because the visitor 

base is already so varied, the manager said there were no 

specific programs aimed at increasing diversity. Rather, he 

said the more urgent task was successfully managing the 

large number of visitors they receive. He estimated yearly 

visitation of between 3 and 4 million, which is consistent 

with an NVUM estimate of 3 million visitors for fiscal 

year 2006 (U.S. Forest Service 2013b). 

The manager described non-traditional groups as Native 

Americans: 

I think a big part of it is the Native American 

groups... we’re a little more unique here in 

that there are no Federally recognized Native 

American tribes in this area; however, you know 

there are over a dozen Native American groups, 

but they’re not Federally recognized so that 

makes it a little bit different.

Forest managers here have been able to be responsive 

to the needs and concerns of Native American groups, 

however. For example, Forest Service staff have quarterly 

meetings to help keep Native groups informed of 

relevant forest events. Notably, there is the Haramokngna 

American Indian Cultural Center on the Angeles, which 

is managed cooperatively between the Angeles National 

Forest and the Ne’ayuh (“friends” in Tongva language), a 

Native Peoples organization (http://www.colapublib.org/

native).

With respect to visitation, the manager said that the 

forest is used primarily for day use activities because 

of its proximity to large, urban areas. This relates to 

“everything from bike riding, hiking, horseback riding, 

and especially weekends, Saturdays and Sundays.” 

Despite the manager’s statement that the Angeles did 

not have outreach programs aimed at increasing ethnic 

or cultural diversity, such efforts are apparent in the 

many partnerships the forest maintains. For instance, 

the California Consortium focuses on underserved 

communities. It also provides information to area 

schools about natural resources careers and recreation 

opportunities on the forest, and it offers various other 

types of information that might attract people from these 

communities to the forest. The forest also works closely 

with Outward Bound Adventures, Inc. in Los Angeles, 

which focuses primarily on at-risk youth from AfricanAmerican and Latino communities. In addition, the forest 

partners with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps and the 

San Gabriel Conservation Corps. 

Eldorado National Forest

Also located along a mountain range, the central Sierra 

Nevada, Eldorado National Forest is surrounded by 

other National forests (Tahoe, Humboldt-Toiyabe, and 

Stanislaus) and is another urban-proximate forest, located 

a short distance from the State capitol, Sacramento. As of 

2009, the recreation manager with whom we spoke had 

been on the forest for 27 years. Important management 

concerns were: engaging the public with public lands; 

maintaining a Forest Service presence on the forest (e.g., 

meeting with the public and developing a connection); 

completing analyses for work on trails and recreation 

facilities; dispersed recreation, including its resource 

impacts; and managing motorized vehicle users. Unlike 

managers interviewed elsewhere, this manager said that 

recreation facilities on the forest were in good condition.

The task of diversifying the ethnic or racial composition 

of recreation visitors was considered “an important one, 

although it probably doesn’t get the attention it needs to.” 

Recreation managers on the Eldorado would like more 

information on how to communicate with some ethnic 

groups about their use of dispersed areas of the forest. He 

believed that the larger constraints Hispanics encounter 

have to do with group size barriers in developed areas. 

For instance, Hispanic visitors often need family/multifamily sites. Language barriers are also challenges 

that can pose problems. Visitor groups speak different 

languages, so there are communication problems among 

visitors, broadly. Additionally, those who worked on the 

forest could not communicate well with some non-English 

speaking groups. There were few or no signs or literature 

in a language other than English: “We recognize the need 

probably for multi-language literature but we just haven’t 

moved that way.” However, the forest had been increasing 

the number of group campgrounds and modifying them to 

meet the needs of larger groups.

Forest managers here did not receive much input from 

non-traditional users, who were described as Hispanics, 

African Americans, Asians, Eastern Europeans, and 

Native American groups. Recreation managers had very 

little contact with these non-traditional visitors. However, 

when they did have contact with such visitors, they were 

able to be responsive. The Eldorado National Forest, for 

instance, works with schools in the community to increase 

awareness of the National Forest; with this partnership, 

forest managers are able to reach out to underserved 

communities. The goal of these programs is to try to 

engage school children with forest activities with hopes 

that eventually entire families would find their way to the 

forest as well. When asked about communication with 

groups that do not typically visit the forest, the manager 

replied that forest managers had held meetings in various 
17

communities to try to reach these populations, but the 

response had been low.

Klamath National Forest

The Klamath’s location relative to northern mountain 

ranges and the Great Basin makes it a receptor of 

intricate climate patterns which, in turn, produce a broad 

spectrum of vegetative and biological diversity. The 

first problem the recreation manager on the Klamath 

mentioned was implementing the travel management 

decision. Particularly as this relates to the Klamath, 

an Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) system was being 

designated by forest managers. Recreation managers were 

still figuring out how to fund the new system at the time 

of our interviews. Also concerning staffing, the manager 

reported that the lack of staffing meant that the forest 

could not always take advantage of opportunities due 

to workers’ “limited capacity to take on the additional 

workload.” In addition, many employees on this forest 

were planning to retire soon, but filling those positions 

could pose a problem because of hiring cutbacks.

Forest managers here did not have programs aimed at 

increasing visitor diversity because the Klamath did 

not draw the kind of racially diverse visitors seen on 

other forests in southern California. However, this forest 

also has a partnership with the Northern California 

Consortium, which focuses on recruiting and hiring from 

communities that do not typically visit forests. 

Lassen National Forest

Lassen National Forest is well known for both its natural 

and cultural histories. The Pacific Crest Trail meanders 

through the forest, along with miles of other trails and 

lakes. The Lassen is another urban-proximate forest in the 

State, with relatively easy access by residents in the Bay 

Area, Sacramento, Chico, and Redding. Iconic figures 

from both Native American and European American 

histories are connected to the forest. The Ishi Wilderness, 

for example, is named for a Native American who 

survived most of his life with a small number of others 

from his Tribe in rough terrain near Oroville, CA, and 

the name “Lassen” is given in honor of Peter Lassen, a 

pioneer who established the Lassen Cutoff section of the 

California Trail.

The top problems for recreation managers on the 

Lassen included dealing with cattle management (a 

very controversial topic), budget, lack of staffing, and 

the travel management plan. According to the manager 

with whom we spoke, diversifying the ethnic or racial 

composition of recreation visitors was “very important” in 

relation to other issues. Forest management was interested 

in knowing the recreation preferences of different ethnic 

and racial groups. The manager perceived barriers for 

non-whites more as cultural preferences for collective 

recreation settings and activities that are less conducive to 

dispersed settings:

I think what we tend to offer is mostly outdoors, 

relatively isolated experiences.... I get the 

impression that they [non-white visitors, most 

likely Hispanics] would prefer recreation 

experiences that involve lots of other people; 

and the two large lakes, I would say, tend to 

draw most of our ethnic diversity as opposed to 

hiking or biking or hunting or fishing or other 

recreation-type things.

For the Lassen, non-traditional visitors are equestrian 

and biking groups. The Lassen plans did not include any 

ongoing arrangements with groups focused on reaching 

out to underserved communities, although the manager 

said they are concerned about the issue, and they will use 

the most recent NVUM data to understand better the types 

of groups visiting the forest. 

Mendocino National Forest

The Mendocino encompasses 913,000 acres in 

California’s Coastal Mountain Range in the northwestern 

part of the State. The recreation manager on the 

Mendocino had been in her position for 21⁄2 years. 

Two primary concerns managers there faced included 

a general lack of funding and lack of staffing for 

recreation positions. Both of these issues led to three 

other problems: (1) the need for more training in trail 

management, (2) trail maintenance, and (3) the use of 

pack stock in wilderness.

For the Mendocino, diversifying the ethnic or racial 

composition of visitors was not considered important. 

Recreation visitors celebrating in California wilderness. 

(photo by Chelsea Griffie)
18

According to the recreation manager, “Probably the 

main things we’re focusing on relate to simply the basic 

maintenance of our facilities... not so much going out 

and doing a lot of outreach to different populations....” 

However, similar to other National forests in the region, 

the Mendocino partners with the Northern California 

Consortium to help expose non-traditional populations 

to the forest.

Recreation managers at the Mendocino were also 

interested in learning about diversity trends. The manager 

explained: “I think it would be interesting to learn what 

the trends have been, maybe over the past 10 years 

on whether...we’re getting more diversity among our 

recreationists or if it’s really kind of staying the same.” 

The manager felt there were no barriers for ethnic or 

racial groups visiting the forest.

Sierra National Forest

The Sierra National Forest is located in California’s 

Central Valley. Popular scenic attractions are Fresno 

Dome, a large granite exposure, and Nelder Grove, 

a grove of Giant Sequoias. We spoke with a forest 

supervisor and recreation manager for the Sierra. The 

supervisor had been in his position for 6 years and the 

recreation manager for ten years. Primary concerns for 

forest management were implementation of the travel 

management plan, motorized vehicle users using the 

designated trails (and designating a system of roads 

and trails for motorized vehicles), and having sufficient 

Forest Service staffing to engage with the visitors. The 

forest had contracted out many of its recreation services, 

like maintenance. As a result, there was less face-toface contact between the Agency and the visiting public. 

Also, many of the forest’s recreation facilities were 

outdated or in need of repair. The recreation manager 

added that demand services for special uses were also big 

issues for them. 

Both managers stated there had been a change in the 

socio-demographic composition of residents living in 

counties adjacent to the forest over the previous several 

years. Traditionally, the population consisted mostly 

of working class people. This stratum still constituted 

the majority of residents, but because of the decline 

in working class employment opportunities in recent 

years, more retirees and those with higher incomes were 

moving into the area. There were small “pockets of high 

income people” who, in some instances, had constructed 

expensive homes that abut the forest. In California’s 

Central Valley, there had also been significant shifts in 

terms of racial and ethnic diversity. On the Sierra, the 

staff considered the goal to diversify the ethnic or racial 

composition of visitors “very important” compared to 

other issues. 

Two culturally distinct groups have a presence on the 

forest: Hispanics and an increasing number of people 

from Southeast Asia, Hmong in particular. The forest 

supervisor commented on these cultural shifts:

We have a very high Hispanic component, 

and the facilities that were built forty years 

ago on the forest, in some cases, were built 

for individual campers, small group kind of 

facilities. And through this cultural change or 

diversity mix that we’re seeing you end up with 

more people coming that want the large group 

camp areas or they come more as larger family 

groups rather than small [sic] individuals. 

Another situation that we’re involved in is we 

have a large Southeast Asian population here in 

Fresno County, and they like to get out on the 

forest. It’s part of their culture to be out on the 

forest; they come from a culture where they kind 

of live off the land and so we’ve had some real 

issues in dealing with some of the newer people 

to the area in educating them about harvest laws 

with fishing, hunting seasons and laws relative 

to that, what are game species and nongame 

species. So we’ve had a lot of educational issues 

with people from other cultures that are not 

necessarily in tune with the rules and regulations 

relative to public lands or game management in 

the United States or California.

Recreation managers on the Sierra wanted to know 

the best way to raise public awareness of the forest for 

underrepresented groups. They also hoped to understand 

better the recreation preferences of visitors insofar as 

these activities are environmentally sustainable and legal. 

The supervisor wanted more discussions with recently 

immigrated communities to foster awareness of the 

forest’s presence and the range of activities available. 

Recreation managers on this forest did realize, however, 

the importance of outreach to young people and how 

best to accomplish this task. They felt the main barrier 

for some ethnic or racial groups visiting the Sierra was 

language and not being able to communicate with those 

who work on the forest. This was especially problematic 

in serving Hmong visitors because some of these 

visitors are not able to read the Hmong language. To 

communicate with them, the forest used Hmong radio 

and television stations. The plans and programs they have 

aimed at increasing visitor diversity included the Central 

California Consortium, communication efforts with 

the Southeast Asian community, and other community 
19

outreach involving internship programs and Generation 

Green. This latter initiative includes information about the 

National Forest and its conservation education in green 

industries and recycling.

Tahoe National Forest

The Tahoe National Forest is located in the northern 

Sierra Nevada, extending from the foothills to California’s 

border with Nevada. The forest includes 800,000 acres 

of public land with 400,000 acres of privately held lands. 

We spoke with a recreation officer for the forest who had 

worked on the Tahoe since 1998.

Lack of funding is a major concern for Tahoe recreation 

managers. The dearth of adequate funds led to a lack 

of staffing, another challenging issue on the forest. 

The Tahoe serves large metropolitan areas (e.g., San 

Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, Reno) so a lack of 

law enforcement was also a problem. Forest managers 

also experienced constantly changing administrative 

processes along with a shortage of help to complete these 

processes. As a result, workers were spending much more 

time on administration and had less time for other areas 

needing attention.

When questioned about the importance of increasing 

diversity among recreation visitors, the recreation officer 

said the Tahoe was already very diverse, and he did not 

think work on increasing ethnic diversity in the forest was 

necessary. However, the manager felt there was a need 

for more Spanish language information on the forest, 

given the Hispanic presence there. He reiterated that 

having more material available in Spanish would help 

Spanish-speaking visitors to comply better with forest 

regulations. Non-traditional users were Asians (Hmong), 

Hispanics, and Russian groups. As far as partnerships 

with groups who reach out to underserved communities, 

the Tahoe National Forest also works with the California 

Consortium. The forest did not have any plans or 

programs aimed at increasing diversity. The reasoning 

behind this, as explained by the manager, was that the 

recreation managers at the Tahoe “have more use than 

we can adequately deal with” without specific diversity 

initiatives

CONCLUSIONS

This inquiry of Forest Service managers offers insight 

and understanding of how they, specifically, view 

visitor diversity. A common theme across all forests 

in both regions is the lack of funding and staffing to 

address the most basic tasks associated with National 

Forest recreation. Despite these obstacles, though, 

some managers are finding innovative ways to enhance 

community engagement and outreach. Findings indicate 

that Region 5 recreation managers are somewhat better 

Backpackers rest after a long day of hiking on the Angeles National Forest. (photo by Dennis Arguelles)
20

able to either balance budget priorities or find alternatives 

to meet recreation demands. Undoubtedly, efforts to 

address visitor diversity in California are propelled by the 

greater ethnic and racial diversity in that State compared 

to most places in the South, and by the fact that nontraditional visitors like the Hmong are frequent visitors 

to some of the State’s National forests. Thus, there is also 

pressure from outside the Agency to respond to diverse 

communities. To compare, the South has racial diversity, 

yet there is less outdoor recreation engagement by nonwhite members of the population. To better understand 

this phenomenon, it is crucial to investigate relationships 

between local communities and land management 

agencies.

Smith’s (2012) research may offer some insight. He 

argues that the Forest Service must help build social 

capital in local communities by collaborating with 

specific, placed-based interests. Successful collaboration 

requires that managers understand the prevailing social 

and economic milieu of local communities. 

This can include data gathering on barriers locals 

experience and/or perceive in making contact with 

forests; information about longstanding rifts or factions 

embedded within the community that might inhibit a 

communitywide outreach strategy; opportunities for local 

input beyond that required by the National Environmental 

Planning Act; or an awareness of alternative sites for 

local, outdoor recreation that may be preferred by some 

in the population. After gathering baseline data on a 

community’s socio-cultural structure, the Agency can then 

better determine ways in which to engage both the larger 

community and specific population segments of interest. 

Smith (2012) suggests that this engagement should 

include Agency use of local news outlets to advertise 

meetings and Agency representation at local festivals 

and activities visited by cross-sections of the local 

population. In this way, the Agency is paired with events 

that celebrate local culture, thus helping to reframe the 

Agency as a local entity concerned with the welfare 

of the community rather than as a remote Federal 

bureaucracy. Importantly, assessing local customs in the 

rural South would also necessitate understanding the 

importance of alternative media and religious affiliations 

to sub-populations. Churches are integral to AfricanAmerican, Southern identity. Recognizing that religious 

leaders often serve as gatekeepers in African American 

communities would help the Agency to not only establish 

rapport with these communities but also to understand 

community relationships with the land and avoid 

assumptions about its use or non-use. 

 

Our data indicate that forests in both regions are already 

doing some of these recommended engagement activities 

(Gibson and Stein 2001, Jacobson and others 2006, 

Roberts and others 2009, Stanfield and others 2011). 

These are valuable examples that have led forests to 

experience success (e.g., California Consortia). However, 

it appears that in the South such activities are not 

widespread. Again, the lack of funding and staffing allow 

for only the most necessary duties to be performed. Yet, 

as Gibson and Stein (2001) note, “numerous Federal 

directives require outreach efforts by any agency or 

group that receives Federal funds” (page 18); hence, 

balancing management priorities is essential. The realities 

of this Nation’s already-changed socio-demographic 

structures, in both urban and rural areas, call into question 

conventional modes of outreach and service provision. 

Indeed, the time is ripe to also consider differentials in 

societal access to the recreational and environmental 

services of National forests.
21

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Johnson Gaither, C.; Roberts, N.S.; Hanula, K.L. 2015. Visitor diversity through the recreation manager lens: 

Comparing Forest Service Regions 8 (U.S. South) and 5 (California). Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-205. Asheville, NC: 

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 22 p. 

In response to changing demographics and cultural shifts in the U.S. population, the Forest Service, U.S. Department 

of Agriculture has initiated a range of “culturally transforming” management practices and priorities aimed at better 

reflecting both the current and future U.S. population (USDA 2011). This makeover also calls attention to the various 

publics served by the Forest Service and questions whether the Agency’s services and programming are reasonably 

accessible by racial and ethnic minority populations within the U.S. populace. Although a priority for upper level 

management, the actual implementation of recreation visitor services may be difficult to achieve given competing 

management demands. The present study is an effort to generate greater understanding of the priority given to 

visitor diversity by forest managers in two of the Forest Service’s most racially and ethnically diverse regions: the 

13 Southern States (not including Puerto Rico) that compose Region 8, and Region 5 (California only). Importantly, 

we want to understand better what this emphasis on visitor diversity means from the perspective of National Forest 

recreation managers. We identify management priorities and challenges facing recreation managers in their attempts 

to connect with (i.e., outreach and/or engage) and understand culturally and ethnically diverse recreationists. Results 

indicate that managers in both regions consider visitor diversity important, but fiscal constraints and understaffing 

inhibit more targeted programming. As expected, results indicate more programming aimed at diverse recreation 

visitors in Region 5 compared to Region 8, although racial, ethnic, and, increasingly, cultural diversity are prevalent in 

a number of key areas adjacent to National Forest lands in the South.

Keywords: Community engagement strategies, national forest recreation, National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey, 

racial and ethnic diversity, recreation managers, visitor constraints.
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