One of the major purposes of the Backcountry Permit system in use throughout the Sierra is just such a dispersal. But other studies have shown that, in some environments, dispersed use leads to the destruction of a very wide area. Heavy use of certain areas can save the bulk of a Wilderness area, while designating camping areas in biologically less sensitive zones can eliminate nearly all adverse effects. Campers like lush valleys, like the one along Bear Creek. Lush valleys are very sensitive areas, easily damaged.
Alpine meadows are even more sensitive, and recover very slowly if at all from human use and abuse.
Yet managers will ignore studies of visitor preferences if they produce a version of management that conflicts with their own. Great Smokey Mountains National Park has rigid controls on camping. Camping is allowed only at designated sites. Some of these sites have rough shelters, making it unnecessary for backpackers to carry a tent. Three quarters of those surveyed in 1973 favored retention of the shelters.