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Research on the social bases of environmentalism in the United States has generally found that urban residents are more concerned about the environment than rural residents. Recent research suggests this may no longer be the case, particularly in specific settings or under certain conditions. This paper examines the issue by reviewing recent survey research on rural and urban environmentalism. Tests for significant differences between urban and rural inhabitants of the Southern Appalachian Ecoregion on cognitive and behavioral dimensions of environmentalism are also conducted using data obtained from 1,239 telephone interviews. Findings are consistent with previous research showing that younger people, those with higher levels of education, and political liberals generally express higher levels of environmentalism. However, no significant rural-urban differences were found on several indicators of environmentalism. A range of conditions that are rapidly changing the character and composition of the region may help to explain why the findings do not conform to the general pattern of rural-urban differences. Overall, it appears that environmentalism has broadened its appeal in rural areas, especially in communities located near national and state parks, wildlife refuges, and other outdoor recreation sites.

The article assesses trends in the popularity of nature-based outdoor recreation in the U.S. Some research indicates that outdoor recreation has declined since the 1980s, while other data suggests that such activity is increasing among Americans. An overview of general U.S. recreational trends is compared to nature-based recreation. Insights into forest, natural resource, and public land programs and policies are presented. The impact of a report issued by the Outdoor Recreation Resources Commission in 1962 on U.S. outdoor recreation legislation and funding is discussed. Data obtained by the National Survey on Recreation and the Environment monitoring American outdoor activity is assessed.

This research considers acculturation by Mexican and Chinese groups in the United States and how participation in five nature-based outdoor recreation activities may be an indicator of acculturation to American society. We argue that the greater incidence of professional human capital among Chinese immigrants helps this group acculturate more quickly than Mexicans, who are more likely to be labor immigrants and that as a result, Chinese immigrants will be more likely than Mexican immigrants to participate in nature-based outdoor recreation activities. We also posit that US-born Chinese have a greater likelihood of participation compared to US-born Mexicans. Results show Chinese immigrant participation is distinguished only slightly from Mexican immigrant participation; no differences were found between US-born Chinese and US-born Mexicans. Within-group comparisons show immigrant Chinese participation to be more aligned with US-born Chinese participation than immigrant Mexican participation to US-born Mexican participation. Results from this study are intended to help raise awareness among environmental professionals of the different ways nature may be perceived by various cultural groups and also to alert managers of the important role natural resources can play in acculturating immigrants to US society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the values immigrant groups or U.S.-born racial and ethnic minorities attribute to wilderness. However, the views of these groups are important to wilderness preservation because of increasing diversity along ethnic, cultural, and racial lines in the United States. We examine the proposition that wilderness is a social construction (valued primarily by U.S.-born Whites) by comparing wilderness values for immigrants and U.S.-born minority respondents to Whites. Results from 10 wilderness value items show immigrants are significantly less likely to indicate on-site use value. Among U.S.-born racial/ethnic groups, Black respondents were least likely to indicate values associated with visitation and off-site use but as likely as Whites to indicate a value for continued existence of wilderness. U.S.-born Asians and Latinos were also less likely than Whites to indicate values relating to wilderness on-site use. Implications of findings for wilderness as social construction are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proposes public values of forests scale, a scale for measuring the relative importance of national forest resources to the public in the U.S. Internal reliability of the scale; Increase levels of forest values and protection values in women, urban residents and the youth; Implications on designing policies, reducing conflicts among stakeholders and in the implementation of forest plans.

Proposes that shifts in rural population and economic growth patterns may help explain rising levels of support for environmental values in many rural areas. Migration for environmental reasons; Comparison between migrants and non-migrants; Indicators of environmentalism.

Reports on the result of a study on the social changes for Southern Resource Assessment in the U.S. Addition of stresses on public and private forests; Creation of an opportunity to mitigate stresses on southern forests; Formation of an effective cooperatives involving public and private interests. INSET: Field messages..

We assess whether traditionally marginalized groups in American society (African-Americans, women, rural dwellers) perceive more constraints to outdoor recreation participation than other groups. A series of logistic regressions are applied to a national recreation survey and used to model the probability that individuals perceive certain constraints to participating in outdoor recreation activities. Twelve constraints related to health, facilities, socioeconomic standing, and other personal factors are examined for both participants and nonparticipants of outdoor recreation. We model the probability that individuals report being constrained in participating in their favorite activities as a function ofrace, gender, and rural residence. In addition, we control for income, age, regional differences, and activity groupings. Of the three groups examined, women are most likely to feel constrained--for instance, by personal safety concerns, inadequate facilities and information, insufficient funds, and outdoor pests. Race is not a significant predictor of constraints for participants, but nonparticipating African-Americans are more likely than whites to feel personal safety concerns inhibit their outdoor recreation opportunities. Rural residence does not appear to be an important factor among either participants or nonparticipants in explaining the probability that an individual feels constrained in outdoor recreation participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recreation and tourism development continue to play an important role in reshaping rural America. Efforts to evaluate the effects of such development are complicated because residents and nonrecreation visitors also use the businesses that are affected by recreation and tourism visitors. We present a method for estimating in nonmetropolitan counties jobs and income that are generated by recreation and tourism visitors from outside the county. Several different techniques are used to (1) cluster similar counties, (2) account for the portion of tourism sector employment that serves local residents, and (3) account for the portion of export activity that serves nonrecreation visitors. Finally, we address the consequences of recreation dependence in rural counties. The counties most dependent on nonlocal tourism activity are compared to other rural counties on income, population, economic structure, and housing variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using various types of data sources for assessing and monitoring physical activity behaviors on a population level adds to our ability to explain the relationships between individuals and their surrounding social and physical environments. This article presents the findings from part of a panel presentation on available data sets at the 2001 Cooper Conference on Innovative Approaches to Understanding and Influencing Physical Activity. First, an overview of large national epidemiologic and surveillance data sets is offered, followed by a discussion on the use of market segmentation data to complement more traditional sources of data by adding new dimensions to our understanding of target groups and potential intervention strategies. The relative advantages and disadvantages of using each type of data are also given, as well as recommendations for further use.