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SHORT- AND LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF LAKE LANIER
Citation:
Fath*, B D. SHORT- AND LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF LAKE LANIER. Presented at Vulnerability of Water Quality in Intensively Developing Urban Watersheds, Athens, GA, 5/14-16/2001.
Description:
This paper investigates stakeholders' different perspectives on the environment over the short- (2-5 yrs) and long-term (25+ yrs). Stakeholders were surveyed to indicate their level of concern for a list of water quality indicators and water quality stressors over both time horizons. All survey respondents were members of an organization associated with Lake Lanier, a multi-use reservoir in northeast GA. Analyses of these data show that stakeholders are more concerned about issues in the long-term than in the short-term. This is contraty to what one might expect if individuals used a rational discounting method in their evaluation. Reasons to shy this might be are elaborated. In addition, we sorted the respondents according to Cultural Theory categories. Cultural Theory sserts that one's personal and social relationships generate a distinctive way of looking at the world, which can be classified into one of four groups. Two important points are evident from this analysis. First, the relative ranking of indicators is consistent for all groups, regardless of their environmental world view. And second, consistent with the overall findings, all groups have higher concern for future events. Therefore, although there may be different degrees of concern among participants, agreement in priority can be a basis for action in addressing the water quality needs of Lake Lanier.