VERP and Cades Cove
Defining and Researching the Visitor Experience
Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) is a planning tool developed by the National Park Service in 1992 to better understand the dynamic link or balance between visitor use and resource condition. With this better understanding, park management goals can be developed to support the NPS mission to provide for visitor enjoyment while preserving and protecting the resources that visitors are coming to experience and enjoy.
One of the initial steps in the VERP process is to define and quantify the Cades Cove visitor experience. As a starting point, the study team developed a preliminary list of experiences:
- Cultural heritage education (learning about settlers, settler life, etc.)
- Natural heritage education (learning about geology, plants, animals, etc.)
- Immersion in cultural setting (sense of living in the past)
- Immersion in natural setting (enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of nature and being outdoors)
- Scenic views (enjoying the scenery)
- Wildlife viewing/bird watching (appreciation of wildlife)
- Peace and quiet (opportunity to relax and reflect)
- Family recreation (fishing, horseback riding, picnicking, bike riding)
- Exercise (hiking, bike riding, horseback riding)
- Challenge/adventure (camping, hiking)
- Exploring your family's heritage (descendent use)
- Solitude (opportunity to get away from other people)
- Social interaction (seeing and enjoying others experiencing cades cove)
This summer, visitor surveys will be used to validate this list, determine how important these experiences are to Cades Cove visitors, and determine how visitors evaluate their experience at current conditions. The survey input and other research will be used to establish Cades Cove visitor experience and resource protection factors. These factors, also called carrying capacities, are developed area by area based on the kinds of resources, expected visitor experience, and level of management in that area.
Carrying capacities can be based on physical, ecological, social, economic or other criteria that define what the desired conditions are for natural and cultural resources and visitor experiences. The carrying capacities developed through VERP will not be used to define the allowable number of visitors in an area at one time. Instead, they will be used to help develop, evaluate and refine the draft alternatives.
As Phase II progresses, this page will be updated with the results of the research and further definition of the carrying capacities developed for Cades Cove.
Comment on Cades Cove Visitor Experiences
Study the VERP manual
Learn more about carrying capacities
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