Richard S. Krannich

Attachments to Special Places on Public Lands: An Analysis of Activities, Reason for Attachments, and Community Connections

People develop a type of attachment to some places on public lands that constitutes a unique sense of place that involves emotional connections with and intense caring for these landscapes. These emotional attachments to places (locales regarded as special places) are important for ecosystem management strategies and other efforts to incorporate considerations of social factors into the management of public lands. Such connections with places can be a source of heightened levels of concern about management practices. This inductive analysis of open-ended survey responses (n = 434) explores the types of activities people do at special places and reveals the importance of recreational activities in peoples connections with special places in southern Utah. The primary reasons why places on public lands are regarded as special are because of the environmental features of a place or because of interactions with significant others at the locale. The reasons a place is con sidered special do not vary according to the activities done at special places. An analysis of four communities with di erent social/cultural orientations to public land use and management reveals that these orientations are related to the activities people engage in at places they consider special, but not the reasons places are regarded as special.People develop a type of attachment to some places on public lands that constitutes a unique sense of place that involves emotional connections with and intense caring for these landscapes. These emotional attachments to places (locales regarded as special places) are important for ecosystem management strategies and other efforts to incorporate considerations of social factors into the management of public lands. Such connections with places can be a source of heightened levels of concern about management practices. This inductive analysis of open-ended survey responses (n = 434) explores the types of activities people do at special places and reveals the importance of recreational activities in peoples connections with special places in southern Utah. The primary reasons why places on public lands are regarded as special are because of the environmental features of a place or because of interactions with significant others at the locale. The reasons a place is con sidered special do not vary according ...

Tourism dependence and resident attitudes

Abstract Many rural communities view tourism as a major vehicle for addressing rural economic decline, but several empirical studies suggest that its growth can bring negative social impacts. One group of studies suggests a direct relationship between the level of tourism development in a community and the presence of negative resident attitudes toward it. This tourism dependence hypothesis is evaluated using survey data from four rural communities in the United States Rocky Mountain West. Results support the hypothesis with some important qualifications, and suggest a typology of rural communities experiencing tourism growth that includes tourism-saturated, tourism-realized, and tourism-hungry community types.

A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SCIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

We propose a framework for understanding the role that the social sciences should play in ecosystem management. Most of the ecosystem management literature as- sumes that scientific understanding of ecosystems is solely the purview of natural scientists. While the evolving principles of ecosystem management recognize that people play an important role, social considerations are usually limited to political and decision-making processes and to development of environmental education. This view is incomplete. The social science aspect of ecosystem management has two distinct components: one that concerns greater public involvement in the ecosystem management decision-making pro- cess, and one that concerns integrating social considerations into the science of under- standing ecosystems. Ecosystem management decisions based primarily on biophysical factors can polarize people, making policy processes more divisive than usual. Ecological data must be supplemented with scientific analysis of the key social factors relevant to a particular ecosystem. Objective social science analysis should be included on an equal basis with ecological science inquiry and with data from public involvement. A conceptual framework is presented to communicate to ecological scientists the potential array of social science contributions to ecosystem management.

Dimensions of Community Attachment and Their Relationship to Well‐Being in the Amenity‐Rich Rural West*

Abstract  This research had two primary objectives: 1) to broaden the sociological construct of community attachment to incorporate both social and natural environment dimensions of attachment, and 2) to examine how variations in attachment relate to two dimensions of well-being in natural amenity-rich rural communities. The specific dimensions of well-being measured are two important factors identified in previous research—collective action and perceptions of open communication. Factor analysis of fourteen measures of attachment indicated social attachment and attachment to the natural environment are distinct dimensions of the broader concept of community attachment. Participation in collective action and perceptions of open communication within a respondents community explained only a small portion of the variance in levels of both social and natural environment attachment. Religious affiliation and length of residence were strongly associated with social attachment, supporting findings from previous empirical work. However, length of residence and religious affiliation were not statistically associated with levels of attachment to the natural environment, further reinforcing the distinction between the two dimensions of attachment.

Community Attachments as Predictors of Local Environmental Concern: The Case for Multiple Dimensions of Attachment

This article conceptualizes two distinct dimensions of community attachment—socially based attachment and attachment to a community’s natural environment—and examines their connections with attitudes about local environmental issues. The findings indicate that the two dimensions of attachment are distinct and relate differently to environmental concern. In cases where the social attachment dimension is a statistically significant predictor of attitudes toward local environmental issues, the issues are representative of community culture and identity or health. In contrast, when natural environment attachment is a statistically significant predictor of local environmental concern, the topics reflect issues involving resource protection. Building on the previous work of Vorkinn and Riese, this study further clarifies that community-focused factors may be more useful variables for understanding attitudes toward environmental issues than sociodemographic ones.

The Drop-Off/Pick-Up Method For Household Survey Research

The hand delivery of self-administered questionnaires has been presented as an alternative for reducing non-coverage error associated with the mail method at lower cost than face-to-face interviews. This research note draws from experiences using the hand delivery technique (combined with hand retrieval) in rural and small community studies to address practical issues associated with improving coverage, and its relationships with sampling, response, and administrative considerations. It is suggested that while this technique provides needed flexibility in relation to household enumeration options, logistical issues limit its applicability where settlement patterns are dispersed and resources to supplement sampling frames are inadequate. Time and cost outlays are required to maximize its potential. When place-related and administrative conditions can be met, the technique offers promise for reducing non-coverage error and possible sample bias without saerificing response rates. In addition, it provides opportunities to gain experiential insights not possible with other survey methods.

Using Key Informant Data in Comparative Community Research

Among the obstacles confronting community researchers are difficulties in conducting comparative research involving more than a small number of communities. This is especially true when research is directed toward investigations of social processes and actions that cannot reasonably be tapped using available secondary data sources. One potential approach to resolving this dilemma involves the collection of information on social processes and actions in communities from knowledgeable “key informants.” However, despite the fact that use of informants has become relatively common in community research, little attention has been directed to the specific strengths and weaknesses of such data collection procedures. Issues of validity and reliability of informant-based data have not been widely discussed, and there have been few attempts to assess or compare various informant selection criteria. In this article we focus on an empirical overview of the key informant method and the data it can generate. The analysis is based on data collected in conjunction with a study of growth mobilization processes in small urban places. Our findings provide mixed evidence regarding the contention that use of multiple informants from each study unit can provide reliable and valid data on community processes.

Identification with Resource-Based Occupations and Desire for Tourism: Are the Two Necessarily Inconsistent?

Occupational identity is frequently used to explain why rural residents traditionally involved in natural resource-based occupations have no interest in tourism activities as a form of economic development, with researchers arguing these residents view tourism as inconsistent with the cultural traditions associated with more traditional rural occupations such as logging, mining, or agriculture. However, the link between resource-based occupational identity and attitudes about tourism development has not been systematically tested. Using survey data from three Western communities undergoing social and economic changes, this article examines this relationship and assesses the influence of other variables that may impact the relationship. Results show that while resource-based occupational identity is associated with attitudes toward tourism, perception of the local economic condition is a stronger predictor of such attitudes.

Local perceptions of public lands natural resource management in the rural west: Toward improved understanding of the “revolt in the west”

During the 1990s federal land and resource management agencies have experienced increasingly contentious relationships with many rural‐area publics. Controversies over agency efforts to manage traditional resource uses such as grazing and mining and to protect environmentally sensitive areas have provided an impetus for organized efforts to reduce federal control over public lands resources. The emergence of the “Wise Use,” “country supremacy,” and “home rule” movements reflects a broadening social conflict over public lands management and growing demand for increased local control over resource management decisions. However, at present little information is available regarding the extent to which such concerns are widely shared among the Wests rural‐area residents, or how such views may vary across community contexts and types of residents. This article attempts to answer such questions through an analysis of survey data drawn from six rural‐area communities in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Representative s...

Local Identity, Solidarity, and Trust in Changing Rural Communities

Abstract This research continues the effort to understand the sociocultural and social-psychological effects resulting from rapid change in rural communities. Two aspects of social well-being that underlie the concept of community are addressed: a sense of local identity and solidarity and a sense of trust. Change in these perceptions during periods of rapid community growth or decline could indicate a changing sense of community and changing levels of social well-being. Four communities, each of which experienced different patterns of population growth and decline, are examined. Analysis indicated that the dimension of community reflected by trust of most people in the community did not change during periods of growth or decline, but that the dimension reflected by a sense of local identity and solidarity suffered during both population growth and population decline. Local identity and solidarity increased in the community that experienced population stabilization after several years of rapid growth. The...