Intensiveness of Service Offered:
This is a very important problem because a tourist who is “over educated” is worse than one who has not received sufficient education at our hands. There is much criticism that the tourist is “lectured to death”, as I have heard it expressed. Other criticisms , as I have pointed out in a former paper, have reached me that the tourists have time to do nothing but attend our activities. There is a happy medium in which the visitor is satisfied but is not over-burdened with facts. Briefly, the core of the situation is this: The tourist should receive as much instruction at our hands as he is able to assimilate easily. Those who wish to go farther are at liberty to do so and we are happy to aid them in their search, but we should not insist that people take the hikes or attend our lectures for the sake of saying we served so many thousand people during the season.
References:
1929 Ranger Naturalist Manual (Yellowstone) “Elements of Nature Guiding.”
Yosemite Ranger Naturalist Manual – Several articles on guiding.
Discussion
During the session which followed the presentation of Mr. Yeager’s paper, there was a long discussion on the principles of guiding as applied in the national parks.
All present agreed that the standards must be of the very highest, both as regards the scientific data presented and the method of presentation.
The question was raised as to whether or not it may be possible to limit the number of persons taken on guided trips on the premise that it is better to serve a few with outstanding success than to serve a great number poorly. The suggestion was made that the size of guided trips could be limited by not advertising the trips extensively; then only those who are especially interested in the trip would inquire about it. Several objections were raised to this plan, chief among which was that many persons to whom the guided trips would mean most would never learn about them, and would therefore not have the opportunity of taking advantage of this type of service. It was agreed that park naturalists should carry on to the best of their ability, even though inadequate assistance makes it necessary to serve larger numbers than the ideal size group.
The point was brought out that the very fact that large numbers of visitors are being served will ultimately give justification for increasing the personnel. Even in view of this condition, emphasis was placed upon the basic principle that quality of work should be our objective and not quantity. It was agreed that emphasis should not be placed on numbers served but rather on the effectiveness with which the work is carried out. The fact was brought out that the effectiveness of the educational activities in the individual parks is at present largely judged by reports of numbers served — particularly when these reports are being examined in Washington or elsewhere by persons not thoroughly familiar with the educational activities. Mr. Hall stated that when an educational officer is added to the headquarters staff in the Washington office this situation will be remedied. It was agreed that as the educational activities expand the park naturalists will continue to lay emphasis on quality of work.
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