The National Park Service Ozark NSR is offering this grant to develop monitoring protocols for horse trails and river use.

The cooperator for this project was chosen because of his unique ability to conduct this research. The PI is a professor of forestry at the University of Southern Illinois. This is the same institution that Dr. Ken Chilman worked from when he conducted his research at Ozark National Scenic River for over 20 years. The PI will be collaborating with Dr. Chilman in recreating the past observational work done at the park.

The PI is a recreational ecologist by training with extensive experience identifying recreation related impacts and methods of monitoring these impacts. In particular, the PI has helped pioneer efforts related to assessing and monitoring the location and condition of informal (visitor-created) trails specific to national park sites. The PI has also recently been involved in evaluating the effectiveness of techniques related to educating visitors on the impacts of off-trail travel to alter their behavior. These studies included a unique combination of physical data collection, visitor surveys, and various methods of observation work specific to visitor behavior. These topics and techniques are directly related to the type of work that will be conducted this summer at Ozark National Scenic River, so the PI experience will be particularly applicable to this study. In addition, it is rare to find a principal investigator that is equally capable in both the physical and social sciences. The PI’s past experience is well-suited to the current project and makes him uniquely qualified.