ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how changes in visual aesthetic resources affect visitor experiences in parks and other national recreation areas. According to B. L. Driver and Ross Tocher, recreation is a type of human experience which is based on intrinsically rewarding voluntary engagements during nonobligated time. Identifying and measuring recreation experiences centers on analyzing individuals because it is individuals that actually produce and have recreation experiences. The most frequently used method for identifying and measuring specific recreation experiences relies on use of a set of experience preference scales developed and tested over the past twelve years and available from the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. In identifying and measuring specific recreation experiences, relevant experience preference scales are included in a questionnaire and recreationists are asked to evaluate how much each scale item was realized or would be realized when participating in a specific activity in a specific setting.
