Overnight travel by watercraft in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area is described as a discrete parameter Markov chain. A simple normative model is constructed of the system as a steady state process in terms of constant daily entry rates and expected daily populations in interior zones. By means of linear programming, and given constraints on entry rates and zone average daily populations, optimal entry quotas are determined for each of thirty-three entry points. The quotas thus derived provided the basis for an actual control program implemented in 1976. Information pertaining to the validity of the application is presented and the use of the model in policy formulation is described.
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