Parks and people : managing outdoor recreation at Acadia National Park /

Nearly all the chapters in Parks and People deal specifically with management issues at Acadia National Park in Maine, New England's only national park. However, most of these studies, based on 15 years of research by Manning (Univ. of Vermont; Parks and Carrying Capacity, CH, Sep'07, 45-0265; Studies in Outdoor Recreation, CH, Jul'00, 37-6230), easily apply to management issues elsewhere. For example, the impact of increased visitation (now nearly 300 million people per year nationwide) on natural and cultural resources creates management dilemmas at many parks. Park superintendents and staff throughout the country deal with tensions between use and protection, increased diversity among visitors, limited budgets, and the possibility of imposing restrictions to maintain a quality visitor experience. The findings and implications presented here will inform park managers as well as others interested in public policy throughout the country. Publication of this book is particularly timely as it coincides with the release of Ken Burns's series on America's parks, which addresses many of the same concerns from a historical perspective and will probably contribute to further increases in visitation throughout the system. Summing Up: Recommended. Academic, professional, and public libraries, all libraries. D. A. Lovejoy Westfield State College