Recreation Group Encounters and Impacts on Satisfaction in Tennessee Wildlife Management Areas

Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) provide recreational opportunities to a diverse set of recreationists sharing the same resources to meet similar or opposing objectives. Encounters between members from different groups, or within the same group, can impact individual satisfaction with their overall experience. Data from a survey of individuals who visited WMAs in Tennessee were used to assess to what extent encounters with various recreation groups impacted satisfaction (n = 3,035). The Potential for Conflict Index was used to measure intra-group consensus and compare mean group satisfaction impacts from intra- and inter-group encounters as well as between subgroups. Intra-group encounters had positive impacts on satisfaction, while inter-group encounters had mixed impacts. Differences were also found between consumptive and non-consumptive recreationists. Findings will be useful to managers in understanding the dynamics of encounters between different recreation groups and improving overall satisfaction on diverse public recreation land like WMAs.