Cutting edge solutions for challenging visitor use issues in parks, protected areas, and communities
DEMONSTRATED EXPERTISE
VISITOR USE MANAGEMENT
Recreation Solutions Group works with parks, protected areas, and communities to assess, understand, and solve challenging visitor use issues and impacts through comprehensive planning, monitoring, and deployment of contemporary data-driven strategies and tactics. Our vision is a sustainable recreation future for all.
RECREATION OPPORTUNITES
Most parks and protected areas operate under a dual mandate to provide resource protection and exceptional recreational opportunities. However, many land management agencies, communities, and their key partners lack the tools and resources necessary to effectively evaluate, understand, and address the effects of recreation and its impacts on the natural and social environment.
VISITOR USE
Recreation-related issues are a primary concern for many land managers, communities, and their partners. Such issues are often individual but they are cumulative over time. In other words, they are not one-off, they add up. If these kinds of issues are not effectively managed and mitigated, the integrity of both the natural and social environment can be degraded in perpetuity.
RESOURCE PROTECTION
As recreational use of our shared lands increases over time, the ecological integrity and visitor experience can suffer. Understanding and addressing the cause of these issues is paramount. Modern solutions are needed because today’s problems can’t be solved with yesterday’s tactics. This is where Recreation Solutions Group can be of critical assistance.
With more than 25 years of experience in visitor use management, natural resource protection, and visitor education and outreach, Recreation Solutions Group has the expertise necessary to help land managers from municipal, to state, to federal explore and better understand recreation patterns, impacts, and implications on the lands they manage. With these insights, Recreation Solutions Group can provide the tailored tools, techniques, and methods necessary to effectively address recreation-related issues and impacts and ensure effective visitor use management.
Our process involves three main phases to evaluate, understand, and solve visitor use issues in parks, protected areas, and communities – our work has been tested and has proven effective time and time again.
Evaluate the Situation
Initial consultation and evaluation to explore and understand overarching management objectives, recreation-related impacts, visitor use management concerns, and visitation trends of a park, protected area, or community.
Understand the Big Picture
Assess current management tactics, explore available monitoring and visitor use data, examine current status of recreational use, and assess desired future condition.
Solve the Critical Issues
Development and/or implementation of contemporary, tested, and proven strategies to effectively address specific impacts or visitor use issues to achieve long term sustainability.
Ready to learn how we can help?
Recreation and Visitor Use Management
“Ben Lawhon has been an influential partner to Natural Lands for more than 15 years and has been our go-to expert as we work to balance growing visitation to our 42 nature preserves and public garden with our natural resource stewardship mission. He brings a practical perspective to recreation management, a consistent focus on implementable solutions, and a depth of knowledge and experience that we could never duplicate on staff. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have Ben as a long-time resource.”
– OLIVER BASS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | NATURAL LANDS
