Regional recreation policy plan development
Creators: name: Neilson, John Fergus Andrew
Publisher: name: University of British Columbia
Year: 2010

description: The recreational environment of the Thompson Plateau in southern British Columbia is deteriorating in quality. Demands for outdoor recreation space and facilities are increasing; primarily as a result of rapidly growing local population levels and increasing inflows of both destination seeking and transient vacationeers. Furthermore, contemporary policies and institutional arrangements seem to be decreasingly capable of managing the recreational resources of this area. As a response to these problems the thesis develops a policy plan for part of the Thompson Plateau. It focuses on lake based recreation since this is the primary recreational attraction of the area. The main characteristics of policy plan formulation and evaluation are described. Specific criteria for evaluation are defined and then applied in a critique of current management approaches using field study and published data on the existing recreation system-its past trends, its present status and possible future. As an alternative to established management institutions and techniques, three policy plans are presented. Each policy plan is considered and judged in the light of the criteria for evaluation. A preferred policy plan is chosen, with due acknowledgement given to the author's biases, and applied to the lakes system in the study area. In addition, four alternative institutional arrangements for regional management are described and evaluated. The alternative chosen from amongst the four was that considered to be most capable of effectively managing the study area recreational system in light of existing institutional strengths, constraints and biases. This preferred alternative would demand a permanent chairman, supported by a small secretariat, who would have managerial responsibility, on a regional basis, for a committee that included those government officers in charge of their respective agencies' recreational interests. Also involved on the committee would be representatives of the commercial recreation sector and sporting associations. The preferred policy plan lays emphasis on two major points. Firstly, the provision of three recreation zone types within one recreational environment: 1. Major Attraction Zones; 2. Mid-range Attraction Zones; 3. Minor Attraction Zones. The creation of these three zones would imply the assignment of specific use level ratings in each zone, and hence, specific facility and accessibility characteristics at different lakes in the study area. Their existence would enable the satisfaction of a wider range of recreational demands, the protection of existing local activity patterns and the conservation of the more fragile natural environments within the study area. Secondly, the preferred alternative would de-emphasise coercive mechanisms as tools for behavioural control in the rural recreational environment. Instead, a mix of coercive and non-coercive mechanisms are presented, including the concept of access manipulation, the idea that heavily advertised Major Attraction Zones would reduce use in the other zones and the potential for more efficient manpower utilisation through the development of cross-agency policing powers.