Visitor use management framework

The provision of sustainable recreation and tourism opportunities is a fundamental legal mandate and mission of the key federal land management agencies in the USA. Recently, those agencies (including the National Park Service) have adopted a consistent and broadly applicable framework called Visitor Use Management (VUM). VUM works to improve the quality of visitor experiences and to protect the resources upon which they are based. It is consistent with previous approaches such as Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC; Stankey, Cole, Lucas, Petersen & Frissell, 1985) and Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP; National Park Service, 1997). High quality isocial science underpins and informs planning and decision-making. Desired social, biophysical, and managerial conditions are identified, along with meaningful and measurable indicators that can trigger management actions (such as education, engineering and/or regulation). VUM has a commitment to adaptive management and the on-going monitoring of visitors, experiences, and desired conditions.