Dorothy H. Anderson

Influence of place attachment and trust on civic action: A study at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

ABSTRACT Natural resource management agencies now favor collaborative efforts that include the public in decisions and actions. The collaborative management model, however, faces serious challenges in the form of declining citizen involvement in community affairs and declining levels of trust in individuals and institutions. We examined how place attachment, the functional and emotional ties that connect people to places, and trust influence civic action levels (donations of time, efforts, and resources) at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. Findings indicate that individual trust partially mediates the relationship between emotional place attachment and civic action. Results suggest managers can increase civic action levels by recognizing the importance of place attachment and by encouraging the development of individual trust. By monitoring place attachment and trust levels, managers can better direct civic action programs for the benefit of the natural landscape, community, and agency.

The displacement process in recreation.

This paper presents the recreation displacement process from a social-psychological perspective and models it within the attitude-behavior framework. The displacement process is illustrated with em...

The Influence of Gender on the Relationship Between Wildlife Value Orientations, Beliefs, and the Acceptability of Lethal Deer Control in Cuyahoga Valley National Park

This study examines how wildlife value orientations, attitudes, and gender influence acceptance of lethal actions to control deer in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio. Data were collected from female and male residents (n=659) in a nine-county area, the primary service area of the park. Females and males demonstrated significant differences in their wildlife value orientations, attitudes toward lethal deer control, beliefs about the outcome of lethal deer control, and perceived personal impacts of lethal deer control. Gender also acted as a moderator of the relationship between values, beliefs and attitudes. Results indicate that a focus on understanding differences between males and females is essential to public participation in decision making concerning this and similar issues.

Community/Agency Trust and Public Involvement in Resource Planning

We hypothesize and test a positive relationship between the extent to which local community members trust a management agency and their willingness to engage in resource-related public discourse and involvement. We employ a multilevel generalized mixed model to analyze data collected from five different samples of residents living near managed resource areas. Counter to our proposed hypotheses, results suggest individuals’ level of dispositional trust, their belief that management shares similar values as them, and their trust in the moral competency of the management agency were all found to be significantly and negatively related to public involvement in resource-related activities. These findings suggest that the central role of building trust among local constituents within many planning frameworks needs to be reconsidered with consideration given to both the needs of individuals who trust an agency and the desires of distrusting individuals who are more likely to become involved in public involvement efforts.

Contact with Nature: Recreation experience preferences in Australian parks

Abstract Parks play an important role in improving health and wellbeing. However, lack of understanding of visitor preferences in regards to their recreation experiences and how managers can facilitate desired benefits has limited the contribution of parks to society and impeded adoption of frameworks such as outcomes‐focused management. This paper describes a study of two urban and two regional parks that investigated the experience preferences of visitors and how their attainment was influenced by activity and setting preferences. The study approach was informed by theoretical perspectives from resource management, psychology, sociology, and management science. Results revealed a core group of preferences common to all four parks. These included enjoying nature, escaping personal/social pressures, escaping physical pressures, and enjoying the outdoor climate. While there were more similarities than differences between the desires of urban and regional park users, the findings provide valuable insights for managers of such areas in terms of what visitors want and their current level of satisfaction in attaining desired outcomes. The findings also have relevance in terms of market positioning and improving campaigns targeting health benefits.

Understanding Relationships Among Recreation Opportunities: A Meta-Analysis of Nine Studies

Outdoor recreation providers intuitively know that visitors engage in particular activities in desired outdoor settings to attain beneficial experiences. There is a lack of understanding among managers and researchers, however, about the relationships that exist between these recreation opportunities. What are the salient inputs (activities and/or settings) that contribute to the production of certain outputs (benefit opportunities)? How does the magnitude of activity and setting effects compare to each other and vary across benefit items? To gain a better understanding of recreation opportunities and their relationships, data from nine benefits-based management pilot-studies were collected, analyzed, and combined using meta-analytic techniques. Two-way analysis of variance was used to test the dependency of twelve benefit attainment items on setting and activity type in each study. Meta-analysis techniques were used to calculate two types of results that were derived from the two-way analysis of variance tests. (1) Fishers inverse chi-square method was used to combine the significance levels derived from ‘F’ statistics; and, (2) the ‘F’ statistic associated with each two-way analysis of variance test was converted into a common metric called an effect size (r) and an average effect size was calculated for each input/output relationship. Six of the twelve benefits examined were significantly affected by a recreational input, particularly activity type. These findings strengthen the argument that not all outcomes require certain types of activity and setting inputs. For a more robust comparison of the benefits, the twelve benefits were categorized based on the type of recreational input affecting them. By focusing on inputs of the production process when categorizing benefits, this research provides a more detailed breakdown of benefits. Suggestions for recreation management and future research are presented in light of these findings.

The influence of activity importance and similarity on perception of recreation substitutes.

Abstract This study examines how substitutes are selected for a fly‐angling and camping recreation activity. Results show that although people choose substitutes similar to their intended activity, the degree of similarity between substitute and original is unrelated to perceived quality of substitute. Also, both the quality of a substitute and the number of available substitutes are inversely related to the importance of an activitys attributes. The lack of a relationship between activity/substitute similarity and quality of the substitute poses problems for application of the substitutability concept.

Experience Preferences as Mediators of the Wildlife Related Recreation Participation: Place Attachment Relationship

The human dimensions literature challenges the notion that settings are simply features and attributes that can be manipulated to satisfy public demand; instead, people view specific recreation settings as unique kinds of places. Land managers provide recreation experience opportunities, but most conventional management frameworks do not allow managers to address the personal attachment of people to places. This study examined the relationships among activity participation, recreation experience preferences (REP), and setting and place attachment. Study data was obtained from a visitor study conducted in 2000–2001 at U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Waterfowl Production Areas in Minnesota. We used structural equation modeling to explore whether recreation experience preferences mediate the relationship between types and frequencies of recreation participation and place attachment at Minnesotas Waterfowl Production Areas. Results offer empirical evidence that recreational experience preferences associated with activity participation may be instrumental to ones development of place attachment to a recreation site. Thus, research in these two areas may be more complementary than has been apparent in the literature.

Combining benefits-based management with ecosystem management for landscape planning: Leech Lake watershed, Minnesota

Abstract As more people move to rural areas, incorporating the diverse values they hold for the landscape becomes a greater challenge for landscape planners and managers. This study attempts to develop a better understanding of rural residents’ landscape values within an ecosystem and benefits-management context. Using a two-phase approach, researchers first conducted three focus/nominal group meetings to identify valued ecological features in the Leech Lake watershed (LLW) of northern Minnesota, benefits they attain from the watershed, and changes they would like to see to the planning and management of the region. Next researchers purposely sampled LLW stakeholders to measure their attitudes and values for the role of nature in their community, valued ecological features, potential landscape benefits, and potential planning and management changes. Results show stakeholders value the natural ecosystem and experiential benefits associated with nature, but they also indicate values directly tied to their community. Future planning of the LLW must focus on sustaining ecosystem-related experiential benefits in an area faced with a growing population. Increased collaboration with locals appears to be the most supported strategy to achieve this difficult goal.

“Cooperation Gets It Done”: Social Capital in Natural Resources Management along the Kaskaskia River

We present findings from an interpretive study of social capital in a natural resource management setting within the Kaskaskia River Watershed in Illinois. Forty-one semi-structured interviews with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) personnel and local community members were completed and analyzed. Findings emerged from the analysis related to the connected network of natural resource management players. This article explores the intertwined reliance among these players, the development of common community goals, and the role of the Corps in creating social capital and other benefits in the Kaskaskia River Watershed. A conceptual model provides insight into how social capital is linked between multiple entities within this context. The study findings expand on the current understanding of social capital and suggest ways researchers might approach future studies of social capital in similar settings. The findings have natural resource management implications, including ways of focusing management, increasing public involvement, and facilitating communication approaches.