Visitor perceptions of technology and rescue in the wilderness

Graduation Date

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Other

Program

Thesis (M.S.)--Humboldt State University, Natural Resources: Planning and Interpretation, 2010

Committee Chair Name

Steven Martin

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Keywords

Technology, Wilderness, Humboldt State University -- Theses -- Natural Resources Planning and Interpretation, Rescue

Abstract

As devices like personal locator beacons become readily available, more visitors will bring them into wilderness and use them to request rescues. Visitors may develop unrealistic expectations of rescue based on these devices, and come to rely on them instead of developing appropriate knowledge and skills. In 2009, 235 overnight visitors to the King Range Wilderness in California completed a written survey. Visitors with previous involvement in a serious wilderness accident were more likely to believe that technology creates a false sense of safety for wilderness users than were people who had not been involved in a serious wilderness accident. Experienced visitors were likewise more likely to believe that technology makes visitors feel that they have a safety net which in reality may not exist. Experience as also positively correlated with the belief that technology makes people feel that their safety is not their personal responsibility.

https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/2514np22h

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