Public Perceptions of Natural Resource Damages and the Resources that Require Restoration

Abstract

The public and health professionals are interested in restoring degraded ecosystem to provide goods and services. This study examined public perceptions in coastal New York and New Jersey about who is responsible for restoration of resources, which resources should be restored, by whom, and do they know the meaning of natural resource damage assessment (NRDA). More than 98% felt that resources should be restored; more (40%) thought the government should restore them, rather than the responsible party (23%). The highest rated resources were endangered wildlife, fish, mammals, and clams/crabs. Only 2% of respondents knew what NRDA meant. These data indicate that people felt strongly that resources should be restored and varied in who should restore them, suggesting that governmental agencies must clarify the relationship between chemical discharges, resource injury, NRDA, and restoration of those resources to produce clean air and water, fish and wildlife, and recreational opportunities.

I particularly thank M. Gochfeld, C. W. Powers, D. Kosson, Jane Stewart and Richard Stewart, for helpful information and discussions about the complexities of dealing with environmental problems within a framework of remediation, restoration, and NRDA, and Mark Donio, C. Jeitner, Corinne Alberghini, Alexa Martinez, and S. Shukla for help with interviewing, data analysis, and graphics. This research was funded by the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP) through the Department of Energy (AI numbers DE-FG 26-00NT 40938 and DE-FC01-06EW07053), NIEHS (P30ES005022), EOHSI, and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The conclusions and interpretations reported herein are the sole responsibility of the author and should not in any way be interpreted as representing the views of the funding agencies.