Before beginning the Recreation Study, please make sure that you have read and understand the General Instructions, Study Site Instructions, and the Survey Instructions on this web site or in the BFL research kit. The instructions for the recreation protocol assume that you understand the BFL site selection process, habitat calculations, and protocols. In this section we will describe only the parts of the Recreation Study protocols that are new or different from the regular BFL protocols.

Selecting Survey Points

You will select three grouped survey points in each recreation study area. One survey point will be in the middle of the high-use recreation zone (R), one on the edge of the high-use zone (E), and the third will be a control point located outside of the recreation zone in similar habitat (C). Control and Edge points must meet criteria for standard BFL points (see Study Site Instructions), whereas the Recreation point does not need to meet all these criteria.

Survey point descriptions

Recreation (R)—This survey point should be as close to the geographic center of the high-use recreation zone as possible, even if it falls within a non-forested part of the high-use area. The high-use recreation zone is the area that is physically modified or disturbed to accomodate recreational activities. This zone includes all structures, roads, camping, and picnic sites. There should be a relatively clear delineation between this zone and the surrounding undisturbed forest. Surrounding forest areas could include low-use areas with recreation trails. To select point R, use your judgement and look for a spot that best represents the most highly affected section of the recreation area, but where you can conduct the BFL protocol with as little interference as possible.

Edge (E)—This survey point should be 500 feet (150 meters) outside the edge of the high-use zone, within relatively undisturbed forest. If the high-use recreation zone is small, the distance between points R and E may be less than the minimum distance between survey points as stated in the Study Site Instructions (page 2.4 of the manual).

Control (C)—This survey point is your control. It should be at least 1,500 feet (460 meters) but not more than 5 miles (8 km) from the edge of the high-use recreation zone and should be at least 500 feet (150 meters) from the edge of the forest patch. Note that the control point must be within the same forest patch as E and the habitat should be as similar as possible, controlling for factors such as hydrology, elevation, and forest type. This survey point can be a pre-existing BFL point if it fits the above criteria.

SITE MAP