View from a canoe: Modelling wilderness canoeists' perceptions and preferences for Northern Ontario's boreal landscape

Canoe paddlers' campsite and route preferences as well as landscape perceptions of pristine and disturbed landscapes in northern Ontario are solicited in a novel internet survey. The survey instrument combines elements of the Scenic Beauty Estimation (SBE) and two discrete choice experiments (DCE). The analysis consists of a separate scenic beauty model, a campsite selection model, and a route choice model. The best fitting route choice model combines the route choices with scenic beauty evaluations and the campsite choice model in one sequentially nested logit model. Scenic beauty ratings are affected by several biophysical and contextual factors, including forest class and landscape disturbance level. The route choices are influenced strongly by forest type, minimum SBE, and campsite quality. Finally, management implications of these findings are discussed. For example, canoeists are very sensitive to human disturbances in the form of buffers, but are more accepting of water crossings.