Management Issues

Given the plethora of complex issues facing the recreation in wildlands today, and the time limitations we face in this class, this paper provides and opportunity for participants to explore important topics we may not sufficiently cover in class. I would like you to apply the ideas, frameworks, and principles that we have learned in class to a recreation management issue that is of interest to you and present a management recommendation based on the course content. The overall product will be to write a quality paper and present the findings to the class at the end of the semester.

• Your work must be an original topic. I will work with you to assure that all topics presented in the class are unique. That is why you must turn in a topic and abstract first.

Below is a brief list of possible topics. You may already have something in mind that you have a great deal of experience with or you may want to investigate something new. Regardless, pick a topic that you are interested in and feel passionate about regarding current wildland recreation issues. The paper must be about recreation management in wildlands.

• The effort to designate more wilderness in the US: Current status, proposed wilderness, future challenges.
• The economic benefits of wildland recreation and tourism in Utah.
• Is the National Wilderness Preservation System also a set of biodiversity pre-serves? Why or why not?
• Use and management of fixed anchors for climbing in wildlands.
• Motorized use in Utah: where, why and the management issues
• Natural vs. Wild. Just how much “management” is appropriate for wildlands
• Management issues in your favorite national park or wildland.
• Recent visitor capacity issues in Zion NP orArchesNationalPark.
• The controversy over the Antiquities Act and the Bear’s Ears/Escalante Grand Staircase National Monuments
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Extending the Benefits of Public Lands to Everyone
• Outdoor Advocacy
• Social Media and Wildlands

• Prepare a word-processed document that contains a clear title and a 200-300 word abstract on the topic you will develop for the course.
• The abstract should contain a clear topic sentence, explain how you will ex- amine the issue selected (i.e., what dimensions will be discussed and why), discuss the questions you will need to answer to address this issue, and con- tain a final sentence that suggests some preliminary conclusions on this issue. Some of this may change during your further research, but the abstract should suggest your preliminary approach and thinking on this subject.

A best practice in writing research papers starts with a review of the available literature and identifying what is known and where gaps in knowledge exist. By summarizing these points in a paragraph or two provides the basic structure for the body of a paper like this. When this is combined with the abstract as the introduction you’ve written the bulk of the paper!

• To ensure good progress of work on the final paper and check to make sure you are using reliable resources you are expected to turn in an annotated reference list.
• This list should include four-six references that you will use in your final paper.
• The “annotated” part means that you will list the reference in APA format then discuss what you learned from this source and summarize the main points in 3-4 sentences (a paragraph).
• See the Management Issues Canvas page for an example of what annotated references look like.

ENVS 4500 (Wildland Recreation Behavior) is listed as a Communication Intensive with specific criteria outlined for learning outcomes. One of these criteria is “Engaging in the iterative process of improving communication, based on feedback from an informed audience”. In order to accomplish this requirement and provide students the opportunity to improve their writing, students will submit a finished management topic paper to the Science Writing Center for review. You will receive credit for this by uploading your paper with the annotations provided by the Science Writing Center and I will be able to see how your writing improves when you submit your final draft at the end of the semester.

A few details:

Meetings with the Science Writing Center can occur in-person or online. You will need to create an account on the website and schedule an appointment before Nov 19th and meet with a tutor to review your paper and discuss how you might revise it.

Science Writing Center Website: usu.edu/science/swc

• Paper should follow APA style guidelines as indicated in the syllabus. Please review the writing and professionalism expectations provided in the syllabus. Given this will be an assignment representing your ability to synthesize and apply all that we have learned in class, I will be holding you to very high standards.
• The final paper should be 4-6 pages (excluding references), word-processed and double-spaced.
• Please review the following criteria for how your paper will be evaluated.

Criteria	Description	Points
Basic Formatting	Followed assignment guidelines of paper 4-6 pages in length, double spaced (excluding references)	5
APA Style	References and in-text citations in APA style	5
Grammar & Spelling	Writing demonstrates well-organized professional writing and effort to revise and improve clarity and conciseness.	10
Application of Content	Paper connects concepts, frameworks, or principles from the course to the management topic	10
Management Recommendations	Provides consideration of the topic from the perspective of a manager and provides recommendations for how to address this issue.	10

Total: 40

This assignment will culminate with a oral presentation of the findings of your paper at the end of the semester. The presen- tations will be in-class as scheduled on our syllabus during the last meetings before the final exam.

Requirements

• Craft your presentation like your paper with an introduction to the issue, what you’ve found in your research, and what you’ve proposed as a management recommendation.
• Create two discussion questions for the class at the end of your presentation that relate to your findings or your proposed recommendation. These don’t have to have a clear answer, but rather illustrate some complexity or challenge related to recreation management.
• Presentations should be in PowerPoint or PDF format and be 6-8 minutes long allowing 4-6 minutes for questions and discussion.
• Students will sign up for in class presentation slots the week prior to presentations.