Landowner values, water quality, and recreation in the Lake Champlain Basin

Abstract

This study describes landowner values about water quality among resident landowners in the LaPlatte River watershed, tests whether suburbanization is producing a new mix of social values, analyzes the relationship between values and behaviors, and explores the link between recreation and water quality advocacy. Results showed that residents hold pro-environmental values, although the region is not a stronghold of environmentalism. There was a clear "flatlander" effect, with newcomers holding more pro-environmental values than long term residents. Long term residents used their land more intensively than newcomers. There was a weak relationship between values and land use behaviors, although long-term residents showed more consistency between values and behaviors. Finally, recreational preference was not related to one's values about clean water.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the 1997 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium

Citation

Kuentzel, Walter F.; Dennis, Donald F. 1998. Landowner values, water quality, and recreation in the Lake Champlain Basin. In: Vogelsong, Hans G., comp, ed. Proceedings of the 1997 Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium; 1997 April 6 - 9; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-241. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 155-162.