Year of Award
2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Science (MS)
Degree Name
Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management
Department or School/College
Society and Conservation
Committee Chair
Dr. William L. Rice
Commitee Members
Dr. Hilary O. Faxon, Dr. Ethan S. Walker
Keywords
camping, access theory, recreation management
Subject Categories
Leisure Studies | Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration
Abstract
Access to front-country camping on North American public lands has historically been preferential to those who are White, relatively wealthy, and highly educated. In theory, however, all activities on public lands are available to all people, and everyone has equal right to enjoy the benefits from recreational activities like camping in these spaces. Since the 1960s, research on access has focused on the barriers, or constraints, that influence overall participation in leisure activities; however, few studies have examined access specific to front-country camping.
As a complement and extension of traditional leisure constraints theory, this study presents a unique application of access theory (as proposed by Jesse Ribot and Nancy Peluso, 2003) to examine who has access to front-country camping and how front-country campers gain access to camping in the rural American West. Ribot and Peluso’s conceptualization of access focuses on the “ability” rather than the “right” to benefit, and this theory suggests there are several mechanisms of access (i.e., pathways) that mediate how people directly or indirectly benefit from things like camping. In this quantitative study, an on-site survey of campers at Curecanti National Recreation Area in Gunnison, Colorado was utilized to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the mechanisms of access that enable campers to access front-country camping in a remote recreation area popular among anglers in rural Western United States? 2) Do the mechanisms of access vary between different age groups of campers? 3) Do the mechanisms of access vary between first-come, first-served campers and advanced reservation-based campers? Results identified technology, social relations, social identity, capital, knowledge, and rights-based access as six important pathways to accessing front-country camping across the entire study sample. Significant differences were also found across different age groups of campers and across campers staying in campsites that employed different rationing techniques in how enabling these pathways were. The results of this exploratory study suggest the need to incorporate access theory into future leisure studies examining outdoor recreation access to especially understand how power relations play a role in shaping who gets to access these leisure opportunities. This will be a key contribution for public land managers who strive to serve the greatest good by facilitating inclusive and equitable access to the broadest extent possible among the American public.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Hayley Ann, "Examining pathways for front-country camping access in the rural American West: An application of access theory" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12438.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12438
© Copyright 2025 Hayley Ann Johnson