Place attachment and resource substitutability: Roadside camping on forest preserve lands in the Adirondack Park

Roadside camping is a popular and widespread activity that occurs on state forest preserve (FP) lands within the Adirondack Park (AP). Recently, a policy debate arose regarding the appropriateness and legality of roadside campsites on certain categories of forest preserve lands. This three-phase exploratory study was conducted to provide AP policy makers and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation managers with information characterizing roadside campsites within the FP and users of these campsites. The primary research objective of this study was to explore relationships between roadside camper experience use history (EUH), activity involvement, place bonding/attachment, and resource substitution preferences and perceptions.;The first phase of this study, an inventory of roadside campsites on FP lands, identified 531 roadside campsites in several different AP management units. The second phase of this study, a qualitative examination of place attachment and resource substitutability conducted with 29 roadside campsite visitors, revealed several themes or categories of perceptions of roadside campers regarding these issues. The third phase of this study, an onsite survey of 216 roadside campers and a follow-up mail survey of 114 roadside campers, included measures of EUH, place bonding and attachment, activity involvement, and resource substitution preferences and perceptions.;Respondents to the surveys were placed into one of four groups based on their EUH with various camping settings within the AP. Using one-way ANOVA, significant differences were found across these EUH groups for measures of activity involvement, place bonding, and resource substitution. Three discriminant analyses were conducted in order to predict respondents' willingness to substitute and their preferences for substitution alternatives. EUH measures and place dependence and rootedness were found to be significant discriminating variables for understanding these resource substitution variables. Implications for researchers and managers are discussed.;Key Words: Roadside Camping, Place Bonding, Resource Substitution, Experience Use History...