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Collective memory can be used conceptually to examine African-American perceptions of wildlands and black interaction with such places. The middle-American view of wildlands frames these terrains as refuges--pure and simple, sanctified places distinct from the profanity of human modification. However, wild, primitive areas do not exist in the minds of all Americans as uncomplicated or uncontaminated places. Three labor-related institutions--forest labor, plantation agriculture, and sharecropping--and terrorism and lynching have impacted negatively on black perceptions of wildlands, producing an ambivalence toward such places among African Americans. ... acknowledging the ambiguous legacy of nature myths does at least require us to recognize that landscapes will not always be simple 'places of delight'--scenery as sedative, topography so arranged as to feast the eye. For those eyes, as we will discover, are seldom clarified of the promptings of memory. And the memories are not all of pastoral picnics.

We use national-level data to test a modified version of Stern, Dietz, & Guagnano's causal model of environmental belief and behavior. We focus mainly on ethnic variation in environmental belief, as measured by the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), and ethnic variation for four environmental behaviors: environmental reading, household recycling, environmental group joining, and participation in nature-based outdoor recreation. Blacks and foreign-born Latinos were less likely than Whites to score higher on the NEE Any behavioral differences between Whites and the respective minority groups were expected to diminish with the inclusion of the NEP as an intervening variable in the model between ethnicity and behavior. However. ethnic differences remained stable and strong even when environmental belief was added. Overall, Asian American and U.S.-born Latino environmentalism was most similar to Whites. African American concern and behavior was least similar to White environmentalism. Gender, age, and liberal political orientation were also consistent explicators for both environmental concern and behavior. Keywords: environmentalism; ethnicity; New Ecological Paradigm

The article reports on African American and Hispanic visits to federal recreation areas. According to the data on file with Donald English of the Visitor Use Monitoring Project based in Washington, D.C., African American visits account for very low percentages of visits to national forests across the U.S. On the other hand, Hispanic visits to national forests in the Southwest are high. It is posed that factors such as private landownership and social definitions of place may be integral in considering African American use of wildland public recreation regions in the Southern states in the U.S.

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]

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]

Executive Summary: We compare wildland activity choices for a sample of rural African Americans and Whites who visited wildland settings in and around the Apalachicola National Forest. We also look at intra-racial (same race, different gender) variations for activity participation. This research extends previous research focused on the visit/not visit wildland question by examining activity choice by race and gender for those who do visit. Our results show no racial differences for consumptive activities like fishing and hunting; however, African Americans are significantly less likely than Whites to participate in most forms of nonconsumptive activities like camping and hiking. Greater gender differences in activity participation were found for Whites than for African Americans. We discuss management implications and ways forest managers may attract more African Americans to participate in forest-based outdoor recreation. This includes target marketing strategies that promote fishing and group activities on the Apalachicola National Forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A portion of the 1995 National Survey on Recreation and the Environment examined public opinion toward user fees as a means of funding recreation services on public lands, including campgrounds, boat ramps, trails, picnic areas, historic sites, restrooms, parking areas, special exhibits & presentations, visitor centers, and other facilities. Respondents were offered five choices to fund these services including fees only, fees and taxes, taxes only, don't provide the service, and don't know. Sample frequencies indicated that over 95 percent of the respondents felt that fees or a combination of fees and taxes should be used to fund at least one of the services. Boat ramps, campgrounds, and special exhibits drew die most support for users fees with over 80 percent of respondents indicating that user fees should be charged to cover at least part of the costs of providing these services. User fees were least favored for picnic areas, historic sites, and restrooms. Restrooms were the only case in which less than 50 percent of the public favored the use of fees to cover at least part of the provision costs. The only service for which at least 50 percent of the public did not feel taxes should be used at least in part to cover the costs of provision was for boat ramps. Logistic regression models were used to examine the socioeconomic factors explaining support for fees. The model included variables on age, ethnicity, income, household size, education, gender, and region of the country'. Findings were somewhat mixed. However, in a general fee model and in a number of specific service models, income and ethnicity surfaced as significant explanatory variables, indicating that concerns about fairness in the implementation of fees are not unfounded. Moreover, a number of regional differences emerged indicating differing levels of support for user fees around the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]