ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the scope of conflict in recreation resource planning and management. Leisure and recreation center around notions of human well-being and fulfillment. As public interest in recreation grows, as tastes change, as fads emerge, and as technologies evolve, the range of recreational activities and styles of participation appear to expand exponentially. Recreation resource planners and managers are communicating that dealing with conflict is one of the most fundamental aspects of their duties. The chapter focuses on the interface between the various publics related to the recreation, including recreationists themselves, people in communities affected by participation, and private and public providers of recreational opportunities. Some of the difficulty in linking potential goal incompatibility to perceptions of conflict may be the fact that goal can represent a tremendously diverse range of desired outcomes from recreation participation.
