The Americas have been an area of considerable recreation, landscape and nature conservation research over the past four decades. This has been particularly true for North American, but does extend southward. In this paper are described the key forces that are affecting nature based recreation use and conservation efforts in North and Central America. Then, key research themes that have, or are, emerging for this geographical area are outlined. For each of the themes, the research topics pursued by professionals in management organizations, the university community, private sector enterprises, and non-profit organizations are described. The range of research designs and the dominant methods in use are presented.
The information in this paper was obtained from secondary sources, telephone interviews and e-mail inquiries. Those interviewed were identified using a snowball sampling technique designed to ensure that a variety of researchers were contacted.
While descriptive studies of recreational use and impact were characteristic of the earlier decades, and they still continue today, the last two decades have been characterized by increasing attention to behavior, planning, management, and experimentation. Economics, conflict, impact and development have been popular themes that have been dealt with in studies of capacity, planning, management, and policy. Particularly in recent years, attention has begun to focus on nature-based tourism and visual aesthetics as components of the recreation and nature conservation arenas.
An analysis of the findings was accomplished by comparing findings from North and Central America, and hypotheses for similarities and differences which were found between areas were formulated. Finally, research needs and directions for the future are included in this paper.
Key words: forest recreation research, North and Central America, research perspectives.
Correspondence: William J. McLaughlin, Dept. of Resource Recreation and Tourism, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844 USA
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E-mail: billm@uidaho.edu