Joanne M. Westphal

The Psychological Utility of Visual Penetration in near-view Forest Scenic-Beauty Models:

Empirical studies of the perceived scenic beauty of forest settings have followed either the psychophysical or psychological traditions of environmental-perception research. Although psychophysical models of forest scenic beauty have proven useful to resource managers, they tend to lack theoretical content. On the other hand, psychological research often fails to produce results directly applicable to landscape management. This paper reports on an analysis combining the strong points of both the psychophysical and psychological approaches to environmental-preference research. Psychological theories of aesthetic response are used to deduce a variable, visual penetration, which is evaluated in psychophysical models of forest scenic beauty. Visual penetration is shown not only to be a significant positive contributor to explained variance, but also to be more important in accounting for scenic beauty evaluations than measures more typical of psychophysical models.

Managing agricultural resources at the urban–rural interface: a case study of the Old Mission Peninsula

Abstract Despite the vast landmass of the United States, resource managers, landscape architects, and planners are becoming increasingly aware of the difficulty in protecting natural resources at the urban–rural interface. Because of the legal framework of the United States, individual states retain the rights to regulate and manage the affairs of land use within their jurisdictions. Each state, in turn, has transferred portions of this right to county and local bodies of government through “enabling legislation”. Because each of these layers of government has different agenda, oftentimes, a coordinated, effective land use planning effort that could protect natural resources, especially at the urban–rural interface, is impossible to develop. This paper examines one local community’s effort to preserve farmland and open space at the urban–rural interface. As a case study, it presents some of the historic land use management tools in Michigan that have been used to protect farmland. It also discusses the political and economic factors that determine the success or failure of these tools. Because of the inadequacies of some of the tools to protect open space and farmland, the township adopted an alternative land use planning strategy. It appears that this strategy has successfully integrated the best of the old planning tools with some of the newer alternatives to curb urban sprawl in a rapidly growing area in Michigan, USA.

Images Relating to Park Titles and Ambient Qualities at Select National Park Service Areas

This study examined the effect of nomenclature (i. e., titles) on the perceived ambient qualities associated with park areas. Different designated park lands, currently managed by the National Park Service, served as the focus of the study. Survey respondents were asked to profile select park titles (e.g., national park, national recreation area, national historic park, and national seashore) with a given set of ambient qualities (e.g., near-far, public-private, urban-rural, etc.). Factor analysis of the data resulted in four major dimensions that characterized and differentiated park titles. The data suggest that most park titles, while influenced by the aggregate profile which resulted in the “national park” designation, have strong, relatively well-established images. The study proposes that park images may be: 1) driven by the title of a park rather than its actual park design or management, and 2) dominated in some park systems by a single predominant park type (e.g., national park) and the image associated with that particular park designation.