Sponsor
This research was supported by NSF EPSCoR grant IIA 1208732 awarded to Utah State University, as part of the State of Utah EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Award.
Published In
Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Subjects
Outdoor recreation -- Effect on perceptions of water quality, Water quality -- Social surveys, Linear models (Statistics), Replication (Experimental design)
Abstract
Both social structural factors and direct sensory experiences can contribute to the development of environmental perceptions and concerns. We use two separate surveys of Utah adults to explore the association between sociodemographic characteristics and participation in recreational activities on water quality perceptions and concerns. We find that engaging in outdoor recreation is systematically associated with more positive water quality perceptions and higher levels of concern about impaired water quality. However, water quality perceptions appear to be shaped more by social characteristics (age, education, gender, race, religion, and income) and by generic measures of overall recreation behavior than by indicators of participation in particular forms of outdoor recreational activity. There is modest evidence that hikers, birdwatchers, and anglers are generally more likely to express concerns about impaired water quality, while boaters have more positive perceptions and lower levels of concern.
Management implications:
- The baseline results of this study can be used by water managers in Utah to track shifts in public attitudes toward water quality as the state grapples with rapid climatic and demographic changes in the coming years
- Certain types of water recreation (e.g. hiking and birdwatching) are consistently predictive of greater concern about poor water quality. More frequent participation in these types of recreation may lead to increased receptivity to public policies aimed at addressing water quality problems.
- Some demographic groups in our sample are more likely to engage in outdoor recreation, which may have important implications for public engagement.
Rights
© 2018 The Authors.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
May be found at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jort.2017.12.003
DOI
10.1016/j.jort.2017.12.003
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/24851
Citation Details
Barnett, M. J., Jackson-Smith, D., & Haeffner, M. (2018). Influence of recreational activity on water quality perceptions and concerns in Utah: A replicated analysis. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 22, 26-36.
Included in
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons, Water Resource Management Commons