title: The Relationship Between Perceptions of Wilderness Character and Attitudes Toward Management Intervention to Adapt Biophysical Resources to a Changing Climate and Nature Restoration at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
abstract: In a recent national survey of federal wilderness managers, respondents identified the high priority need for scientific information about public attitudes toward biophysical intervention to adapt to climate change and attitudes of the public toward restoration of natural conditions. In a survey of visitors to one National Park wilderness in California, visitors revealed that they largely do not support biophysical intervention in wilderness to mitigate the effects of climate change, but broad support for activities that restore natural conditions exists. In an attempt to understand how these attitudes vary among visitors, it was found that those visitors who most value naturalness aspects of wilderness character also most positively support restoration and are most negative toward climate change intervention practices. More information about visitor-defined wilderness character attributes is needed and strategic planning to guide intervention decisions and restoration should be a priority. In this study, it was found that wilderness character is largely defined by visitors based on its wildness attributes, which include natural sounds, low density of people, pure water, clean air, and the presence of humans substantially unnoticeable.
authors.affiliation: Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, 790 East Beckwith Ave., Missoula, MT, 59801, USA, awatson@fs.fed.us.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Neal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Gregg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fauth
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D002140:California; D057231:Climate Change; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D006801:Humans; D000068316:Parks, Recreational / Q000592:standards*; D010465:Perception; D011639:Public Opinion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055814:Wilderness