Deconstructing Avalon: an analysis of stakeholders' attitudes and intended behavior toward wetlands in northern Utah


Category:  Watershed Science
Linked Publication
Language: English
Author(s): Brian Nicholson
Description: A growing and diverse U.S. population is demanding a voice in the natural resource decision-making process. In response to this, wetland managers have expanded their traditional view of wetland constituents to include not only hunters but also bird watchers, groups involved with growth and development, and the agricultural community. This thesis is an analysis of attitudes toward wetland protection and use among members of seven stakeholder groups that can affect, or be affected by, wetland management decisions: county commissioners, hunters, anglers, real estate agents, Sierra Club members, county agricultural leaders, and residents of single family households. In addition, this thesis constructs a profile of each stakeholder group with particular emphasis on their place in the volunteer landscape of northern Utah. Stakeholder profiles were obtained by means of a series of mail and door-to-door surveys in northern Utah. The research contributes to human dimension theory by examining the association of four independent variables with attitudes toward wetlanduse and protection: respondents' general environmental beliefs as measured by the New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Index, knowledge of wetland structure and function, stakeholder group association, and demographic characteristics. Among the best predictors of wetland attitudes are general environmental beliefs and stakeholder group association. Wetland knowledge and demographic indicators are not strong predictors. These findings suggest that the foundations of wetland attitudes arise from past experiences, e.g., professional and/or recreational, and an individual's perception of humans' place within the natural environment. For wetland managers both locally and nationally, this information is useful in outlining the variety of opinions toward wetlands, encouraging the inclusion of diverse stakeholder groups in volunteer activities, facilitating future planning, and revealing specific stakeholder educational needs.