| dc.contributor.author | Steele, Bruce Richard | |
| dc.description.abstract | Managing Dakota Prairie National Grasslands requires an understanding of visitor
relationships to nature and culture. As national grasslands continue to draw visitors for
recreation, relaxation, and wildlife observation the value visitors place on associated
resources is important to the management decision process. At the request of the Forest
Service, the study focus was specifically on national grasslands visitors. The objectives
were to 1) determine the value stakeholders have on our natural resources, 2) determine the
value stakeholders place on cultural resources, and 3) national grasslands visitors'
perceptions on the origin of federal policies concerning natural and cultural resources.
Thus, visitors including interest groups and range scientists were primary sources of data.
Qualitative analysis methods were used to determine that for visitors, natural resources
were valued more than cultural resources. Furthermore, the general perception of visitors
was that policies concerning natural resources originate at local levels whereas cultural
resources policies originate at the federal level. Public school systems have had little
inclusion of environmental education in their curriculum and the Forest Service has been
responsible to keep visitors informed about national grassland ecology. Because the Forest
Service mission does not include the preservation of cultural resources there is little
initiative by the Forest Service to protect those resources. Therefore, damage to cultural
artifacts on national grasslands by uninformed visitors is likely. The future of national
grasslands management clearly rests on the integration of natural and cultural resources
training and education for both employees and visitors. | en_US |
| dc.publisher | North Dakota State University | en_US |
| dc.rights | NDSU policy 190.6.2 | en_US |
| dc.title | Visitors' values of natural resources and cultural resources on Dakota Prairie National Grasslands | en_US |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-10-12T15:38:01Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-10-12T15:38:01Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2010 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10365/32855 | |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Natural areas -- Public use. | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Natural resources -- North Dakota. | en_US |
| dc.subject.lcsh | Cultural property -- North Dakota. | en_US |
| dc.rights.uri | https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf | en_US |
| ndsu.degree | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | en_US |
| ndsu.college | Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources | en_US |
| ndsu.department | Natural Resources Management | en_US |
| ndsu.department | School of Natural Resources | en_US |
| ndsu.program | Natural Resources Management | en_US |
| ndsu.advisor | Goreham, Gary A. | |
