Defining the Quality of Lake Champlain Campsites
Ann Arbor, MI — Canoeing and kayaking are among the many recreational activities that people participate in on Lake Champlain. Since 1996 the Lake Champlain Paddlers’ Trail has given paddlers the opportunity to have a primitive camping experience on the lake, however not much was known about what conditions are like at campsites and what paddlers think about those conditions.
A study integrating results from a survey of paddlers and ground-based measurements of primitive Paddlers’ Trail campsites found that, overall, campsites are in relatively good shape, however impacts that could be avoided with proper low-impact camping practices like cut shrubs and vegetation are present at many sites throughout the Paddlers’ Trail system.
"The results of this study suggest that the current strategy for managing campsites along the Paddlers’ Trail is successfully providing good camping conditions for canoeists and kayakers," said Kelly Goonan, a doctoral researcher at Utah State University. "However, there is some concern about the number of avoidable impacts that are present throughout the system of campsites, and conditions at some sites are worse than what paddlers think are acceptable."
Additional information gathered from the surveys identified what conditions paddlers think are acceptable to experience at Paddlers’ Trail campsites and other conditions that are not acceptable. Paddlers seem to be sensitive to the size of the impacted area, and found smaller campsites to be more acceptable than large campsites. With the information from the survey and campsite visits, the Paddlers’ Trail can be managed in a way that continues to provide high quality primitive camping experiences to canoeists and kayakers on Lake Champlain.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "Resource conditions and paddler standards for primitive campsites along Lake Champlain," are reported by Kelly Goonan, Christopher Monz, Robert Manning, and Laura Anderson in the special issue on Lake Champlain, of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2011.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Kelly Goonan, Department of Environment and Society, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322; kelly.goonan@aggiemail.usu.edu, (306) 975-5310.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
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