Wilderness Permit Compliance and Validity

Abstract
In Yosemite National Park, 92 percent of the parties using back country areas had permits. Parties without permits were smaller in size and stayed for shorter periods of time. For all parties with permits, 62 percent made changes to their trips. Parties changing their trips in both time and space accounted for 27 percent of the total, while 14 percent made temporal changes only, and 21 percent made spatial changes only. Use estimates can be adjusted by multiplying by 1 + C + Δ where C is the noncompliance factor and Δ is the change factor for compliers. While the combined effect of these factors on total visitor nights for the Yosemite backcountry was an overestimation of 12.5 percent, areas near trailheads received heavier use and outlying areas received lighter use than permits indicated.

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