who don’t fit into this category, such as the wilderness-only user, this seems an inefficient use of time; something very common to use of the web. These observations are made with the recognition that building a web page is a time-consuming and complex exercise and that decisions about what to put on first will depend on the objectives of the area managers. It is not our intent to belittle an excellent resource for the wilderness community. The Alpine Lakes page presents an outstanding beginning which is why we selected it as our example for discussing a larger dialog and future opportunities for targeting other wilderness subcultures.
Discussion The ALW home page makes extensive use of one dialog path, from managers to potential visitors. We think that other dialog paths to other wilderness subcultures (end users) are possible and may be valuable. Scientists may be interested in publications reporting studies or scientific information about Alpine Lakes. Managers may be interested in the status of management plans, environmental impact statements, visitor data, or creative solutions to management problems. Environmental advocates may desire current information on proposed additions or pending legal activity,while policy makers may be interested in staffing or budget numbers, presence of endangered species habitat, or reactions to proposed plans or legislation.The academic community may be interested in any or all of these items and the web surfer may be interested in a virtual visit or experience. The web provides the capability to move beyond one-way communication to an interactive mode.Thus, page developers should be asking themselves not only what they want to tell other subcultures, but what they would like to know from them. Then they should structure their pages to gain that information. On-line
questionnaires are easily developed with responses automatically compiled. The web could become a venue to present and compile information on issues ranging from visitor comments and questions to soliciting review on plans, environmental assessments, or impact statements. Certainly, there are varying degrees of interaction that can be built into web pages ranging from posing information in the form of questions; to engaging end users in surveys, scenario building, and execution; to using multimedia techniques to guide them through a virtual visit complete with video navigation and sounds. Given the interactive capability of the internet, it is timely to ask “what are the appropriate uses of the web?” This raises some fundamental questions.Who is really using the web and why? What objectives do managers have for posting web sites? How far beyond information dissemination toward interpretation or an experiential mode should managers go in developing pages? Should the web emulate physical wilderness experiences? Can it? For whom? What should be left to the domain of the private sector? These are questions to ponder as the development of web pages continues.
Conclusions There is a clear need to better understand the scope and needs of wilderness audiences at an international scale.We need to consider what information to provide, what questions to ask, and to whom we are addressing those questions.We should be asking ourselves where our web pages fit into the larger wilderness dialog and how we could improve our contribution. A large cyber-culture of wilderness will emerge over the next five years.This culture will include wilderness visitors, managers, scientists, educators, environmental advocates, and policy makers, each as providers and consumers on the global network. Through this medium, people will become accustomed to ex-
pect immediate and thorough detail on a wide range of wilderness issues. In the midst of rapid change, our inclination may be to simply try to keep up by translating our existing analog data to a digital form. Under this agenda we would all have system people put our story (brochure) on the internet. Undergoing these efforts without a clear understanding of our consumer audiences may be an inefficient and marginally productive use of resources. We hope that this will not be the longterm case and rather, that we will take advantage of this opportunity to learn together how to become connected and interact with the various wilderness subcultures.We should consider the WWW as a way of thinking and conversing rather than simply a form of mass communication.With the emergence of this medium we have both the opportunity and obligation to improve the access and quality of the global wilderness dialog. IJW WAYNE FREIMUND is assistant professor of Recreation Resources Management in the University of Montana, School of Forestry, and faculty coordinator of the interagency Wilderness Management Distance Education Program. His primary research interests are image capture and visualization tools as applied to communication, environmental change, and park planning. Mailing address: School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA. Telephone: (406) 243-5184; e-mail: waf@selway. unit. edu. LLOYD QUEEN is associate professor of Remote Sensing in the University of Montana, School of Forestry. In addition to basic research in the areas of remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems integration, he works in the areas of landscape change assessment, and the use of the internet to distribute data and applications to forest management audiences. Mailing address: School of Forestry, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA.Telephone: (406) 243-2709; e-mail: lpqueen (<X;ntsg. umt.edu. [Editor’s Note: The International Journal of Wilderness is one forum in which wilderness visitors, managers, scientists, educators, students, policy makers,and environmental advocates can communicate. We want to help expand this dialog with regular coverage of internet topics. Send us your ideas, letters to the editor, proposed articles, and reviews of web sites that further wilderness electronic communication. —J. C. H., Managing Editor; email: wrc@ ui daho.edu.]
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Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Roush, G. 1995.The biggest threat to wilderness. International Journal of Wilderness, 1 (1): 8–11.
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF WILDERNESS / Volume 2, Number 1, May 1996