Sheltered in place: Risk assessment modeling and proposed action in the Red River Gorge

Cultural landscapes are increasingly at risk of damage due to growing recreation tourism activity. This is especially true for public parks and protected areas due to their popularity for hiking, camping, rock climbing, and other activities. Rockshelters often hold valuable archaeological artifacts telling of past peoples and their lifestyle. These cultural landscapes hold contemporary importance to culturally affiliated Indigenous descendant communities as well as recreationists. In Kentucky's Red River Gorge Geological Area, hundreds of cultural sites have been impacted by visitors who may or may not be aware of the full consequences of their activities. This paper presents a review of histories of use in this area. It defines human impacts by developing a risk assessment model that investigates the relationship between destructive impacts to rockshelter sites and patterns in tourist behavior. The model is informed by Forest Service site data and consists of a series of geographic information system-derived variables assessing the impacts of distance and visibility on rockshelter disturbance. This model can be used to inform future heritage and conservation planning.