Visitor Impacts to Wildlife and Water Resources

1. Visitor Impacts to Wildlife and Water Resources Jeff Marion, Unit Leader/Scientist Virginia Tech Field Unit, USGS, Patuxent WRC jmarion@vt.edu, 540-231-6603

2. Presentation Objectives 1. Provide a review of visitor impacts to wildlife and water resources. 2. Review the range of management actions available to avoid or minimize wildlife impacts.

3. Wildlife Impacts Habitat alteration Wildlife disturbance & harassment Modification of wildlife behavior Displacement from food, water, cover Reduced health & reproduction Increased mortality Water Resource Impacts Increased turbidity, sedimentation Oil & gas from engines Soaps (phosphates) Fecal wastes, giardia

7. Visitor Health & Safety • Human Waste • Problems: human health and aesthetic impacts to other visitors • Bacteria (Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter – waterborne gastroenteritis), Protozoans (Giardia, Cryptosporidium) and Viruses (Hepatitis A, Rotavirus) • Options: toilets, shallow burial, surface disposal, pack it out

8. Recreational Use: Potential for Wildlife Disturbance Wildlife-related recreation – Participation in wildlife watching (feeding, observing, photography) increased 63% from 1980 to 1995. Fishing participation increased 12% and hunting participation decreased 8%. (USFWS data, 1999)

9. Non-consumptive Recreation: A Misnomer ? Consumptive: Hunting/fishing: direct removal of wildlife. Non-consumptive: Hiking, wildlife viewing, etc.: many indirect and some direct impacts to wildlife. Implications– Substantial increases in non-consumptive recreation require an expansion of visitor and resource management efforts targeted towards reducing wildlife impacts.

10. Visitor Impacts to Wildlife Habitat alteration Wildlife disturbance / harassment Modification of wildlife behavior Displacement: food, water, cover Reduced health & reproduction Increased mortality

11. Potential Impacts of Non-Consumptive Recreation Habitat Modification – alteration of wildlife habitat through vegetation or soil disturbance. Examples:Loss of trees, shrubs, or groundcover, vegetation compositional changes, loss of organic litter, compaction and erosion of soil Locations:Recreation facilities, trails, campsites, wildlife viewing areas

12. Potential Impacts of Non-Consumptive Recreation Disturbance / Harassment – events which cause excitement and/or stress, disturbance of essential activities, severe exertion, displacement, and sometimes death. Examples: Unintentional – Hiking and camping in areas of critical wildlife habitat. Intentional – Snowmobilers chasing deer, photographers pursuing wildlife subjects.

13. Potential Impacts of Non- Consumptive Recreation Wildlife Feeding – establishment of unnatural and unhealthy food dependencies that may alter wildlife behavior or populations. Examples: Unintentional– Campground food scraps, poorly stored food obtained by bears. Intentional – Feeding deer or campground chipmunks and birds.

14. Recreation Impacts: Consequences for Wildlife Alteration of Behavior – animals may modify their daily activities. Avoidance – development of a negative association with humans. Habituation– waning of response to repeated disturbance, not associated with a positive reward. Attraction – development of a positive association with humans because of rewards (most frequently food related).

15. Recreation Impacts: Consequences for Wildlife Displacement – animals are forced away from preferred habitats either during certain times (temporal displacement) or in certain places (spatial displacement). New habitats are unfamiliar, often have lower quality food and cover, or increased competition and predation.

16. Recreation Impacts: Consequences for Wildlife Alteration of Wildlife Populations and Species Composition – decreased natality and increased mortality may affect wildlife population structure and size. Species may become locally extinct or new species, possibly non-natives, may move in.

17. Wildlife Responses to Recreation • Wildlife responses to recreation activities are highly variable, dependent upon recreationists’ behaviors, the context of disturbance, and learned responses. • Responses are often inconsistent, even within a single species and population, e.g., flight distances of peregrine falcons in New Mexico varied by a factor of 22. • Entire populations can be affected by single disturbance events, e.g., colony abandonment of a rookery.

18. Wildlife Responses to Recreation Recreationists’ Behaviors – most wildlife can tolerate or adapt to repetitive activities that pose no threat. The frequency, magnitude, duration, type, and timing of recreationists’ behaviors are important elements. Unexpected, loud noises and rapid movements elicit the greatest responses. Travel in the direction of wildlife elicits a greater response than travel away from or parallel to wildlife.

19. Wildlife Responses to Recreation Context of Disturbance – wildlife reactions to recreational disturbances are guided by contextual influences: season of year, location, availability of cover, and wildlife vulnerability. Severity of recreational disturbance is greater: • In the wintertime when food availability is low and energy expenditures are high, • In seasons when animals are breeding, nesting, birthing, and raising young, • During hunting seasons when animals are more wary.

21. Management Interventions - Overview Spatial and temporal zoning Visitor concentration vs. dispersal Design and provision of facilities Visitor education Regulations and enforcement

22. Management Interventions – Spatial and Temporal Zoning Spatial Zoning – Use education, facility location, and regulations to discourage or prohibit visitor use of critical or sensitive wildlife habitat. Temporal Zoning – Establish area closures only during seasons or times when wildlife are particularly sensitive to disturbance.

23. Management Interventions –Concentrate or Disperse? A containment strategy is generally more effective than dispersal in minimizing wildlife disturbance. • Wildlife can adapt to consistent locations and patterns of visitor activity. • Visitor dispersal fragments wildlife habitat and causes greater wildlife disturbance.

24. Management Interventions – Recreation Facilities Develop trails and recreation sites in locations least sensitive to wildlife disturbance. Surface trails and sites and install site borders or fencing as needed to hinder off-trail traffic.

25. Management Interventions – Recreation Facilities Provide wildlife viewing platforms, towers, or blinds to permit high quality low impact viewing. Plant and manage vegetation to establish buffers between recreational sites and areas of sensitive wildlife habitat.

26. Management Interventions – Visitor Education Visitor Education – Environmental education and interpretation programs can increase visitor knowledge, encourage favorable attitudes and ethics about wildlife protection, and promote adoption of low impact recreational practices. Effectiveness studies: 1) Personal communication 2) Video / slide programs 3) Brochures 4) Signs

27. Respect Wildlife Keep wildlife wild. Never feed wildlife or allow them to obtain human food or trash. Wildlife attracted to human food often suffer nutritionally and expose themselves to predators and other dangers.

28. Respect Wildlife Enjoy wildlife at a distance. You are too close if your presence elicits a response from wildlife.

29. Management Interventions – Regulations and Enforcement Visitor Regulation – Establishment and reinforcement of rules that directly modify visitor behavior to reduce visitor impacts to wildlife. Regulations may be justified to prohibit: Recreational activities in critical or sensitive areas Recreational activities during sensitive times Feeding of wildlife Pets running loose Wildlife harassment