Some Determinants of Citizen Attitudes Toward Community Resource Development

Abstract

The federal government has established a new national park com prising 20 of the Apostle Islands and 42,000 acres of Lake Superior shoreline in northern Wisconsin. The gateway for this park is Bayfield, now an isolated, rural community of 1,000. This study examines, by adaptation of the Likert-type scale, the attitudes of a random sample of Bayfield citizens toward the park and its possible impact on the community. With the use of correlation analysis and regression technique, the authors analyzed the total socioeconomic and political frame work of citizen attitudes influenced by 1. social-psychological factors, and 2. specific variables such as age, education, and anticipated rise in income. Governmental orientation emerged as the strongest and most consistent predictor. Attitude toward the park objectives and formal education also showed a significant relationship. Implications are drawn relating the findings of the study to involvement between federal agencies, adult educators and local people in a community planning situation.