Relationships Matter: Trust, Place Attachment, and Support for Extractive and Non-Extractive Resource Development in State Parks in the United States

Abstract

Although state park and recreation services provide a variety of benefits, agencies operate in an increasingly resource-constrained environment. Because tax-based allocations have failed to keep pace with visitor and infrastructure needs, service providers face increasing pressure to adopt a variety of neoliberal conservation strategies. In this manuscript we examined factors that influence public views toward park-based resource development strategies, including a variety of practices that may be categorized as either extractive or non-extractive in nature. Specifically, we focus on the potential of public trust and place attachment to directly and indirectly influence support for extractive and non-extractive resource development in the context of state-level park and recreation services, with the goal of informing the management of state parks and other protected areas in an era of ongoing and increasing fiscal austerity. To do so, we utilized data from a survey of state park visitors in Pennsylvania and New York State, and applied both regression and mediation analyses. Our results indicate that extractive and non-extractive development activities are viewed differently by the public, with much greater overall support for non-extractive activities; respondents viewed activities that necessarily entail a modification to the park environment as different from those that do not. Our regression analysis indicated that trust based on shared norms and values was significantly related to support for both extractive and non-extractive development, while trust based on perceived organizational capacity was significantly related only to support for non-extractive development. We also found that place dependence was an important factor in the relationship between trust and support for both extractive and non-extractive development practices, acting as a mediator in these relationships; conversely, place identity did not emerge as a mediator in the relationship between trust and development support. Based on these results, we note that decision-makers considering resource development in state park contexts should consider the impact of relationships, between visitors and the agency, as well as between visitors and the parks themselves. Specifically, we recommend prioritizing the development of institutional trust among members of the public, and encourage managers to facilitate functional relationships to place among members of the public.