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On-site reactions of groups of viewers to six timber harvesting procedures were measured by direct and indirect measuring techniques. Using the direct technique, groups recorded their overall impressions of harvested tracts on five-point scales ranging from very favorable to very unfavorable. For the indirect technique, semantic differential procedures were used. Factor scores developed from the evaluative factor of the semantic differential reactions were highly correlated with overall impression scores for the harvested tracts. In addition to validating the direct reactions, semantic...

This paper is an overview of development of legal/policy factors affecting visual resource management. Review of major legal issues, court cases, laws and administrative decisionmaking reveals that the "action" regarding legal and aesthetic issues is currently in the public arena as managed by administrative agencies. Analysis of key court cases reveals that the courts always go back to the "context" at hand to make a decision, and that existing legislation mentioning and/or providing inclusion of aesthetic or visual resources in environmental planning and decisionmaking creates a "protecti...

The concept of Visual Absorption Capability (VAC) is widely used by Forest Service Landscape Architects. The use of computer generated graphics can aid in combining times an area is seen, distance from observer and land aspect relative viewer; to determine visual magnitude. Perspective Plot allows both fast and inexpensive graphic analysis of VAC allocations, for project use.

This study identified manipulated forest landscapes with a low understory shrub density as being esthetic-ally preferred over non-manipulated, dense understory landscapes. This landscape pattern was identified both qualitatively, by preference ratings of respondents, and quantitatively, by measuring the physical components of each landscape. Forest sites were selected to show physically and vegetatively similar landscapes differing only by the presence or absence of a vegetation manipulation treatment. Color slides of these landscapes rated by groups of respondents revealed a consistent...

The Visual Management Support System (VMSS) is an extension of an existing computer program called VIEWIT, which has been extensively used by the U. S. Forest Service. The capabilities of this program lie in the rapid manipulation of large amounts of data, specifically opera-ting as a tool to overlay or merge one set of data with another. VMSS was conceived to computerize map overlaying tasks of the Visual Management System. It is also useful for any project that requires interaction of one or more maps to result in an output map expressing evaluation or interpretation information. VMSS...

An important activity in any land-use planning process is prediction of the consequences of alternative management approaches. Alternative plans must be com-pared in terms of their respective costs (economic and environmental) and benefits (in market and non-market values) if rational choice among them is to be made. The purpose of this paper is to describe a model for quantitatively predicting the effects of alternative vegetation management programs on landscape scenic beauty. Scenic beauty is assessed in terms of quantitative indices based upon public aesthetic judgments. Predictor...

Over the past two decades, the concerns of conservation groups have shifted in and out of the field of landscape esthetics. As the 1960's began, they tended to pursue their interests under the mantle of recreationists. By the mid-1960's, natural beauty became the watch-word, particularly with the national encouragement of Lady Bird Johnson. By the late 1970's, the focus shifted to environmental quality, which in turn shaded into the notion of ecology.

The basic information collected for landscape planning studies may be given the form of a "s x m" matrix, where s is the number of landscape units and m the number of data gathered for each unit. The problem of finding the optimum location for a given project is translated in the problem of ranking the series of vectors in the matrix which represent landscape units. The paper describes a method to do this, solely on the basis of data gathered.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency established in 1946 through consolidation of the Grazing Service and the General Land Office, has exclusive responsibility for about 60 percent of all Federal, civil, and defense administered lands. Although the primary policy of the Bureau has been land retention and multiple-use--management, the passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 strengthened and redefined this role. Now strongly worded legislation very explicitly states that a basic policy of the Bureau will be management of environmental values including, among...

This paper outlines a project level process (V.I.S.) which utilizes very accurate and flexible computer algorithms in combination with contemporary site analysis and design techniques for visual evaluation, design and management. The process provides logical direction and connecting bridges through problem identification, information collection and verification, visual evaluation, design development, management prescription development and periodic review. V.I.S. introduces sophisticated new algorithms for data verification and visibility, view quality, and topographic and visual slope and...