Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Red River Gorge Residents: A Cultural And Historical Perspective, Pamela L. Brinegar, Billie R. Dewalt, Eugenie C. Scott

KWRRI Research Reports

This study investigates the relationship between the remaining residents of Appalachian Eastern Kentucky's Red River Gorge area and their environment with special emphasis on the historical and current social factors that play a role in their refusal to vacate the area. For two decades, these people have faced the possibility of losing their land and homes to area development projects while they have simultaneously become aware of what it can mean to be labeled "Appalachian". Currently, they are contending with the implications of a management plan proposed by the United States Forest Service. Cross-cultural research on areas developed as recreational …

The Red River Gorge: The Existence Of "Recreational Niches" And Their Management Implications, Sara E. Alexander, Billie R. Dewalt, Eugenie Scott

KWRRI Research Reports

Until the late 1960's, the Red River Gorge was just one of the more beautiful parts of the Daniel Boone National Forest. At this time, the Army Corps of Engineers proposed to dam the river for flood control, water supply, and recreation purposes. Intense opposition to the project generated considerable publicity and the Gorge area experienced substantial increases in visitation. The result has been not only severe environmental degradation but extensive overcrowding as well. These trends are presently overtaxing management capabilities of the United States Forest Service. The most pressing issue has come to be how to effectively manage this …

Landowners, Recreationists, And Government: Cooperation And Conflict In Red River Gorge, Eugenie C. Scott, Billie R. Dewalt, Elizabeth Adelski, Sara Alexander, Mary Beebe

KWRRI Research Reports

The research reported is based on a holistic sociocultural study of a popular regional recreation site in Eastern Kentucky, the Red River Gorge. Our research with over 3200 recreational visitors to the Gorge, 395 members of four recreation/conservation groups, 44 local landowners, and with a large number of management personnel from various governmental agencies permits us to provide an especially comprehensive overview of the problems and prospects of this popular area. Our general purpose is to provide descriptive and analytic information that will allow managers to more effectively understand and cope with their work in Red River Gorge.

In addition …

The Economic Value Of Streams For Fishing, Dennis Hugo Bianchi

KWRRI Research Reports

The pressures of urbanization and industrialization are gradually destroying stream fishing sites while at the same time producing an increased demand to serve a greater population. Reservoir construction is one cause behind the diminishing availability of stream fisheries. The recreational value of the stream fishery lost should be deducted from the value gained through reservoir recreation in estimating net benefits for economic justification. This study utilized information collected from 3321 stream fishermen to derive a method and the necessary empirical coefficients for predicting the number and economic value of the average annual fisherman-days enjoyed along average streams throughout Kentucky.

The …

The Economic Value Of Natural Areas For Recreational Hunting, Kenneth Gene Holbrook

KWRRI Research Reports

The pressures of population growth, urbanization, and improved transportation are diminishing the availability of quality naturalistic sites for recreation while at the same time producing greater demands for their use. One cause contributing to the reduction in acreage in naturalistic areas is the construction of reservoirs. The recreational hunting value of the naturalistic area to be inundated should be considered as a negative consequence in the economic evaluation of a proposed reservoir site.

This study utilized hunting data collected by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, from the 120 Kentucky counties to estimate the economic, value of the average …

Esthetic And Recreational Potential Of Small Naturalistic Streams Near Urban Areas, John A. Dearinger, Kenneth R. Harper, L. Douglas James

KWRRI Research Reports

The purpose of this study was to find a way to evaluate the esthetic and recreational potential of small streams and their watersheds. Research was limited to naturalistic streams with drainage areas under 100 square miles and located within 25 miles of a city. A methodology, based on some previous work of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service and the principles or concepts of terrain analysis, land use planning, value Judgment philosophy and the economics of outdoor recreation, was developed and applied in detail to two streams (Boone and Jessamine Creeks) near Lexington, Kentucky.

Evaluations were made of the streams' potential …

Application Of Marginal Economic Analysis To Reservoir Recreation Planning, John Ellis Sirles Iii, L. Douglas James

KWRRI Research Reports

Recreation visitation and cost data at three reservoirs in the Ohio River Valley (Rough River, Dewey, and Winton Woods) were analyzed in an attempt to derive a method by which the optimum level of reservoir recreation development could be determined by marginal economic analysis.

The visitation data were used to determine factors expressing the time distribution of facility use, capacity coefficients, and realized benefits. The cost data were used to estimate annual cost, and marginal cost as functions of annual visitation. Marginal cost and marginal benefit data were combined to find the optimum size.

Potential visitation to Winton Woods was …