Necessity for Management of Affected Resources

Knowledge about the present state of a system is part of the fundamental information needed to manage it. A systematic evaluation of recreational boat traffic requires a description of the state of the system, and would include a description of the population present, dynamics of the population, the activities in which the population is involved, and the impacts that those activities have on their surroundings. These properties fall into two categories: extensive (where boats are situated and what they're doing), and intensive (how these activities affect their surroundings). The extensive properties are reported in terms of absolute numbers (how many, how fast, etc), while the intensive properties are reported as rates or proportions (emissions of pollutant per boat of X type with Y size at Z speed) and is most meaningful when taken in context of the extensive information.

Many methods can be used to obtain the intensive property information, including detailed studies on smaller numbers of boats that can be extrapolated to larger populations. Information about the extensive properties must be obtained through a monitoring effort.

Some extensive properties of recreational boat traffic are

• where boats come from
• where boats go
• what kinds of boats
• kinds of activities
• duration of activities

This list is not necessarily exhaustive.