Scholarship & Research
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Item Impact: how ecotourism is harming our wild spaces(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2023) Fajack, Zachary Blake; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigThe following thesis looks at how the U.S. National Parks Service has balanced (or at least attempted to balance) two competing goals: to preserve America's wild spaces and make those wild spaces accessible to the public. The thesis explains how the parks came to find themselves in this balancing act and how they have managed to tackle the conflict in the past. The main argument of the thesis is that much of this conflict appeared as the result of the park's implementation of transportation infrastructure. To effectively support this argument, the project broadly goes over how roadways took over much of the transportation infrastructure in the parks and how they negatively impact the environment. The thesis then discusses how the National Parks Service may more effectively combat those impacts. The remainder of the paper dedicates itself to constructing a travel film that effectively communicates the problems and solutions found and details of the film's production. The thesis found that travel films are uniquely suited to this goal and how their utilization may serve as a powerful advocacy device.Item An economic analysis of the Smith River float lottery(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) Walker, Chase Nelson; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Randal R. RuckerOutdoor recreation is a popular pastime for many and provides an opportunity to unwind and take a break in nature and on public resources. In recent years, overcrowding and commercial use have been highlighted in the media for taking away from the recreational experience and stressing some of the resources. To explore this issue, I collect data on float permit application numbers over 15 years for the Smith River, which is a popular lottery accessed recreational river in Montana that receives over 10,000 float applications per year and also allows private commercial guiding. To attempt to gain insights into whether commercial use is viewed negatively, I use variation in the number of outfitted trips that are permitted to launch each day within the float season to identify how outfitter use impacts application rates. I find that application rates during the peak season decrease by an average of 11 percent on days in which two outfitters launch compared to days when only one outfitter can launch. Because outfitter launch allocations effect the supply of permits available in the lottery, this result could be attributed to either an outfitter effect or supply effect. Further analyses that test the differences between the early season when outfitter use is low, and the peak season when outfitter use is high, indicates that there is a combination of both effects, but that the impact of outfitter use is large and significant.Item Yellowstone National Park & the winter use debate: community resilience and tourism impacts in the gateway community of West Yellowstone, MT(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2016) Hamming, Carl Alan; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Julia Hobson Haggerty; Julia H. Haggerty, Ray Rasker and William Wyckoff were co-authors of the article, 'Community resilience in a tourist town' submitted to the journal 'Annals of Tourism Research' which is contained within this thesis.This study explores the socioeconomic impacts of the National Park Service's winter use management of Yellowstone National Park on the gateway community of West Yellowstone, Montana. As a highly specialized, tourism-dependent gateway community, the National Park Service's management decisions that affect park visitation also impact the economic viability of West Yellowstone. Previously, scholars have documented the challenges presented by tourism economies and 'resortification' in small communities, the process of a small town being converted into a resort destination with numerous vacation properties, increasing absentee business ownership, a highly seasonal economy and escalating real estate prices. Less is known about how the challenges of resortification and industrial tourism interact with the dimensions of community resilience within a gateway community. Community resilience exists as a mechanism for rural and remote communities to identify vulnerabilities, buffer change, develop resources and promote local progress during periods of uncertainty and stress. This paper explores how the snowmobiling restrictions and winter use management of Yellowstone National Park impacted the community resilience of the tourism-dependent gateway community of West Yellowstone. The debate over winter use management and snowmobiling restrictions in Yellowstone National Park drained the community resources of West Yellowstone and negatively impacted the economic viability of local wintertime businesses. Consequently, challenges of resortification intensified and diminished several dimensions of West Yellowstone's community resilience. The mixed methods approach provides insight to how West Yellowstone's social and economic well-being have been affected since the snowmobiling restrictions were implemented and how the tourism landscape of the entire Yellowstone region has changed. The case study of West Yellowstone contributes knowledge of the economics of gateway communities, the implications of federal land management decisions, and the community resilience of tourism-dependent, gateway towns.Item Impact of tourism on gambling in the Flathead Valley(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Business, 1992) Schatte, Karla; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Norman L. MillikinThe major purpose of this study was to determine how much tourists gamble on video gambling machines in the Flathead Valley and to produce a profile of the typical gambler in that part of the state. To collect the data for the study, 100 persons who were involved in the gambling activity were interviewed randomly during the month of August, 1991. August is considered to be in the height of tourist season in the Flathead Valley. In addition to the personal interviews, a questionnaire was mailed to 38 bar/tavern/casino owners to compare owners' responses to responses given by persons who were gambling. FINDINGS: The data revealed that, at any given time during tourist season, the majority of persons gambling in the Flathead Valley are local residents (53%) compared to 47% tourists. Male tourists tend to gamble more than female tourists while local females tend to gamble more than local males. The age group that had the most gamblers was 41-50, with age ranges 31-40 and 21-30 in second and third place respectively. Most of the gamblers surveyed (67%) were either high school graduates or graduates of a 2-year college, and 54% of the gamblers reported an income of $30,000 or greater. The gamblers surveyed stated that they do not gamble very often (62% gamble a couple times per week or a couple times per month) and that they do not spend much of their personal funds on gambling (59% spend less than $25 each time they gamble). The presence of legalized gambling apparently does not influence many tourists to visit the Flathead Valley (85% of tourists said "no"), but the overwhelming majority of persons surveyed (80%) believe that gambling is good for Montana. Most gamblers are not aware of problems caused by gambling and believe that gambling revenue should be used to decrease taxes and to improve education. other areas in which they would like to see gambling revenue be used are listed in the study. While only 15% of tourists said gambling influenced their decision to visit the Flathead Valley, 77% of the tourists reported that they believe tourists come to Montana because of gambling; and 66% of the tourists believe that at least half the tourists who visit Montana gamble when they get there. In comparing the bar/tavern/casino owners' responses to the gamblers' responses, the writer found that the owners differed in their perception of the most popular age ranges of persons gambling in their establishments. with regard to this question, 62% of the owners thought that the 31-40 age range was the most common. with regard to how many tourists vs , residents gamble in their establishments, 46% of the owners stated that most gamblers are local residents while 39% believed that the gamblers in their establishments were half tourists and half local residents. The owners also differed on the question regarding whether tourists gamble once they get to the Flathead Valley--46% of the owners reported that only half the tourists gamble when they get there, and 31% reported that very few tourists gamble. with regard to how much local residents gamble, 77% of the owners indicated that local residents either gamble more or about the same as do tourists.Item Western nature--German culture : German representations of Yellowstone, 1872-1910(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1994) Pfund, Johanna MariaItem The effects of human activity and environmental variability on long-term changes in Adelie Penguin populations at Palmer Station, Antarctica(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2001) Patterson, Donna LynnItem The evolution of the cultural landscape in Yellowstone National Park's Upper Geyser Basin and the changing visitor experience, 1872-1990(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1995) Byrand, Karl JohnItem An economic analysis of national park visitation rates(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2013) Watson, Christopher Lawrence; Co-chairs, Graduate Committee: Randal R. Rucker and D. Mark AndersonThis thesis estimates visitation to U.S. national parks over the period 1993 -2010 in attempt to determine what factors influence visitation rates over time. Three factors are predicted to be important determinants of national park visitation rates. These factors are entrance fees, travel costs (represented by driving costs), and income. Both travel costs and income have been shown to be significant determinants of national park visitation rates in the economic literature; however, the effect of entrance fees on visitation rates is inconclusive. Determining how the factors of interest influence visitation rates is accomplished by first developing a theoretical demand and supply model of park visits. The theoretical model informs the empirical model with predictions for how changes in entrance fees affect the quantity of visits when fees are above, below, or at the market-clearing level of the fee. These predictions are tested empirically by estimating a linear model of both annual and monthly park-level visitation to a sample of 165 national parks. The main results of the analysis show that income is not a significant determinant of national park visitation rates, but that both travel costs and entrance fees have a negative effect on visitation. Further, more detailed estimation procedures that analyze visitation to parks pooled based on designation and level of use show that the effect of entrance fees on national park visitation rates is both park-specific and season-specific.Item Pleasure ground for the future : the evolving cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park 1870-1966(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2004) Youngs, Yolonda Lucille; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: William WyckoffYellowstone Lake is located in the protected federal lands of Yellowstone National Park. This park is situated in the Rocky Mountains and its boundaries reach into the tri-state areas of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. While many researchers have investigated the history and geography of Yellowstone National Park, Yellowstone Lake has been largely ignored as a topic of research. In order to reconstruct the evolution of Yellowstone Lake as a cultural landscape, this study focuses on Yellowstone Lake temporally and spatially as an important and central area of Yellowstone National Park. This study suggests that Yellowstone Lake's large and diverse physical geography produces diverse natural environments, cultural landscapes, and national park experiences. The results of this study show that through a combination of concessionaire investment, government management, and visitor demand, the cultural landscape of Yellowstone Lake has changed dramatically over time. This change is depicted through a verbal and cartographic description of Yellowstone Lake's cultural landscape evolution from 1870 to 1966. The verbal description is accompanied by a series of maps reflecting significant changes in the lake's cultural landscape.Item Altering a person's environmental mindset utilizing an architectural/ecological system(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2007) Hintze, Kenneth William; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Thomas R. Wood; Tom McNab (co-chair)The Camp Grayling Eco-Lodge investigates how an architectural/ecological system can be utilized to alter a person's mindset. A person's mindset towards our natural resources can be influenced if you introduce alterations to their lifestyle. As visitors observe more efficient and less costly methods, they are more likely to implement them into their own lives. The human race has taken for granted that we must pump oil and gas from the ground; that power plants pollute; that our cars pollute; and that our skied are clouded with smog. Is this simply the price we must pay for the convenience that our current technology offers? With changes in the way we design buildings, we can move towards buildings that generate more pollution-free power than they use.