Estimating recreational use in the Bridger-Teton National Forest

2022-2023
Bridger-Teton National Forest
The Nature Conservancy
USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station

The goal of this research project was to evaluate whether digital moblity data provided by social media and mobile phone applications can be leveraged to better understand patterns of recreational use across the Bridger-Teton National Forest. We investigated the potential to incorporate digital mobility data into maps of recreational use across the Forest and to develop statistical models for estimating recreation use with these data sources. The findings from this study were summarized in a report shared with the project partners which describes the methods and data sources used in this study. This included results of analyses that examined relationships between several digital mobility data sources and visitor counts collected at recreation sites across the forest, as well as a brief discussion section exploring the potential for these data sources to inform statistical models and maps of recreational use across the entire Bridger-Teton National Forest. An online data visualization dashboard allowed managers to access trail-level visitation data for incorporation in forest planning.