The effect of site visits on visitors' understanding and attitudes toward natural areas

I am addressing what natural area visitors know about local ecosystems before and after visiting them. Visitors come from very diverse backgrounds and intentions for their visits. Most are exposed to some element of the natural environment and come away with some undefined level and type of new knowledge based on their experience. The Sierra Nevada, California presents a valuable test area in which to evaluate what is actually learned during such visits. This is due to the very wide range of environments and ecosystems contained within or adjacent to it, the number of established interpretive/educational centers, and the wide variety and number of visitors. These locations include several specific sites in Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, the Mono Basin Scenic Area (USFS), the Inyo National Forest, and the greater Lake Tahoe region. Ecosystems contained within range from desert to alpine and include terrestrial, riparian and aquatic. Visitors come from around the world. At several defined locations, I am using written and oral questionaires to determine what people did and did not know about local ecosystems before and after their visits, the number of previous visits to the area, their intentions/goals for their visit, their level of interest in particular natural areas before and after their visit, the primary source(s) for any new knowledge they may have acquired, and their willingness to contribute toward conservation efforts. The results are summarized by categories of visitor background, trip expectations or goals, ecosystems visited, and type of educational information exposed to. My working hypothesis is that many visitors have only minimal and/or incorrect ideas regarding ecological characteristics of a given area, and that on-site experiences will increase and broaden their knowledge, desire to learn more in the future, and/or willingness to support ongoing conservation efforts in a given area.