Normative Influences on Farmers' Intentions to Practice Conservation Without Compensation.

Non-source nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorous) from agriculture have created a massive hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. This zone contains no oxygen and is devoid of life. US Department of Agriculture programs provide direct payments to farmers to encourage adoption of practices that reduce nutrient pollution. Paying farmers to change behavior, however, is expensive. Personal and social norms may serve to reduce these payment costs by motivating farmers to take action without external reward. This study explored relationships between three normative concepts (awareness of consequences (AC), ascription of responsibility (AR), subjective norms (SN)) and Illinois farmers' intention to continue participation in conservation without financial compensation. Data were obtained from a mailed questionnaire. Only farmers who were currently being paid to participate in a conservation program were included in the analysis (n = 551). Using norm activation theory and the theory of reasoned action, we hypothesized that SN would be positively related to AC, AR, and conservation intentions without compensation. We also predicted that AC would be positively related to AR, and that AC and AR would be positively related to conservation intentions. All hypotheses were supported. Both personal norms (AC, AR) and social norms (subjective norms) were related to intentions to continue conservation without pay. Behavioral interventions that activate norms may help facilitate conservation without payments. As applied in this study, activating personal and social norms may serve to reduce nutrient pollution from agriculture that is flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and resulting in the hypoxic zone.

Predicting acceptance of lethal management of wood bison in Alaska, USA.

Wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) were reintroduced into Alaska after a 170-year absence in the state. Wildlife reintroductions may cause problems by damaging property, spreading disease, increasing fear levels, and human injury and death. We examined the influence of urban Alaskan's wildife value orientations (WVO; domination and mutualism), fear, and attitudes toward wood bison on their behavioral intention to support lethal management under specific situations. We hypothesized that: (a) domination, mutualism and fear would influence public attitudes toward wood bison, and (b) attitudes would predict an individual's behavioral intention to support lethal management of the newly restored bison population. We collected data through a self-administered questionnaire randomly distributed to residents in Anchorage (n = 243) and Fairbanks (n = 272). Regression analyses indicated that both mutualism and domination positively correlated with attitudes, and fear negatively correlated with attitudes. Attitudes did not predict behavioral intention to support lethal management practices. Both WVOs and fear predicted behavioral intentions. The model helps to illustrate how cognitive and emotional components can influence acceptance of newly restored herbivore species. Our findings also suggested that for situations where an attitude may not exist, people may use more basic value orientations and emotions when thinking about how they would react in specific situations.

Attitudes toward jaguars and pumas and the acceptability of killing big cats in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: An application of the Potential for Conflict Index2.

We explored the overall acceptability of killing jaguars and pumas in different scenarios of people-big cat interactions, the influence of attitudes toward big cats on acceptability, and the level of consensus on the responses. Data were obtained from 326 self-administered questionnaires in areas adjacent to Intervales State Park and Alto Ribeira State Park. Overall, people held slightly positive attitudes toward jaguars and pumas and viewed the killing of big cats as unacceptable. However, individuals that held negative attitudes were more accepting of killing. As the severity of people-big cat interactions increased, the level of consensus decreased. Knowing whether killing a big cat is acceptable or unacceptable in specific situations allows managers to anticipate conflict and avoid illegal killing of big cats.

Does Zoning Winter Recreationists Reduce Recreation Conflict?

Parks and protected area managers use zoning to decrease interpersonal conflict between recreationists. Zoning, or segregation, of recreation-often by non-motorized and motorized activity-is designed to limit physical interaction while providing recreation opportunities to both groups. This article investigated the effectiveness of zoning to reduce recreation conflict in the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area in Colorado, USA. Despite a zoning management system, established groomed travel routes were used by both non-motorized recreationists (backcountry skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers) and motorized recreationists (snowmobilers). We hypothesized that persistent recreation conflict reported by non-motorized recreationists was the result of recreation occurring in areas of mixed non-motorized and motorized use, mostly along groomed routes. We performed a geospatial analysis of recreation [from Global Positioning System (GPS) points, n = 1,233,449] in the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area to identify areas of mixed non-motorized and motorized use. We then surveyed non-motorized recreationists (n = 199) to test whether reported conflict is higher for respondents who traveled in areas of mixed-use, compared with respondents traveling outside areas of mixed-use. Results from the geospatial analysis showed that only 0.7 % of the Vail Pass Winter Recreation Area contained recreation from both groups, however that area contained 14.8 % of all non-motorized recreation and 49.1 % of all motorized recreation. Survey analysis results showed higher interpersonal conflict for all five standard conflict variables among non-motorized respondents who traveled in areas of mixed-use, compared with those traveling outside mixed-use areas. Management implications and recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of zoning are provided.

CWD prevalence, perceived human health risks, and state influences on deer hunting participation.

This study examined factors predicted by previous research to influence hunters' decisions to stop hunting deer in a state. Data were obtained from mail surveys of resident and nonresident deer hunters in Arizona, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin (n = 3,518). Hunters were presented with six scenarios depicting hypothetical CWD prevalence levels and human health risks from the disease (e.g., death), and asked if they would continue or stop hunting deer in the state. Bivariate analyses examined the influence of five predictor variables: (a) CWD prevalence, (b) hypothetical human death from CWD, (c) perceived human health risks from CWD, (d) state, and (e) residency. In the bivariate analyses, prevalence was the strongest predictor of quitting hunting in the state followed by hypothetical human death and perceived risk. The presence of CWD in a state and residency were weak, but statistically significant, predictors. Interactions among these predictors increased the potential for stopping hunting in the state. Multivariate analyses suggested that 64% of our respondents would quit hunting in the worst-case scenario.