Assessing utilitarian wildlife value orientations of Alaska residents: an urban and rural perspective

Abstract

"A large body of literature supports value theory as an integral component to the management of natural resources. Value theory provides managers with an effective tool for natural resource allocation and stakeholder mitigation by predicting attitudes and behaviors of populations. This study explored the protection or use wildlife value orientation dimension of 2,264 Alaskans with an emphasis on comparing urban and rural populations, and new and long term residents. This study also investigated relationships among value orientations, demographic characteristics, and outdoor activity participation. Data were collected using a mail survey sent to a random sample of 10,003 people registered to vote in Alaska. In an effort to achieve adequate representation from rural Alaskans, the sample was stratified into five geographic regions, with a goal of receiving at least 400 returned surveys from each region. As hypothesized, rural and long term residents were more use oriented or 'utilitarian' than urban and short term residents. As hypothesized, and supported by existing literature, value orientation differences were found within gender, education, and age. Females, educated, and younger residents were more protection oriented then their counterparts. Significant relationships were found between value orientations and outdoor activity participation; however, correlations were too weak to provide predictive capabilities. Although, this study compared rural areas, with predominately Native populations, to urban areas, with predominately non-Native populations, race comparisons were not analyzed, but results signify that differences may exist. Future research should seek to validate value orientation differences by culture and race and longitudinal studies should assess shifting value changes over time"--Leaf iii