Final Research Proposal. The issue of Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on public lands has become

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1 Covington 1 Courtney Covington Dr. Susan Handy ESP June 2003 Final Research Proposal Summary 1.) Background: The issue of Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on public lands has become increasingly contentious in recent years. As more and more suburban residents look to public lands for a wide variety of recreational opportunities, including off-road driving, the impacts of OHVs become ever more apparent and controversial. Studies such the one conducted by Juliana Priskin in coastal Australia over a 23-year period indicate that recreational OHVs have significant and lasting physical effects on ecosystems (Priskin, 2003). As a result, land management agencies like the US Forest Service and BLM seek methods of understanding the behavior of recreational visitors in the hopes that they may develop regulatory strategies that minimize the ecological damage of recreation. OHV users are somewhat unique among the various types of public lands visitors in that their interests are represented by a highly-organized, politically influential network of OHV clubs. The California League of Off Road Voters, for example, has formed a state level political action committee (PAC) to donate money and provide volunteers to off highway friendly legislators and candidates (CLORV, 2003). A cursory overview of OHV clubs websites reveals that most clubs appear to promote environmental awareness and respect for the lands used for OHV recreation, pledging support for campaigns like

2 Covington 2 Tread Lightly!, a non-profit educational organization that encourages responsible and law-abiding use of OHVs (Tread Lightly!, 2003). Thus it seems that access to public lands is viewed as a highly valued right to members of OHV clubs, and that clubs promote responsible use of these lands. Illegal OHV use, however, remains a serious issue on National Forests and BLM lands. 2.) Specific Aims: Our goal is to understand the relationship between membership in an OHV club and responsible OHV recreation among OHV users in California. Are members of OHV clubs more likely to display responsible, law-abiding behavior than are OHV users who do not belong to clubs? 3.) Method: We propose a survey instrument that produces a multi-dimensional index score as a measure of the dependent variable, recreational responsibility. The sampling plan is designed to include a comprehensive sample of OHV users during peak and non-peak hours at recreation areas receiving high, medium and low use. In this cross-sectional study with two distinct variables, this method should produce easily quantifiable data and a larger sample size, and give a clearer, more generalizable picture of the correlation between the variables.

3 Covington 3 Project Description: 1.) Conceptual basis and literature review: Conceptual Model: OHV Club Membership Responsible OHV Recreation/ Resource Damage Independent Variable Personal Values/ Characteristics Dependent Variable Possible antecedent variable A conceptual model begins with a definition of the variables to be studied. For this proposal, the independent variable, OHV club membership, is defined as whether or not an OHV user is a registered member of an organized OHV club. This would be a simple yes/no question with no relevant dimensions. The dependent variable in this study however, responsible OHV recreation, brings a bit more complexity; it is defined as the degree to which OHV users obey regulations governing off-road vehicle use and generally minimize the ecological impacts of OHV recreation. Two dimensions of this variable follow from the definition, including law-abidingness and employment of recreation practices that promote ecological health. Here, it is important to distinguish between these two dimensions, for though they are similar, they contain important differences. Law abidingness covers those behaviors that fall under the specific code of regulations applicable to each regulation area; it measures only the absence of

4 Covington 4 irresponsible behavior. In contrast, the second dimension, which we might call general responsibility, includes behaviors that actively reduce the negative effects of OHV recreation, those that go above and beyond merely obeying the law. As the model above shows, however, personal characteristics of individuals may suggest an impending spurious relationship between club membership and responsible recreation. We must address the question of whether a person s decision to obey regulations is caused by his or her membership in the club, or by some other factor. For example, it could be the case that for the most part, only law-abiding people join OHV clubs. For this reason, even if correlation is determined between explanatory and response variables, we will not be able to argue that a causal relationship exists without further study. Determining whether or not a descriptive correlation can be found between membership and responsibility represents a worthwhile exploration, however, for the social science of OHV recreation is a topic that has been the subject of very little social research. Although on the whole, surprisingly few social studies were found that involved off-road recreation, in our conceptualization of this project, we build somewhat on the research of the Leopold Institute s Alan Watson. In 1993, Watson conducted surveys in California s Desolation Wilderness in order to understand the differences observed between those visitors who failed to obtain the required permits to enter the wilderness and those who did obtain permits (Watson, 1993). This research, however, dealt only with backcountry hikers, a group of recreational users that we expect to display very different characteristics from participants in OHV recreation. We propose to extend our research to OHV users in studying the links between user characteristics and behavior.

5 Covington 5 2.) Specific Aims: In this proposed research, an explanatory study would be conducted with the goal of determining the relationship between OHV club membership and law-abiding OHV recreation among OHV users. We ask the question, Are members of organized OHV clubs more likely to obey rules of responsible vehicles use, thus causing less resource damage than OHV users who do not belong to clubs? Because this project represents one of the first explanatory ventures into OHV recreation s social workings, another of our goals is to lay the groundwork for further research in this area. Finally, we hope that the results of this study may prove helpful to land management agencies seeking consensus-based, socially sensitive strategies for reducing the environmental impacts of OHV recreation. 3.) Study design Because this study is an explanatory one in that the goal is to understand the relationship between two variables, law abidingness and responsible OHV use, quantifiable data is required; therefore, a survey that produces an index as a measure of the dependent variable and categorical data for the independent variable is the most appropriate method of data collection, and is what we propose here. While a qualitative research study using interviews to gain an in-depth understanding of how OHV club membership affects OHV users behavior would be extremely interesting and might be a useful future complement to the survey method proposed here, a study with two distinct variables, easily quantifiable data and a larger sample size gives a clearer, more generalizable picture of the correlation between the variables.

6 Covington 6 Creating an index that accurately measures recreational responsibility requires careful consideration of the concept s complexity. Because this variable has an inherent degree of abstractness, it is not easily gauged using a single indicator or measurement. Therefore, an index that would produce responsibility scores that could be compared and ranked is the most appropriate measurement strategy for the dependent variable. Given the nature of the two main dimensions of the variable, law-abidingness and general responsibility, and the fact that they are relatively distinct from one another, we have created a survey that produces two indices, one for law-abidingness and another for general responsibility. The survey contains two sets of questions, one for each dimension, resulting in two scores that can be compared, and when summed, produce a total responsibility score. The scores are ratio data, as they can be ranked in relation to a possible score of zero. With regard to the dimension of time, the research described here is a crosssectional study. Although a longitudinal study naturally gives a more accurate view of the correlation between variables because it considers change in the long term, in this case, the results of this initial cross-sectional study will indicate whether such a long run survey would be worthwhile. If, for example, the cross-sectional study indicates no relationship between the variables, there would be less reason to believe that club membership causes increased recreation responsibility over the long term. Furthermore, the nature of the survey questions will provide a sense of past behavior, that is, the index score would be based on participants responses to questions about their recreational behavior up to the point of the survey.

7 Covington 7 As with any quantitative study that attempts to simplify complex human behaviors into a relationship between two variables, validity will be in question. Furthermore, the data collection method proposed here does not allow control of how balanced the sample size will be, and thus leaves the study s reliability uncertain. Therefore, we propose tests for both validity and reliability. Qualitative, in-depth interview-based studies involving both OHV club members and non-members could be performed later as a test of validity. The results of these interviews should corroborate the survey study results, if those results are valid. As for reliability, the test-retest method would be used. The individuals sampled would be different in the second test, but if the test is a reliable one, the relationship between the two variables should not differ significantly than the one produced in the initial test. Sampling Plan: The target population for this study will be OHV users recreating on designated OHV trails in California. It should be noted that the study might include users traveling from out-of-state to recreation areas in California; given the definition of the target population, however, these users can be included in the study. A sampling frame is infeasible to identify for this survey, because no compiled list exists for individuals who actually use OHV trails. The nature of the target population limits our ability to control the sample population, and forces the nonprobability sampling technique of reliance on available subjects. Before actual sampling occurs, we will conduct a pretest in which 20 OHV users at a local recreation area are asked to complete the survey and give feedback regarding its

8 Covington 8 clarity, bias, ease of completion, etc. After the pretest, we will revise the survey instrument if necessary in preparation for the official sampling. In the official sampling, the written survey will be given to OHV users entering selected recreation areas in California. Obtaining a random selection of OHV recreation areas presents complications, however, as some areas are open year round, while some are open only after snows have melted completely and the trails are dry enough to permit safe riding. This uncertainty in the season length for various recreation areas prevents us from simply taking a random sample of all recreation areas in California; instead, we will focus our summer efforts on three recreation areas that are only open from approximately May to October. One of these receives heavy use, one moderate use, and the third, light use. For the rest of the year, we will survey three different areas that allow year-round visitors. Again, one area is heavily used, one moderately used, and the last, lightly used. For each of the six areas, we will survey four times in five-hour blocks: 1) from 7:00am- 12:00pm on a weekday; 2) from 7:00am-12:00pm on a Saturday; 3) from 12:00pm- 5:00pm on a weekday; 4) from 12:00pm-5:00am on a Saturday. These survey times have been selected in an attempt to survey a wide range of visitors, that is, those who arrive during high and low use periods. On survey days, we will set up a safe car cordon system at the selected trailhead that will require all vehicles to slowly pass by. (Resource management agencies like the US Forest Service often use this method for disseminating information to visitors). We will stop every 5 th vehicle and ask the driver if he or she is willing to participate in a short OHV recreation survey, making sure to relate that we are not affiliated with the Forest

9 Covington 9 Service or any other regulatory agency. The sample size will depend simply on how many vehicles pass through the trailhead during our sample times. Measurement Methods: (Please see sample survey in Appendix I). The main goal of this survey instrument is to produce a two-part measure of the individual s responsibility with regard to OHV recreation. The first part of the survey serves as an introduction, asking an engaging initial question that, hopefully, will encourage the participant to complete the rest of the questions. Most importantly, however, the first section measures the independent variable, OHV club membership (or not). The second section asks a series of questions that pertain to law-abidingness while using OHVs. It is designed to create an index that measures the degree to which the participant follows the rules that govern OHV use and are designed to reduce ecological impacts of OHV recreation. The second section asks questions that address actions that actively reduce the impacts of OHV recreation, that go above and beyond simply obeying the law. It produces an index of the participant s general responsibility. Other aspects of the survey include length; it should take the participant five minutes at most to complete. Because of sampling technique used, simply stopping individuals on their way to an enjoyable day on the trail, the survey was designed to take as little of the participant s time as possible, so as to maximize response rate. Also, because the survey includes questions that deal with the participant s degree of lawabidingness, a potentially sensitive concept, the survey is anonymous. The participant s name is not included, and the only identifying response, the name of the participant s OHV club, is optional, asked more out of researcher s interest than out of desire that club

10 Covington 10 name be a usable piece of data. This study seeks only to understand the correlation between club membership and user responsibility; neither of these variables requires information about the individual participant, and it is logical for the survey to be anonymous. Analysis Plan: The surveys will produce quantitative data that consists of a nominal independent variable and a ratio dependent variable. The data analysis should essentially consist of a comparison between the mean responsibility index scores of the two populations, that is, the population of OHV club members and the population of non-members. A Student s t-test will allow us to test the alternative hypothesis, that the mean responsibility index score for OHV club members is higher than the mean score for non-members, against the null hypothesis, that there is no statistically significant difference between the two means. We also propose confirmative factor analysis as a test of the validity of our index questions. This technique produces a measure of the correlation of the responses to our questions, and because our survey questions attempt to measure two distinct dimensions, a high a value would confirm that our survey questions measure the same concepts. Proposed Budget: (Please see attached detail budget sheet in Appendix II) Category Description Amount Personnel 12 months for 2 research assistants $42,281 Equipment $0 Travel Data Collection Field Trips: Gas: (300mile/trip x 6 trips x $1.80/gallon x 26 mpg) Housing: ($40/day x 4 days/trip x 6 trips) Vehicle wear: ($50/trip x 6 trips) $1,385

11 Covington 11 Other Direct Phone (installation + monthly x 12 months) $2,165 Office supplies (Laptop PC) Copying ($.07/page x 2 pages/survey x 2000 surveys) Total Direct $45,831 Total Indirect $4,125 Total Cost $49,956

12 Covington 12 Literature Cited California League of Off Road Voters. What is the California League of Off Road Voters? Accessed 4/21/03 1:30 pm. Priskin, Julianna. Physical Impacts of Four-wheel Drive Related Tourism and Recreation In A Semi-arid, Natural Coastal Environment. Ocean and Coastal Management. Vol. 46, Issue 1-2, page January Tread Lightly! Accessed 4/21/03 2:05 pm. Watson, Alan E. Characteristics of Visitors Without Permits Compared to Those With Permits at Desolation Wilderness, California. USDA Forest Service, Published in Leopold Institute Publications, accessed 4/20/03 at 11:15 am.