Mount Charleston visitors to be asked for impressions

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 8:55 a.m.

Interviewers will ask visitors to Mount Charleston the following questions on a volunteer basis starting Jan. 1:

Source: U.S. Forest Service

U.S. Forest Service and contract employees wearing orange vests will be asking some of those who enjoy picnics or hikes how they found the area and what improvements should be made. The survey will take from five to 15 minutes.

The surveys are an effort to improve existing services, facilities and programs, Forest Service spokeswoman Amy Meketi said in a prepared statement.

Drivers will notice signs that say, "Traffic Surveys Ahead," and orange cones will mark where motorists can pull over safely to complete the surveys.

The Mount Charleston survey is part of a nationwide interviewing process that began four years ago.

A third of the visitors will be asked to complete an additional five-minute confidential survey on recreation spending.

As Las Vegas Valley development expands to Kyle Canyon, the entrance to Mount Charleston, some of the 400 permanent residents who live there are worried about increasing visitors on the two-lane, winding road.

"Some residents are more worried than others," Mount Charleston resident Becky Grismanauskas, who was not aware of the survey, said.

Asked what the biggest worry of the mountain's residents is, Grismanauskas said, "Traffic."

The Forest Service began surveys in national forests in 2000.

The Spring Mountains are the southern part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which includes mountain ranges in northern Nevada that include Lake Tahoe.

In earlier surveys the Forest Service discovered in 2001 that there were more than 214 million visits to national forest, water and recreation sites for that year.

The surveys conducted on Forest Service lands have revealed that nearly 70 percent of visitors are men.

The greatest portion of visitors, at 25.4 percent, are 31 to 40 years old, followed by 40 to 50 year olds at 24.5 percent.

Almost half of all visits to national forests last four hours or less.