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ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Public Perception of a High-Quality River: Mixed Messages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2016

Kristan Cockerill
Kristan Cockerill*
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Department of Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
*
*Address correspondence to: Kristan Cockerill, Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Department of Cultural, Gender, and Global Studies, Appalachian State University, ASU Box 32080, Boone, NC 28608; (phone) 828 262 7252; (e-mail) cockerillkm@appstate.edu.
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Abstract

Existing studies have demonstrated a lack of consensus on the relationships between what the public sees when viewing a river, the actual ecological quality of that river, and a perceived need for management measures for that river. More specifically, there is insufficient information available about public perceptions of high-quality rivers. Therefore, this study, conducted in North Carolina, assessed public perceptions of a high-quality river, including links between perceptions of how attractive or how natural the river appeared and perceptions of specific ecological conditions on the river. The study also assessed the public’s perceived need for flood protection or river rehabilitation. The study’s results show that public perception of the river studied is complex and, in some ways, aligns well with available monitoring data collected from that river, but simultaneously reflects the public’s lack of knowledge about what constitutes a high-quality river, which influenced a perceived need for flood control and rehabilitation.

Environmental Practice 18: 44–52 (2016)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 2016 , pp. 44 - 52
Copyright
© National Association of Environmental Professionals 2016 

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