Visitor Motivations for Technology Escape in Wisconsin's Largest State Forest

Annapolis, MD

Outdoor recreation managers are increasingly challenged with determining whether and how to provide opportunities for technology use in forests and parks. Decisions can be informed, in part, by better understanding visitor motivations regarding technology. To this end, four new “technology escape” motivation items were developed and measured in a survey of visitors to Northern Highland – American Legion State Forest. Visitors completed 815 surveys in summer 2013 (response rate = 90%). The four motivation items were grouped together into a single escape technology domain. Overall, NHAL visitors placed moderate importance on this motivation. Small differences in technology escape were found by respondent group size, gender, and place attachment. However, no significant relationships were found by primary activity, education level, age, income, or experience use history. Moderate to strong correlations suggest that the new technology specific domain may not be particularly distinct from existing recreation experience domains targeted at escaping everyday pressures.