Treesearch

Gobster addresses several issues in our paper. These include, first, a suggestion that the measure of cultural values that we used is not appropriate for understanding possible variations in racial and ethnic patterns of' outdoor leisure preferences and behavior. He claims, as well, that we limit our use of ethnicity to alleged cultural differences among groups and, specifically, to cultural values, unlike what most leisure researchers have done. Second, Gobster questions our concern with the use of common racial and ethnic labels because these are part and parcel of the way in which...

Recent severe wildfires have reinforced the need for successful mitigation strategies to be coordinated across all levels of government that address the needs and concerns of homeowners who live in the wildland/urban interface (WUI). Despite the growing body of social science literature on agency-initiated wildland fire policies and homeowner mitigation strategies, knowledge gaps surrounding these policies and strategies still exist (Cortner and Field, 2004). To better manage the human dimensions of wildland fire, a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms that influence public...

An interagency research team studied fire communications that took place during different stages of two wildfires in southern California: one small fire of short duration and one large fire of long duration. This “quick-response” research showed that pre-fire communication planning was particularly effective for smaller fire events and parts of that planning proved invaluable for the large fire event as well. Information seeking by the affected public relied on locally convenient sources during the small fire. During the large fire, widespread evacuations disrupted many of the local...

We predicted that social trust in the USDA Forest Service would mediate the relationship between shared value similarity (SVS) and attitudes toward prescribed burning and mechanical thinning. Data were obtained from a mail survey (n = 532) of rural Colorado residents living in the wildland urban interface (WUI). A structural equation analysis was used to assess the mediation role of social trust. Results indicated that respondents shared the same values as USDA Forest Service managers, and trusted the agency to use prescribed burning and mechanical thinning effectively. As hypothesized,...

The scientific inputs to management of recreation areas in Germany have been largely determined by ecologically oriented quantitative impact and conflict studies with an emphasis on nature protection. Today, however, Germany’s recreational situation has changed. New activities and increased participation by people seeking different recreational experiences challenge management in many areas. Apart from ecological problems, social conflicts occur between and within user groups and land management agencies. At the same time there is a lack of understanding of the leisure differences that...

The accessibility of news production tools through consumer communication technology has made it possible for media consumers to become media producers. The evolution of media consumer to media producer has important implications for the shape of public discourse during a time of crisis. Citizen journalists cover crisis events using camera cell phones and digital cameras and then either publish their accounts on the Web, or exchange images and accounts through informal networks. The result can be news in real-time that is more local and informative. In this study, we discuss the emergence...

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential utility of HOFSTEDE’s measure of cultural values (1980) for group segmentation in an ethnically diverse population in a forest recreation context, and to validate the values segmentation, if any, via socio-demographic and service quality related variables. In 2002, the visitors to the Angeles National Forest (ANF) near metropolitan Los Angeles were surveyed. Using a systematic convenience sampling at sites known to be heavily used by visitors with diverse ethnic backgrounds, we obtained a sample of 444 Anglos, 312 Hispanics, and 319...

The purpose of this study is to examine the usefulness of ethnicity as a construct in leisure research. In particular, we are interested in the degree to which presumed ethnic groups exhibit internal cultural homogeneity. In 2002, the visitors to the Angeles National Forest (ANF) near metropolitan Los Angeles were surveyed. Using purposive sampling at sites known to be heavily used by visitors with diverse ethnic backgrounds, we obtained a sample of 444 Anglos, 312 Hispanics, and 319 Asians (overall n = 1,174). We examined whether the three nominal ethnic groups, Anglos, Hispanics, and...

Dendrochronology climate reconstruction studies often sample dominant, open-grown trees to reduce competition effects and isolate annual climate influences on radial increment growth. However, there has been no examination of how species respond as stand densities increase or which species in mixed-conifer forests provide a better record of past climate. We sampled 579 trees representing five upper montane mixed-conifer species at the Teakettle Experimental Forest in California’s southern Sierra Nevada to determine species-specific responses to annual climatic fluctuations. Using the...

The risk of wildland fires is of significant concern in the southwestern United States. Although the Southwest has a long hi story as a fire· prone ecosystem, years of drought and insect infestation have increased fire risk. Paired with these ecological forces is the increased risk caused by the concentration of populations in the wildland urban interface (WUl), compounded as urban encroachment spills over into wildland areas (Cleaves 2001; Daniel 2003; Fulton 2003; Murphy 2000; Platt 200 1). As a consequence of this encroachment, the WUI has been growing (Cleaves 2001; Hamner et al. 2004;...