| Summary: | Increasing resettlement in and around Austin, decrease in water discharge rates
and loss of endangered species habitat led to the creation of the City of Austin wildlands.
The study consisted of a mail survey of 1,000 residents living near the City of Austin’s
Water Quality Protection Lands and Balcones Canyonland Preserve for the purpose of
identifying residents’ perceptions and knowledge about the wildlands in order to provide
direction for the City of Austin Wildland Division’s environmental education program.
The two specific objectives were to (1) Understand factors that influence residents’
knowledge, determine if previous participation in an environmental programs increases
their level of knowledge, and to ascertain the effectiveness of different information
outlets for increasing residents knowledge about environmental issues pertaining to the
Edwards Aquifer and City of Austin’s wildlands and (2) Identify factors that influence
residents’ approval or disapproval of land management actions and the alternative
recreation activities on the City of Austin’s wildlands.
For objective one, it was expected that socio-demographic variables (eg: older,
educated, males that live within Austin for a longer period of time) and behavioral
variables (eg: previous involvement in environmental organizations), and acquisition of
prior information about the wildlands would be positively associated with wildland
knowledge. For objective two, it was expected that residents’ management support
would be positively associated with the perception that one of the purposes of the
wildlands is to protect endangered species, respondents’ positive experiences with the
wildlands, pro-environmental behavior, and perceptions that the wildlands increase their
property value. It was also expected that approval of wildland management actions
would be positively associated with the extent to which residents have been negatively affected by wildlife and their level of concern about wildlife impacts on their property.
Also, it was expected that respondents’ approval of vegetation management actions, such
as the use of fire, would be negatively associated with the extent to which residents have
seen smoke on the wildlands and their level of concern about wildfire.
The regression analyses conducted to test the first objective showed positive
associations between local newspaper readership and residents’ knowledge about
environmental issues and the City of Austin’s wildlands. Previous pro-environmental
behavior by residents positively related to their knowledge about environmental issues
pertaining to the wildlands. Furthermore, survey respondents who were older, male, and
had lived in the City of Austin for a longer time were positively associated with
environmental and City of Austin’s wildland knowledge levels. Some strategies for
information dissemination about the wildlands include the use of local newspapers and
homeowner association newsletters. New City of Austin residents who are younger and
live in close proximity to the wildlands are the suggested target audience for initiating a
proposed environmental education program.
The results of regression analyses conducted to address objective two showed
that approval of wildland management actions were positively associated with
knowledge about rangelands and negatively associated with the level of concern about
being negatively impacted by management actions used by the City of Austin. Results
suggest that knowledge about specific environmental benefits associated with the
management actions can improve respondents’ support for management actions such as
the use of prescribed fire and harvesting overpopulation of deer and hogs.
The results of this study should help the City of Austin by providing (1)
information about factors that influence residents’ knowledge and suggested information
dissemination channels (2) descriptive information about respondents’ environmental
knowledge levels, and (3) aid to improve an existing education program for the purpose
of increasing support for management actions that are critical for attaining the objectives
of the WQPL and BCP.
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