Full course description
Course summary:
Monitoring in wilderness ensures that wilderness character, as well as the values and benefits of wilderness, are being preserved. Visitor use monitoring is the routine and systematic collection of wilderness resource information to identify changes in conditions over time caused by visitor use or visitor use management. For the purposes of this course, it also includes inventories conducted to assess existing conditions or establish a monitoring baseline. This information can be used to inform new management and planning decisions, or to evaluate the effectiveness of previous management actions and improve subsequent decision making.
Course objectives:
After completing this course, learners should be able to:
- Identify the objectives of visitor use monitoring in wilderness.
- Recognize the role of visitor use monitoring in preserving wilderness character.
- Relate visitor use monitoring to wilderness character monitoring.
- Describe the four common types of visitor use monitoring programs.
- Explain the steps typically involved in building a visitor use monitoring strategy.
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 prerequisite courses:
- The Wilderness Act of 1964
- Visitor Use Management in Wilderness: Fundamentals
- Visitor Use Management in Wilderness: Strategies
Course topics include:
- Introduction to Monitoring
- The Need for Monitoring
- Monitoring in Wilderness
- Visitor Use Monitoring
- What Are We Monitoring?
- Building a Visitor Use Monitoring Strategy
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.
Course creators:
This course was designed and developed jointly by the Arthur Carhart Wilderness Training Center and the Eppley Center for Parks and Public Lands at Indiana University.
How to access:
Upon enrolling, you will receive instructions and the link to the Canvas course. Note: When you register, you will receive an email invitation. Be sure to accept that invitation, or Canvas will not allow you to open the course modules.
Enrollees can move through content modules at their own pace within the course timeframe.