Muddling through it: Analyzing public land manager perspectives on recreation allocation

Demand for recreation on public lands has outpaced supply in many highly popular locations in the United States of America and globally. The task of distributing these limited recreation opportunities among individuals or groups (known as allocation) has long plagued recreation managers. However, limited empirical information is available concerning best practices for selecting an allocation mechanism (e.g., permits available through first-come, first-served, open reservations, lotteries, etc.) that best meets the management objectives and constraints of a given site—including temporal considerations of booking windows. Thus, managers are left with little in the form of best practices for navigating the natural trade-offs that exist between the available allocation mechanisms. This research seeks to illuminate how recreation managers across federal and state agencies approach the allocation of recreation resources for their management areas by asking what has gone both well and poorly when allocating these resources, as well as what limitations may exist to achieving equity and efficiency during these processes. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 50 recreation managers across the U.S. reveal that managers have nuanced concerns when making allocation decisions, with numerous trade-offs identified. Managers highlighted goals and objectives including variety and flexibility, and observed success when effective communication was maintained internally and externally. Managers encountered challenges related to the design and enforcement of allocation mechanisms, as well as in public education efforts. The findings highlight the potential value of collaborative planning with visitors when making recreation allocation decisions, as well as varying recreation allocation systems across space and time.