Introduction
New Zealand has had a long tradition of access to outdoor recreation, to a largely undeveloped back country and to extensive areas of uncrowded natural environments; outdoor recreational land is plentiful by most countries' standards. Substantial areas of largely unmodified country are vested in the Crown as public lands, in the form of National Parks, Forest Parks and a variety of other Reserves, a Conservation Estate that is almost completely uninhabited. The first National Park was established in 1887 and very large areas of largely unmodified country continue to be added to the system. The latest National Park, Kahurangi, in the north west of the South Island, is the country's second largest, and was opened in 1996.
Not only is the Conservation Estate large, it is also widely distributed, although a considerable part lies along the alpine spine of the South Island and is thus remote from the growing population focus of the northern North Island. Virtually all Crown Land is open to unconstrained public access; only some scientific and nature conservation areas are closed and these are only a very small proportion of the total. Additionally, substantial areas of open High Country grassland, usually held as Crown Pastoral leases, have traditionally been open to recreationists. The twenty metre marginal strip that borders almost all rivers, streams and lakes, the so-called Queen's Chain, has also provided extensive recreational areas and important access routes.
New Zealanders have always had easy access to high quality recreational environments and these have for long been used for tramping, mountaineering, skiing, hunting and fishing, and, as a consequence, an outdoor recreational ethic has been a substantial component of the New Zealand culture. The rough but honest bushman has long been an icon of the 'real' New Zealand (Fitzharris and Kearsley, 1988). While widespread in the public mind, such a culture has not been universally participated in; there has been something of a tendency for back country users to be young, in their teens and twenties, to be male, Pakeha and to be students or to come from professional backgrounds (Booth, 1995; Shultis 1991). Nonetheless, this is not an exclusive profile and all ages and social backgrounds can be found; hunting and fishing, in particular, transcend all class and ethnic boundaries. For many, school trips and outdoor education programmes provide a first experience, one that is sometimes never repeated, and many New Zealanders simply visit the 'front country' that is easily accessible from the roadside. This may be for a walk of only an hour or so, or even less, or they may drive to scenic highlights such as Milford Sound. Others may visit more remote places, such as Doubtful Sound, under the auspices of a commercial operator. Whether they participate or not, however, all New Zealanders regard free and undisturbed access to the natural heritage of the country as an inalienable right and a part of their Kiwi identity.
Because of the nature of backcountry recreation, precise participation figures are hard to come by, but the various local and regional studies that are available show little sign of a major shift in the profile of backcountry users. The Life In New Zealand survey (Russell et al, 1991) shows that only two percent report tramping as an activity, although since the relevant question asked for participation in the previous four weeks only, this may under-represent overall participation. There is no documentary evidence to suggest that there has been any great fluctuation in that figure over a considerable period of time, and Cushman (1997) suggests that there has been little change over a ten-year period. However, Cushman argues, in the longer term, a present trend towards increased tramping activity among the elderly could lead to a 75 percent increase in activity by 2051, leading to nearly 105 000 participants in a four week period. Natural increase and present patterns of immigration, then, are not likely to lead to an increase in use of the backcountry for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the dynamics of national population redistribution may reduce domestic pressures within the South Island, whereas pressures might well increase in such places as the Coromandel and Northland, because of their proximity to the Auckland region.
Native New Zealanders are not the only users of this rich and diverse recreational resource; international tourists have become major visitors to the backcountry, too (Higham 1996, Higham and Kearsley 1994). In 1975 New Zealand had some 250 000 international tourists; they tended to be Australians and to patronise scheduled coach tours and few left the highways and scenic highlights. Even in 1982, a study of Fiordland National Park, by far the country's largest, showed that overseas back country users were a minority, overwhelmingly Australian (Kearsley 1982, Higham and Kearsley 1994). By 1985, the number of tourists had doubled to half a million, with a much greater range of nationalities and a high level of demand for adventure experiences, such as white water rafting and bungy jumping. The present total is one and a half million, many of whom use the Conservation Estate, especially the more popular walking tracks and scenic destinations.
In recent years, several studies have suggested that the rise of overseas visitors has begun to impact upon the more established and popular parts of the Conservation Estate and to generate perceptions of crowding (Harris 1984, Kearsley 1990, Keogh 1991, Kearsley and O'Neill 1994, Higham and Kearsley 1994, Kearsley 1996), as well as other negative effects. Generally, there have been two sets of consequences. One has been for the Department of Conservation to introduce limited access and overnight hut booking systems on the most heavily used tracks, such as the Routeburn and Milford, and to foreshadow similar restrictions on others. Associated with this has been a wide ranging public debate about the need to charge more for the ever increasing maintenance and facilities provision caused by increasing tourist numbers. While no conclusions have been reached, suggestions that access fees might one day be charged or that facilities charges might rise substantially have caused some considerable popular alarm.
The second consequence has been for the suspicion to arise that some domestic, and, perhaps, some of the more adventurous overseas trampers might be displaced into marginal environments or seasons as a consequence of avoiding perceived crowding. One consequence of this, if it is happening, is increased visitor pressure on more remote locations and displacement of visitors into a limited reservoir of pristine sites, with obvious physical impacts. Similarly, there will be an impact on host community satisfaction as overseas visitors displace domestic recreationists.
The aim of this research program was to measure perceptions of crowding, motivations and degrees of satisfaction with the experiences, along with establishing to what extent displacement occurs and what coping strategies are being employed by trampers in the backcountry areas of New Zealand. It was made possible by funding from New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Public Good Science Fund.