Award Date

2003

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Environmental Science

Advisor 1

Dr. Krystyna Stave Department of Environmental Studies, UNLV-Content Advisor

Advisor 2

Dr. Helen Neill Department of Environmental Studies, UNLV-Class Advisor

Number of Pages

28

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to assess the potential magnitude of negative environmental damage of nature-based tours originating in Clark County, Nevada. An ordinal ranking system was used for assessment of five variables. These variables were resource use, noise pollution, soil degradation, vegetation degradation, and wildlife disturbance. There were two proposed answers. The first was that as distance increased, negative tour impact would increase. This was not supported, since tours had high impacts for destinations that were close by and far away. The second was that most tours were not causing high damage to the environment. This hypothesis was supported; most tours had average ranks that were on the lower half of the value scale. The study was a first attempt to assess the nature-tour industry locally, and should be used as a baseline in future studies for measuring growth in the industry.

Keywords

Clark County; Nevada; Desert ecosystems; Eco-tourism; Environmental impact; Nature-tour industry; Noise pollution; Soil erosion; Vegetation degradation; Wildlife disturbance

Disciplines

Desert Ecology | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Sciences | Natural Resources and Conservation | Tourism

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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