UAF Skarland Trail System Management Plan

UAF Trails 1999 User Survey Results

March 2, 2000

Executive Summary

As shown in Tables 1-3, over 70% of the 242 respondents were affiliated with the University, while 67 were from the greater Fairbanks area. Within the University affiliates, 51% were students, 27% staff, and 22% faculty. We expected to find extensive use by families, but over 75% of the respondents never or seldom take children under 12 with them.

This survey indicates that the trails are heavily used. The respondents use the trails more in the winter than in the summer, with the majority using the trails more than 12 times each month, year-round. The survey indicates that the respondents alone may be generating some 1300 user days per month in the summer, and roughly 1800 user days per month in the winter. This is a substantial level of use for any recreational facility of this size and, because only a portion of total users were sampled, this is likely to underestimate the actual level of use considerably.

Respondents could choose among 12 different types of uses (including classic skiing, walking, skate skiing, biking, jogging/running, commuting, educational uses, ice skating, no use , research, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and "other").

As shown in Table 5, 95% of respondents participate in at least one activity, 121 (or half) the respondents take part in at least four activities, and some enjoy as many as eight different uses (such as running, biking, walking, skiing, etc.). It should be pointed out, however, that there are other uses that were not listed, such as bird watching, that do take place and are not accounted for here. There are also "illegal" uses, such as four-wheel driving, that were not reported.

The most popular activity on the UAF trails is classic skiing, with 184 of the 242 respondents taking part in this activity. Walking was the next most popular. Skate skiing, biking, and running each account for slightly more than half of the use. Almost 20% of the respondents use the trails for commuting, 13% use them for educational purposes, 4% for research, and very few of the sample use the trails for snowmobiling and horseback riding.

Most of the respondents (72%) either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement "Do NOT construct any new trails on campus" which indicates that they feel new trails SHOULD be considered. About one-quarter of the sample were neutral, and only 3 out of 242 strongly agreed that no new trails should be built on campus.

The most popular new trail proposal was the commuter trail from Sheep Creek to West Ridge. A bike path along West Tanana south of the farm also ranked high. A year-round pedestrian path, and a path south of Butrovitch along Tanana Loop and finishing the Midnight Express ski trail were next with about the same number of votes. A Bike Path along Loftus Extension, and a Trail to West Ridge had the lowest scores.

Signs were by far the most popular new facility proposal, followed by kiosks, boardwalks, and a maintenance shop. With the aid of 20/20 hindsight, it is obvious that trail lighting was omitted as a question on the survey. That is unfortunate because in the open ended comments, it was mentioned several times.

Currently, trash receptacles are located at the Ski Hut and at the Ballaine Lake trailhead which is maintained by the state Dept. of Transportation. As shown in Table 11, a total of 124 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with no additional litter collection system, while 52 were neutral and 60 disagreed. The statement concerning "take only memories" was not universally appealing. One student commented, "I don't mind no litter service, but I think the proposed sign about memories and foot prints is really OFFENSIVE."

The respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with different proposals for prohibited uses. With the exception of snowmachines, vehicles and horses, all of the suggested prohibited uses would only apply to groomed ski trails.

Prohibiting snowmachines had an average score of 1.44 (where 1=agree and 2=strongly agree) and was favored by 206, or 85% of the 241 respondents who answered that question. Approximately 66% of the sample favored prohibiting both motorized vehicles and horses in winter. Sixty-three percent either agreed or strongly agreed to the proposal to prohibit bicycles and 60% oppose dogs on the groomed trails. Slightly less than half (48%) favored prohibiting pedestrians on the groomed trails.

When asked to rate their level of agreement with the statement, "All unauthorized motorized vehicles would be prohibited--only official vehicles for research and maintenance would be allowed in the summer," 88% of the sample either strongly agreed or agreed and there was similar support for prohibiting ATVs in the summer. Asked about closing wet trail areas to all uses until they were dry, only 42% of the sample either agreed or strongly agreed.

The sample respondents did not favor closing the trails to horses in the summer. Almost 39% opposed this and another 43% had no opinion, while only 8% strongly agreed with prohibiting horseback riding in the summer.

Affiliation and Extent of Use by Families

As shown in Tables 1-3, over 70% of the 242 respondents were affiliated with the University, while 67 were from the greater Fairbanks area. Within the University affiliates, 51% were students, 27% staff, and 22% faculty. We expected to find extensive use by families, but over 75% of the respondents never or seldom take children under 12 with them.

Table 1. Which category below best describes your affiliation?
Number of Respondents	Percentage of Sample	Affiliation
67	27%	Non-UAF affiliates (all but 6 were Fairbanks residents)
175	72%	UAF affiliates
242	100%	Total

An Estimate of "User Days"

This survey indicates that the trails are heavily used. The respondents use the trails more in the winter than in the summer, with the majority using the trails more than 12 times each month, year-round. By using a number to approximate a given range (using 11 to substitute for the range "10-12", for example), one can estimate the number of "user days" by multiplying the number of times per month by the number of users. This indicates that the respondents alone may be generating some 1300 user days per month in the summer, and roughly 1800 user days per month in the winter. This is a substantial level of use for any recreational facility and, because only a portion of total users were sampled, this is likely to underestimate the actual level of use considerably.

Users Enjoy Many Different Activities

Respondents could choose among 12 different types of uses (including classic skiing, walking, skate skiing, biking, jogging/running, commuting, educational uses, ice skating, no use , research, snowmobiling, horseback riding, and"other").

As shown in Table 5, 95% of respondents participate in at least one activity, 121 (or half) the respondents take part in at least four activities, and some enjoy as many as eight different uses (such as running, biking, walking, skiing, etc.). Some do not use the trails at all for recreation, and no one completed the "other use" open-ended question. It should be pointed out, however, that there are other uses that were not listed, such as bird watching, that do take place and are not accounted for here. There are also "illegal" uses, such as four-wheel driving, that were not reported.

Table 5. How many ways do you use the UAF trails?
Number of Activities	Number of Respondents who Participate
0	12
1	15
2	49
3	44
4	52
5	39
6	22
7	8

Classic Skiing is the Primary Activity

The most popular activity on the UAF trails is classic skiing, with 184 of the 242 respondents taking part. Walking was the next most popular. Skate skiing, biking, and running each account for slightly more than half of the use. Almost 20% of the respondents use the trails for commuting, 13% use them for educational purposes, 4% for research, and very few of the sample use the trails for snowmobiling and horseback riding.

A Resounding "No" to "No New Trails"

Most of the respondents (72%) either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement "Do NOT construct any new trails on campus." About one-quarter of the sample were neutral, and only 3 out of 242 strongly agreed that no new trails should be built on campus.

Table 7. What is your opinion of the following statement: Do NOT construct any new trails on campus.
Choice	Number of Respondents	Percentage of Respondents
Strongly Agree = +2	3	1%
Agree = +1	9	4%
Neutral or No Opinion = 0	55	23%
Disagree = -1	79	34%
Strongly Disagree = -2	89	38%
Total	235	100%

Commuter Trail Top New Trail Priority

Scores for each of the proposals were obtained by summing the scores from -1 (for do NOT do it) to +6 (for "essential"). The most popular new trail proposal was the commuter trail from Sheep Creek to West Ridge. A bike path along West Tanana, a year-round pedestrian path, and a path south of Butrovitch along Tanana Loop, and finishing the Midnight Express were also popular.

Table 8. New Trail Priorities (arranged from highest to lowest "score") Respondents were asked to rank each trail by level of priority (each priority was given a number of points, which the respondent could see.)
	Proposed Trail
	Commuter Trail		West Tanana Bike Path		Pedestrian Path		Tanana Loop		Finish Midnight Express		Bike Path on Loftus Ext.		Parks Hwy. Bike Path	Trail to West Ridge
TOTAL Score	779		695		634		632		625		587		559	531
Average Score	3.31		2.96		2.70		2.69		2.66		2.50		2.38	2.26
Standard Deviation	1.69		1.85		1.98		2.02		1.96		1.97		1.87	2.04

	Number of Responses at Each Level of Priority
Essential "a must do" = 6	36	18		30		28		26		25		17		22
Very High Priority = 5	11	35		8		6		7		6		7		5
High Priority = 4	59	40		40		55		48		39		41		35
Medium Priority = 3	63	58		55		51		59		59		54		52
Low Priority = 2	38	38		48		33		35		37		49		48
Very Low Priority = 1	12	9		6		9		3		10		12		9
Neutral or No Opinion = 0	11	30		35		39		49		49		41		37
Do NOT do it = -1	5	7		13		14		8		10		14		27
Total # Responses	235	235		235		235		235		235		235		235

Signs, Kiosks and Boardwalks Top Facilities Priorities

Signs were by far the most popular new facility proposal, followed by kiosks, boardwalks, and a maintenance shop. With the aid of 20/20 hindsight, it is obvious that trail lighting was omitted. That is unfortunate because in the open ended comments, it was mentioned many times.

Table 9. FACILITY Priorities (arranged from highest to lowest "score")
Facility/Amenity	Total Score	Average Score	Standard Deviation
Post signs at major intersections with names of trails & distance to each trailhead.	833	3.53	1.78
Place suggestion & donation boxes, signs regarding allowed uses, maps, & info Kiosks at Sheep Creek, Ballaine, and West Ridge trailheads.	671	2.84	1.88
Place boardwalks in low, wet areas of trails	640	2.71	1.79
Build a maintenance and Storage Shop for grooming equipment	520	2.20	1.89
Provide restrooms at trail heads.	481	2.04	1.77
Sheep Creek Trailhead Construct an "official" trail head and parking lot on campus side of Sheep Creek Road.	465	1.97	1.93
Move existing Ski Hut to the old picnic ground site near Satellite dish.	423	1.79	1.84
Construct a boardwalk and bird viewing platform at Smith Lake	408	1.73	2.01
Reopen the student campground near the ski hut	389	1.65	2.20
Boardwalk at Ballaine Lake	353	1.50	1.95
Construct a warming hut at Sheep Creek Trailhead.	350	1.48	1.80
Smooth The Potato Field for use as a small "stadium."	270	1.14	1.75

"No" to Trash Receptacles

Sometimes it is better not to have any trash containers than to have some that are overflowing. There is currently only one trash receptacle in the area and it is at the Ballaine Lake trailhead which is maintained by the state Dept. of Transportation. As shown in Table 11, 124 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with no litter collection system, while 52 were neutral and 60 disagreed. The statement concerning "take only memories" was not universally appealing. One student commented, "I don't mind no litter service, but I think the proposed sign about memories and foot prints is really OFFENSIVE."

What Uses, if any, should be prohibited in winter?

The respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with different proposals for prohibited uses. Each proposed prohibited use was phrased as a "would be" statement to make it clear that this was a proposal and not a final decision. Level of agreement was indicated from -2, for strongly disagree, to +2 for strongly agree with prohibiting the use. With the exception of snowmachines and horses, all of the suggested prohibited uses would only apply to groomed ski trails.

Prohibiting snowmachines had an average score of 1.44 (where 1=agree and 2=strongly agree) and was favored by 206, or 85% of the 241 respondents. Approximately 66% of the sample favored prohibiting both motorized vehicles and horses should be prohibited according to 160 respondents, or 66%. Sixty-three percent either agreed or strongly agreed to the proposal to prohibit bicycles and 60% oppose dogs on the groomed trails. Slightly less than half (48%) favored prohibiting pedestrians on the groomed trails.

Table 13. Prohibited Uses Which uses, if any, should be prohibited on groomed trails in WINTER?
	Snow machines	Motorized vehicles	Horses	Bicycles	Dogs, skijoring, mushing	Pedestrians
Total "Score"	346	241	236	198	144	78
Average Score :	1.44	1.00	0.98	0.83	0.60	0.33
Standard Deviation :	1.14	1.30	1.19	1.29	1.39	1.49
	Number of Responses in Each Category
Strongly Agree	179	134	116	104	86	81
Agree	27	26	46	48	59	34
Neutral	10	43	47	50	40	49
Disagree	11	23	22	20	25	36
Strongly Disagree	14	15	10	19	31	41
Total # Responses	241	241	241	241	241	241

What Uses, if any, should be prohibited in summer?

When asked to rate their level of agreement with the statement, "All unauthorized motorized vehicles would be prohibited. Only official vehicles for research and maintenance would be allowed in the summer," almost 70% of the sample strongly agreed and another 18% agreed. The numbers were similar for ATVs. Only 42% of the sample either agreed or strongly agreed to closing wet areas to all uses until they were dry.

The sample respondents did not favor closing the trails to horses. Almost 39% opposed this and another 43% had no opinion, while only 8% strongly agreed with prohibiting horseback riding in the summer.

		Prohibit motorized vehicles	Prohibit ATV's	Close wet areas to all uses until dry	Prohibit horses
Total "Score"		360	342	72	-72
Average Score :		1.50	1.43	0.30	-0.30
Standard Deviation :		0.91	0.99	1.21	1.12

Number of Responses in Each Category
Strongly Agree = +2		166	162	52	20
Agree = +1		44	38	48	23
Neutral or No Opinion = 0		22	29	80	104
Disagree = -1		2	4	42	51
Strongly Disagree = -2		7	8	19	42
Total # Responses		241	241	241	240

Trails Survey Survey Results	Survey Comments Comments by Topic
Trails Plan Dedication: Ivar Skarland Note to Reader Executive Summary
Location Map Introduction Area Description How the Plan Was Developed History of North Campus Traditional Land Uses History of UAF Trails Trail Zamboni	A Vision of the Trail System Proposed Facilities New Trails Allowed Uses Plan Modification Other Management Issues Maintenance Policies UAF Trails Survey Results

University of Alaska Fairbanks
Tanana Valley Campus
PO Box 8040-UAF

Phone: +1 907 474 7920
Fax:    +1 907 474 6725
fndlm5@uaf.edu