We have been given that a park rangers notice a negative correlation between the number of available campsites in a park and the amount of litter on the park's trails.
We need to figure out the lurking variable that describes the given correlation.
Out of the given options, the most appropriate variable that describes that negative correlation between number of available campsites in the part and the amount of litter on the park's trails is number of visitors to the park.
The reason, why number of visitors to the park is the lurking variable for the given negative correlation, is that more the number of visitors, more the litter they produce and consequently, lesser the number of available campsites.