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Visitor Experience and Resource Protection
Purpose
The Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) framework is a tool developed by the National Park Service to address user capacities and is adopted by the Merced River Plan to meet the requirements of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. It protects both park resources and visitor experience from impacts associated with visitor use, and helps managers address visitor use issues. The VERP framework is an ongoing, iterative process of determining desired conditions (including desired cultural resource conditions, desired natural resource conditions, and desired visitor experiences), selecting and monitoring indicators and standards that reflect these desired conditions, and taking management action when the desired conditions are not being realized. VERP is a decision-making framework, but does not diminish management’s role in decision-making; in fact, management would have to make crucial decisions in determining desired conditions, choosing appropriate management action, and assessing occasional overlap between protecting park resources and providing for visitor experiences.
For the purposes of this plan, the VERP framework will be used as a form of adaptive management. Adaptive management requires a continual learning process, a reiterative evaluation of goals and approaches, and redirection based on an increased information base and changing public expectations (Baskerville 1985). Knowledge and understanding of visitor use issues will improve and evolve over time, and management actions will adapt accordingly. Continual hypothesis testing, data collection, and data analysis will likely result in refinement of desired conditions and, accordingly, refinement of indicators and standards. The implementation of the VERP framework for the Merced Wild and Scenic River corridor will focus on protecting the Outstandingly Remarkable Values and would dovetail with future implementation of the VERP framework outside the river corridor.
One of the methods through which the Merced River Plan fulfills the requirement of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to address user capacities is the adoption of the VERP framework. The following section provides an overview of the VERP framework, describes how it will be implemented, and gives examples of desired conditions, indicators, standards, and the type of management actions that could result from implementation of the VERP framework.
The User Capacity Mandate
In 1992, the National Park Service began developing the VERP frame-work to address visitor management and user capacity issues within the National Park System. The National Park Service is required by law to address user capacity in planning for parks. Relevant legislation and guidelines include the National Parks and Recreation Act, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the 1982 Wild and Scenic Rivers Guidelines. These are briefly summarized below.
1978 National Parks and Recreation Act (Public Law 95-625). Requires each park’s general management plan to include "identification of and implementation commitments for visitor carrying capacities for all areas of the [park]."
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, §10(a). "Each component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System shall be administered in such a manner as to protect and enhance the values which cause it to be included in said system without, insofar as is consistent therewith, limiting other uses that do not substantially interfere with public use and enjoyment of these values. In such administration, primary emphasis shall be given to protecting its aesthetic, scenic, historic, archeologic, and scientific features. Management plans for any such component may establish varying degrees of intensity for its protection and development of the special attributes of the area."
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, §3(d)(1). "The [comprehensive management plan] shall address resource protection, development of lands and facilities, user capacities, and other management practices necessary or desirable to achieve the purpose of this act."
1982 Interagency Guidelines on the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. Defines user capacity as: "the quantity of recreation use which an area can sustain without adverse impact on the Outstandingly Remarkable Values and free-flowing character of the river area, the quality of recreation experience, and public health and safety."
In the VERP framework, user capacity is defined as: "The type and level of visitor use that can be accommodated while sustaining the desired resource and social conditions that complement the purposes of the park units and their management objectives." VERP addresses user capacity by prescribing desired conditions, not by prescribing maximum visitor use (e.g., numbers of people). Monitoring of the desired conditions replaces the monitoring of maximum visitor use. Based on the desired conditions, VERP will identify the types and levels of visitor use that are appropriate, with particular focus on the protection of Outstandingly Remarkable Values.
Overview of the VERP Framework
The VERP framework consists of nine elements,[4] four of which are key: (1) determination of desired conditions, which are part of the management zoning prescriptions; (2) selection of indicators and standards that reflect the desired conditions; (3) monitoring of the indicators and standards; and (4) implementation of management action when the desired conditions are violated or when conditions are deteriorating and preventive measures are available. Together, these elements will help park managers make decisions about visitor use and resource protection. Figure 8 illustrates the VERP process.
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Desired Conditions and Management Zones
The VERP framework relies on the concept of desired conditions, which are contained in the management zoning prescriptions and identify how different areas in the river corridor would be managed. Each management zone prescribes a set of desired resource conditions, desired visitor experiences, and types and levels of uses. The Merced River Plan management zoning is designed to protect and enhance the Outstandingly Remarkable Values and free-flowing condition of the Merced River. Desired conditions focus on the Outstandingly Remarkable Values and guide the protection and enhancement of those values, and can be refined over time as knowledge and understanding of conditions and issues improve.
In order to implement VERP over the diverse array of ecological types that occur within the river corridor, desired conditions will be developed for each combination of Merced River Plan management zones and ecological types (e.g., upper montane coniferous forest, grassland/meadow/herbaceous, etc.).
Indicators and Standards
A major premise of VERP is that desired conditions, which are qualitative in nature, can be translated into measurable indicators and standards. Indicators and standards reflect desired conditions and enable park management to determine whether or not desired conditions are being realized. "Indicators," which are measurable variables, are determined first; "standards" are the acceptable measurements (i.e., values) for that indicator. Desired conditions for each combination of management zone and ecological type would have specific indicators and standards developed. Resource indicators measure impacts to the cultural, biological, and/or physical resources from visitor use. Social indicators measure impacts to the visitor experience caused by interactions with other visitors. Indicators should be specific, objective, reliable, related, responsive, nondestructive, sensitive to visitor use, and should address Outstandingly Remarkable Values. Standards should be quantitative, measurable, and feasible.
Table 3 presents example indicators and standards for the Outstandingly Remarkable Values. These data are included for information purposes only and do not reflect approved indicators or standards.
Monitoring
Detailed monitoring protocols will be developed for each standard to ensure accurate, valid data. Monitoring would begin as soon as a standard is selected and a monitoring protocol is developed.
Management Actions
If monitoring reveals that a standard associated with a indicator is being violated, then desired conditions may not be realized and management action will be initiated. Management action can determine that the violation of the standard is caused by natural variation and that the standard needs to be adjusted or a new indicator and standard selected to better reflect desired conditions. Actions to manage or limit visitor use will be implemented when the standard is violated due to impacts associated with visitor use. Management could include the following (this list is subject to revision):
Site management (e.g., facility design, barriers, site hardening, area/facility closure, redirection of visitors to suitable sites)
Regulation (e.g., the number of people/stock, the location or time of visits, permitted activities, or allowable equipment)
Enforcement of regulations (e.g., patrols, notification, citations)
Education (e.g., information signs and exhibits, interpretive programs, visitor center exhibits, brochures and fliers, public meetings, meetings with user groups)
Altering access (e.g., parking in proximity to sensitive resources, shuttle stops, bicycle access, etc.)
Management action will comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and other applicable legislation.
Existing Management Actions
There are a number of existing policies and ongoing management actions that address user capacities and protect the Outstandingly Remarkable Values of the Merced Wild and Scenic River. These policies and management actions would continue and may be modified while the VERP framework is being developed and implemented for the Merced River corridor.
Federal and state laws, Title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations, and park-specific regulations based on the authority of 36 CFR (i.e., the Superintendent’s Compendium) serve to protect Outstandingly Remarkable Values and address user capacities. These regulations include the ability to close specific areas to protect resources and address fishing, wildlife or plant collection, camping, sanitation and refuse, stock use, boating, swimming, bathing, noise, and commercial operations. An example of how the regulations have been applied to protect Outstandingly Remarkable Values is the closure of Cathedral Beach as a commercial raft removal point, which was closed to protect the riverbank.
User capacities in designated Wilderness are addressed through the existing overnight trailhead quota system and limits on group size and number of stock allowed. This system was developed with the goal of protecting resources, and continued monitoring of resource conditions allows for modification of the quotas.
Areas within and adjacent to the river corridor that have been restored or rehabilitated may be closed under the authority of the Superintendent’s Compendium. Examples include closure of some highly used "social" trails that impact meadow and riparian communities.
There are existing limitations on non-motorized boating. For instance, in 1996 limitations on commercial rafting were implemented in Yosemite Valley to enhance the visual quality of the river corridor. These limitations on the number of commercial raft rentals allowed and on the hours of use for rafts will continue and may be modified as necessary.
Ongoing efforts to educate the public about river-related issues, through interpretive programs and ranger contacts, will continue and may be modified as necessary.
What VERP Is Not
It is worth noting what VERP will not do.
VERP does not specify the total number of visitors that the river corridor, as a whole, can accommodate at one time. Such an aggregate figure would mask problems at "hot spots" and would not provide managers with useful guidance for addressing use-related problems.
As a framework for addressing user capacity, VERP is not driven by the capacity of existing infrastructure. Expanding or constructing facilities does not necessarily mitigate visitor use impacts to visitor experience or resources.
VERP, as applied in the Merced Wild and Scenic River corridor, may not directly transfer to other areas of Yosemite National Park. It may be implemented elsewhere in the park at some future date; desired conditions, indicators, and standards are being developed with this possible expansion in mind. However, due to an emphasis on Outstandingly Remarkable Values and other factors, it is possible that future implementation of VERP outside of the Merced Wild and Scenic River corridor will not dovetail perfectly.
VERP does not address impacts that do not result directly from visitor use. Impacts from park operations and management activities (e.g., fire management), natural variability (e.g., high water), development (e.g., construction, demolition), and other causes not directly associated with visitor activities are managed through other methods.
VERP is not static. Visitor use patterns, desired visitor experiences, and resource conditions change with time. VERP is an iterative process of monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment.
VERP Sequencing Plan
Yosemite National Park began development of the parkwide VERP framework in 1998 and continues to develop desired conditions, indicators, standards, and monitoring protocols. The VERP framework outlined herein for the Merced River corridor will be developed and implemented within five years after the final Record of Decision on the Merced River Plan and will dovetail with the larger, parkwide VERP program.
In the interim, Yosemite National Park will implement existing management activities (described above) and direction contained in this Merced River Plan (e.g., Wild and Scenic Rivers Act Section 7 determination, River Protection Overlay, management zoning prescriptions) to address user capacity, protection and enhancement of Outstandingly Remarkable Values, and management of park resources, visitor use, and facilities. In addition, the National Park Service will initiate increased resource monitoring to ensure that conditions do not deteriorate. Appropriate management actions, consistent with existing management activities, will be implemented to prevent further degradation of resources.
Footnote
See the Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) Framework: A Handbook for Planners and Managers for a discussion of the nine elements of VERP (1997a).(back)
