Galveston Island State Park: an analysis of use and user patterns.

Demand for outdoor recreation opportunites in Texas is increasing at a substantial rate. This demand is expected to double between 1970 and 1980 and double again by 2000. Nowhere in Texas is the demand for outdoor recreation growing faster than in the state's coastal region. To help meet the growing demand for coastal recreation resources, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department purchased several sites along the coastline for state park development. Galveston Island State Park, one of these sites, was opened to the public in January, 1976. The park, accessable to more than 2 million people in the Houston and Galveston-Texas City SMSA's alone, has met with instant success in terms of both day-use and overnight camping visitation. This public acceptance, reflected in the park's high use levels, has also brought an instant need for park staff to manage the park for a variety of experiences sought by a variety of users. In order for park managers to provide the necessary services, facilities, and experiences for visitors to enjoy yet protect the resource, a variety of information is essential for input into decision making. In support of this information need, this paper focuses on the basic user characteristics of Galveston Island State Park's overnight camping population. Galveston Island State Park camping permits were obtained for the study period beginning July 1, 1976 and ending June 30, 1977. The 18,523 permits were orderd sequentially by month and data and a 1-in-10 systematic random sample selected. Data on the resulting 1.852 permits were examined to provide baseline information on visitor use and user characteristics.