Projects

Summarized below are a few common types of projects conducted by Pinnacle Research, including visitor intercept studies, visitor volume studies, planning and facilitation services, site inventories and assessments, recreation planning, and database management. Clients include private industry corporations in partnership with Federal, State, and local agencies.

Please contact us to learn how our skills and experience can work for you.

RECREATION VISITOR VOLUME STUDIES

Pinnacle Research has launched a number of studies over the past two decades to collect data regarding the volume of use at recreation sites, which provides managers with key information they need to make sound decisions, including daily, hourly, weekly, monthly, and seasonal use patterns.

Since 2005, annual studies of visitor volume have been conducted at roughly 100 recreation sites along the Missouri and Madison rivers and 9 accompanying reservoirs contained on these river systems in Montana.
Since 2003, annual studies of visitor volume have been conducted at about 20 recreation sites on Noxon Rapids and Cabinet Gorge reservoirs in the Lower Clark Fork region of Montana and Idaho.
Periodic studies of visitor volume have been conducted at recreation sites associated with the Thompson Falls and Mystic Lake Hydroelectric Projects in Montana, Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Lake Spokane, Washington, and the Spokane River between them, and at the Wells Hydro Project in Washington.

RECREATION VISITOR SURVEYS

Recreation visitor surveys typically explore visitor and trip characteristics, satisfaction and opinions about site facilities and resources, and visitor demographics. Recent studies have been conducted at the Thompson Falls and Mystic Lake Hydroelectric Projects, Spokane River and Lower Clark Fork Hydroelectric Projects, the Missouri-Madison Hydroelectric Project, and the Wells Hydro Project in Washington. In addition, Pinnacle conducted fishing creel surveys to help assess the rainbow trout fishery in Lake Spokane, Washington.

RECREATION PLANNING AND FACILITATION SERVICES

Planning is a key element of successful recreation management, and may include a focused effort for a specific project or a large-scale plan that encompasses many developments and a variety of stakeholders. Pinnacle Research has been involved in a variety of planning and facilitation projects, many of which pertain to Federal hydroelectric licenses, including:

Administration and update of the Missouri-Madison Comprehensive Recreation Plan, the Recreation Resource Management Plan for the Lower Clark Fork Project, and the Aesthetics Management Plan for the Lower Clark Fork Project.
Recreation lead for hydropower relicensing efforts beginning in 2018 for the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Project through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Facilitation of the Sanders County Aquatic Invasive Plants Task Force in Sanders County, Montana, beginning in 2012.
Various project- or site-specific planning efforts, such as public safety planning and recreation site layout and upgrades.

RECREATION SITE INVENTORY AND ASSESSMENT

Maintaining recreation sites, facilities, and resources in good condition is one key element of providing high quality opportunities to the recreating public. While various schools of thought exist on how best to monitor site conditions, all approaches work toward the goal of providing consistently high-quality facilities to the public, regardless of the level of development. Some recent inventory and assessment projects Pinnacle Research has been involved with include: