Are National Parks Reserved for Certain Visitors? Effects of Timed-Entry Reservation Systems on the Demographic Composition of Arches National Park Visitors

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Timed-entry reservation systems are an increasingly popular visitation management strategy at National Parks. Acquiring a reservation through these systems requires computer literacy, advance notice of work and family scheduling, and familiarity with national park policies. These characteristics are concentrated within particular demographic groups, and as such timed-entry systems create an inequitable barrier to national park visitation. Using a difference-in-differences regression model on survey data collected in 2015 and 2016 and data from the Recreation Information Database, I find preliminary evidence that the timed-entry system at Arches National Park resulted in an increase in median household income and educational attainment based on park visitors’ zip codes. Building on existing research which suggests that requiring reservations for campsites can have negative impacts on racial and socioeconomic diversity, I show that the pattern holds in national parks that implement reservation systems park-wide. This finding exists within the context of underrepresentation of marginalized groups in national park visitation and outdoor recreation more broadly. While timed-entry systems may protect the environmental assets of national parks, they make outdoor spaces less accessible and are contradictory to the mission of public lands.

Author	Nairn, Isobel
Thesis advisor	Cain, Bruce
Degree granting institution	Stanford University
Department	Public Policy Program

Subject	National parks and reserves
Subject	Public lands
Subject	Land use > Management
Subject	Race
Subject	Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Subject	Socioeconomic status
Subject	Accessibility
Subject	Environmental justice
Subject	Stanford University
Subject	Humanities and Sciences
Subject	Public Policy Program
Genre	Text
Genre	Thesis

DOI	https://doi.org/10.25740/hn691pg8367
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/hn691pg8367

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY).

Preferred citation: Nairn, I. (2023). Are National Parks Reserved for Certain Visitors? Effects of Timed-Entry Reservation Systems on the Demographic Composition of Arches National Park Visitors. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/hn691pg8367. https://doi.org/10.25740/hn691pg8367.

Stanford University, Public Policy Program, Undergraduate Honors Theses and Practicum Projects

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