Missouri Nature Centers

Bring New Users to

Conservation:

Estimating Visits and

Economic Value Tom Treiman, Michele Baumer, Heather Scroggins, Joel Sartwell, Julie Fleming, Linda Chorice and Tamie Yegge

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• Busch Memorial Conservation Area

• Burr Oak Woods Nature Center

• Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center

• Columbia Bottom • Discovery Center • Powder Valley Conservation

Nature Center • Rockwoods Reservation • Runge Nature Center • Shepherd of the Hills Fish

Hatchery • Springfield Conservation

Nature Center • Twin Pines Conservation

Education Center • Wildcat Glades

Conservation & Audubon Center

Missouri Department of Conservation Interpretive

Sites

Helping people Discover Nature

MDC Visitor Surveys

• Have been large-scale, intensive surveys • once every 10 or more years

• Large investment in time and labor • Paper data sheets

• required data entry and error checking • Providing results to the nature centers was

slow

Visitor Surveys 2.0

Develop a simplified “electronic” visitor survey that MDC staff and volunteers can use on their own schedule

• Low cost

• Repeatable

• Quick turn-around for results

• Standardized, computerized format

– allows comparisons, but with flexibility for managers to customize

But what is the “Survey”?

• Random one-hour survey periods throughout the year

• Tally and interview visitors as they leave

• Ask them a bunch of nosey questions (but it’s a conversation, not an interrogation)

• For that hour, the interviewer is a clerk, not a naturalist

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What Nosey Questions Do We Ask? – Zip code: “Where’re you from?”

– Time spent: “How long were you here today?” Annual visits: “How often…?”

– Number in party: Adults\children

– What did you do here today? (clerk categorizes)

– Rating (On a scale of 1 to 5,…)

– What information source helped you to decide to visit today? (clerk categorizes)

– Demographics (gender, age, race, disability)

– Custom questions

– Note: buses and groups larger than 7 get a shorter list of questions

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Nature Center Focus Groups

In connection with the visitor use surveys, focus groups were held at: – Runge Conservation Nature Center – with lapsed users

– Springfield Conservation Nature Center – non-building users

– Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center - local

– Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center - parents

Data Analysis

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Programing and Results!

Visits Rating

(% “Excellent”) Top Activity

2009 – Columbia Bottom 81,205 73.7% Nature

2009 - Runge 94,295 85.9% Exhibits

2010 – Powder Valley 97,136 90.3% Exhibits

2011 – Burr Oak Woods 79,489 82.2% Hike

2011 - Springfield 185,512 85.7% Hike

2012 – Cape Girardeau 78,093 82.8% “General”

2012 – Shepherd of the Hills 308,141 71.2% Feed the Fish

2013 – Rockwoods 33,789 77.2% Hike

2014 – Discovery Center (1/2 year) 20,271 71.1% Trails

Economic Value*: What does it mean?

• How much an activity is worth to visitors

• Economic value is calculated as the area under the demand curve for a good but above the “market’ price

* AKA “economic benefit”, “WTP” or “consumer surplus”

Economic Value: Estimation (Cont.)

• Travel Cost Method

– Assumption: trip/pop. varies with cost

– Estimate demand curve

– Estimate the area under the curve

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For example: Springfield Conservation Nature Center

Exits Avg. Party

Size Avg.

Time Spent Avg. Dist.

2009 – Columbia Bottom 81,205 1.7 1.5 20.6

2009 - Runge 94,295 2.2 1.2 42.3

2010 – Powder Valley 97,136 1.9 1.1 11.7

2011 – Burr Oak Woods 79,489 1.8 1.2 9.1

2011 - Springfield 185,512 1.8 1.4 13.3

2012 – Cape Girardeau 78,093 2.4 1.3 13.7

2012 – Shepherd of the Hills 308,141 2.7 1.1 170.2*

2013 – Rockwoods 33,789 1.6 1.3 14.9

Economic Value: Data

Per Visit Total

2009 – Columbia Bottom $7.73 $627,700

2009 - Runge $14.75 $1,398,851

2010 – Powder Valley $5.27 $519,079

2011 – Burr Oak Woods $3.11 $272,769

2011 - Springfield $11.04 $2,125,000

2012 – Cape Girardeau $6.51 $508,385

2012 – Shepherd of the Hills $16.00 $4,900,000

2013 – Rockwoods $5.60 $190,400

Economic Value: Into Dollars

How can we use “economic value”?

Nature and Interpretive Centers

Aft

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Opened NC one night/week

Confirmed the need for

permanent exhibits

Realigned Target Audiences

Developed Awareness Campaign

Initiated a Teen Club

Survey Initiated Changes at Runge

Runge Conservation Nature Center Jefferson City

People want to be outside! (So what if the Visitor Center isn’t open on Mondays and Tuesdays!)

What did the survey reveal?

Columbia Bottom Conservation Area St. Louis Area - A Unique Site

Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center St. Louis

Looking toward providing new wildlife viewing opportunities

Initiated impromptu opportunities for visitor

engagement

Began to encourage off-trail exploration

Changes initiated due to survey results:

Post updates on program &

exhibits outdoors

Provide interpretive

programming using cell phones

Bridge indoors and outdoors with

icons

Update information frequently

Occasionally open building during evening hours

Focus Group Initiated Changes

Springfield Conservation Nature Center

Survey results: Nature Centers are just for kids. New marketing ideas to reach out to adult audiences with popular programs like the Wild Ones - Wild Edible and the addition of the Cooking Wild Series.

Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center Kansas City Area

Most 0-11 years 92% Caucasian 51% female Fishing 3rd most popular activity Kids’ fishing pond available

Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center

Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery & Conservation Center - Branson

Totals • 15,490 Parties • 308,141 Visits • 237,006 Adults • 71,135 Children • 139,069 1st Time • 181,327 Unique • 94.7% rating of

‘excellent’ or ‘good’

Visitors traveled an average of 170 miles

and stayed an average of 1.1 hours.

Anita B. Gorman Discovery Center Kansas City

Reaching nearby minority audiences

Questions?

And thanks to Kathy Cavender, Colleen Scott, Lisa Lacombe, Stacey

Davis, John Miller, Tamie Yegge, Linda Chorice, Sara Turner, Kevin

McCarthy, Stacey Davis and all their staff and volunteers!