Campsite condition data for the Superstition Wilderness

Between November 2005 and March 2007, a Rapid Site Inventory (RSI) was performed on 459 campsites in the Superstition Wilderness Area of the Tonto National Forest in Arizona. This assessment of 90-95% of the campsites in this wilderness was a quick site inventory including primarily presence/absence response variables. Data include standard campsite characteristics such as location, size, dominant vegetation, ground cover, presence of water, visibility of management actions, and proximity to other features (springs, trails, etc.). Other measurements include presence of litter and waste, quantity and size of human disturbance to soils/rocks/vegetation, campfire size and quantity, dead and down fuel size and quantity, damage to shrubs, vandalism, livestock impacts, equestrian impacts, presence of artifacts or rock art, and other recreational impact data. In addition to the RSI, an extreme RSI was also completed on each site, which included a rating for groundcover disturbance, tree damage, and size of disturbed area. This was done to be consistent with the USDA Forest Service's Minimum Protocol for campsite monitoring.
The purpose of this study was to conduct a Rapid Site Inventory (RSI) of impacts due to camping in the Superstition Wilderness Area of the Tonto National Forest. This included the need to: assess all recreation nodes within the Superstition Wilderness using indicators agreed upon by the Forest Service; document recreation nodes within the Superstition Wilderness with GPS coordinates and digital images; determine the impact of campfires on cactus and the presence of campfire fuel in the Upland Desert zones; assess compatibility between the RSI and the Extreme RSI (as developed by David Cole); and to make recommendations related to future directions for assessing campsite condition and changes.
These data were originally made available on the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute site. Original metadata date was 03/13/2014. Minor metadata updates on 12/12/2016 and 07/25/2019.