Gregory Brown

Mapping Spatial Attributes in Survey Research for Natural Resource Management: Methods and Applications

Traditional survey research measures attributes such as opinions, attitudes, beliefs, values, norms, and preferences. Few public surveys have attempted to map perceived spatial attributes of places and landscapes, a subject of increasing importance to environmental and natural resource management. For the past 5 years, this researcher has included spatial measures of landscape values and attributes in five separate surveys of the general public in Alaska (1998–2003). This article reviews the spatial data collection rationale behind these studies, design concepts, methods, and implementation issues when administering a general public survey that includes a spatial mapping component. A research framework for using landscape values and spatial measures in GIS planning applications is presented, including suitability analysis, gap analysis, and hot-spot identification. Spatial measure ambiguity and survey response rates will require future research attention. The mapping of psychometric attributes of place through survey research remains a field open to active inquiry and experimentation.

A Spatial Method for Assessing Resident and Visitor Attitudes Towards Tourism Growth and Development

Few tourism planning methods include spatial survey techniques that explicitly identify place-based development preferences. In this study, we compare attitudes towards tourism development in the Otways region of Victoria, Australia, using traditional survey research questions and a contemporary method for measuring spatial preferences for development. Results from the survey data show conditional support for tourism growth and development in the Otway Hinterland and along the Otway Coast irrespective of residence distance from the tourism core; however, results from spatial attribute data show there are place-specific differences in ‘acceptable development’ and ‘inappropriate development’ preferences. We suggest that the spatial attribute method is an inclusive process that can potentially bridge pro-development and anti-development responses that emerge during community consultation by providing development preference data that is scaleable to both local and regional scales.

A Method for assessing protected area allocations using a typology of landscape values

Abstract Traditional park and reserve selection techniques that rely exclusively on expert assessment can marginalize local knowledge and values in the review process. Using survey data from the Otways region of Victoria, Australia, we present a method that differentiates between public and private lands using locally perceived landscape values. The results are used to assess prospective national park expansion areas. Two data models of mapped landscape values—vector and raster—were analysed using discriminant analysis to classify and predict land status. Results indicate survey respondents hold more indirect and less tangible values for national parks and reserves, and more direct use values for private lands. There was moderate agreement between public and expert-derived national park boundaries. The mapping of local landscape values appears useful in planning and reviewing public land classifications, and when combined with biological assessments, can strengthen protected areas planning and management in Australia and elsewhere.

Values Suitability Analysis: A Methodology for Identifying and Integrating Public Perceptions of Ecosystem Values in Forest Planning

National forest planning cannot resolve all resource management issues but improved planning methods can more fully engage the public and lead to better public participation in decision making. This paper presents a planning methodology known as ‘values suitability analysis’ (VSA) that combines the features of expanded public participation with a rational, analytic framework for incorporating human values into forest plan decision making. The VSA methodology provides a means to evaluate and compare how ‘logically consistent’ potential management prescriptions (set of activities) are with publicly held forest values. Based on a spatial inventory of ecosystem values, the VSA methodology constructs a numerical rating, or set of ratings, for each management prescription and ecosystem value interaction. These ratings are used to determine (1) which management prescription is most compatible with the dominant ecosystem value within a given management area, as well as (2) the marginal difference in overall compatibility between alternative management prescriptions. The VSA methodology can be used to generate forest plan alternatives or serve as a benchmark to evaluate different forest plan alternatives. The adoption of VSA may be hampered by lack of trust and other institutional issues.