Assessing Congestion at Miners Beach, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

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The Recipient is a member of the Great Lakes Northern Forest CESU who was awarded a Master Cooperative Agreement P12AC31164 allowing the University of Minnesota to participate in specific tasks, and can provide the necessary activities involved in this particular task while providing an effective outcome for NPS and the objectives of this research/educational project.Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore staff will be working closely with the University of Minnesota student and faculty to observe the public access and use of Miners Beach. This will help with safety planning as well as future visitor use management in environmental stewardship.This project “Assess use and visitor behavior among water-based and waterfront visitors through observation along Miners Beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore” will contribute to public understanding of the current use patterns of the public access along Miners Beach.This project would be a part of the “Parks and Protected Area” Management program under the University of Minnesota and support a graduate student thesis work. This information is not necessary for the daily function and support of the NPS mission at Pictured Rocks though will help inform the park as to what use is occurring and more thoroughly inform management options.7There is no current data about the use of this area, only limited descriptions of what various interestedstakeholders have communicated to the park. Given some of the information regarding“overcrowding” and limited water experience by the recreational users along the lakeshore that’s beencommunicated by stakeholders, the park does have a concern about safety planning and preparednessif any emergency should occur. The data collected from this project will allow use limits and visitorneeds to be addressed that will maintain a more positive and safer public boating experience.This phase of the project includes an onsite visitor questionnaire will be drafted by UMN personnelbased on the National Park Service pool of known questions, previous research and managementneeds. Once reviewed by staff and others, a pre-test will occur with 9 or fewer people. If revisions arenecessary, they will be addressed and then the questionnaire will move through NPS ProgrammaticReview and OMB approval.

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