Rationing Recreational Access to Wilderness and Other Natural Areas

An unusual feature of the management of wilderness and other natural areas is that price is
rarely used to ration recreational access. This often leads to queuing for access. At the same
time there is often a relatively poor level of infrastructure provided for recreation. This paper
argues that it is the relatively high level of public and political involvement in the
management of wilderness and other natural areas that is ultimately responsible for the
particular way in which recreational access is allocated. This introduces two ‘biases’ into
managerial objectives. Queuing and infrastructure distortion are the symptom of these biases.