A method for identification and evaluation of land for recreation potential

Abstract

A Land Evaluation and Site Assessment system for Recreation (LESAR) was developed to provide those who wish to preserve lands suitable for recreational use with a quantifiable tool by which to do so. The framework of this system is patterned after the Soil Conservation Service's Land Evaluation and Site Assessment (LESA) system developed to evaluate land being considered for conversion of farmland to other uses. The new LESAR system utilizes a weighted factors approach and both resource based and non-resource based criteria by which to evaluate specific tracts of land for predetermined recreational uses.