Download or read book A Conceptual Paradigm for the Evaluation of Recreation Resources written by George H. Stankey and published by . This book was released on 1967 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most serious problems confronting modern America is the efficient and rational utilization of the recreation resource base, not only in terms of present demands and needs, but future as well. The resource manager, in the past, has had few guidelines from which to determine the type and extent of development desired. As a result, large tracts of ineffective acreages have been provided. There is a notable and serious lack of a developmental schemata that attempts to relate contributory factors in such a manner as to present the resource manager with a more crystallized concept of the type of development desired, its effect upon the physical landscape, and its economic rationale. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to define those variables that should be considered in any proposed recreation development. This will be carried out in two sections. First, individual dimensions of consideration will be examined to depict their influence on recreation resource development. Secondly, a conceptual paradigm will be constructed, presenting a framework of variables to be considered by the resource manager in decision making. The need for such a framework is two-fold. First, it will allow the more efficient development of the recreation resource base, thereby reducing the amount of ineffective acreage and increasing user satisfaction. Secondly, it will allow more equitable comparisons to be made between recreation development and other resource uses, such as timber and mining. As the country's population continues to grow and the tempo of life increase, there may be expected a growing desire on the part of people to "get away from it all." The rapid encroachment of urban and industrial development, however, is alienating much of the recreation resource base forever. Thus, it is most essential, indeed imperative, that man more carefully analyze and order the development of his and his progeny's environment.