Visitor Use Management in Wilderness: 3 Strategies   

Course summary: 

Visitor use management is an integral part of any wilderness stewardship program, and relevant goals (desired conditions) and objectives (thresholds) are typically identified in a wilderness stewardship plan. Some plans even prescribe a specific response when certain thresholds are exceeded and wilderness character is threatened or degrading. This course is designed to help you select management strategies and actions to address visitor use impacts in wilderness, particularly if stewardship plan direction is largely absent or inadequate to the situation. 

Course objectives: 

After completing this course, learners should be able to: 

• Identify the biophysical and social impacts of visitor use and its management on wilderness character. 

• Describe common visitor use management strategies and actions. 

• Determine which visitor use management strategies and actions will best preserve wilderness character. 

• Recognize the relationship between visitor use management strategies and monitoring. 

• Align visitor use management strategies and actions with wilderness stewardship plan goals and objectives. 

Recommended background:

This course is designed to meet the needs of managers in the National Wilderness Protection System. It is strongly recommended that students taking this course, first take the following prerequisites: The Wilderness Act of 1964 course and the Visitor Use Management in Wilderness: Fundamentals course 

Course topics include: 

• Impacts to Wilderness Character 

• Understanding the Problem 

• Management Strategies and Actions 

• Choosing Strategies and Actions 

Elements of the course: 

• Informational text 

• Interactive practice activities 

• Supplemental reference materials 

• Informal knowledge checks 

• Final assessment 

This course is self-paced, allowing learners the flexibility to complete the course as quickly or slowly as they need. 

After completing all course content and activities, you will complete a final quiz to demonstrate your understanding of key course concepts. Upon successful completion of the quiz, you will be awarded a certificate of completion. 

Please Note: After successfully registering for this course, login information for the online learning platform, Canvas, will be emailed to you at the address used for your account creation. This process could take up to 48 hours to complete. If you do not receive the login information in 48 hours, please email ExtendedLearningSupport@umontana.edu for assistance.