A Comparison of Seasonal Homeowners and Permanent Residents on their Attitudes Toward Wildlife Management on Public Lands

Abstract

With the widespread migration of urban residents to rural areas, the rural rebound of the past three decades has created dramatic demographic changes throughout rural America. This is particularly true in rural regions rich in natural amenities such as lakes, rivers, mountains, and forests. To date, the literature on the rural rebound and amenities has largely ignored one aspect of the rebound—the growth in seasonal and recreational homes in amenity regions. This article compares seasonal and permanent residential landowners on their attitudes toward wildlife management goals for public lands in amenity-rich northwestern Wisconsin. Although rural–urban differences in attitudes toward hunting persist, views of preservationist-oriented wildlife management goals are nearly identical.

Support for this research project was provided by United States Department of Agriculture McIntire-Stennis grant number 142-4682, National Science Foundation IGERT grant number 9870703, University of Wisconsin Department of Forest Ecology and Management, University of Wisconsin Extension, and University of Wisconsin School of Natural Resources.

Keywords:

• seasonal homeowners
• wildlife management
• public lands
• attitudes

Notes

Support for this research project was provided by United States Department of Agriculture McIntire-Stennis grant number 142-4682, National Science Foundation IGERT grant number 9870703, University of Wisconsin Department of Forest Ecology and Management, University of Wisconsin Extension, and University of Wisconsin School of Natural Resources.

The sample was limited to residential property records with an improvement (i.e., a structure such as a house or mobile home). Vacant residential property was excluded because the authors were interested in examining how homeowners (both seasonal and permanent) interacted in the communities and thought about resource management issues.

The mailing address of the property tax bill was used to determine the home county and metropolitan status was determined using the classifications of the Office of Management and Budget (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004).

Seasonal homeowners were asked: “What is the likelihood that you will become a year-round resident of this community in the future?” Response categories were “very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, very unlikely.” Forty-seven percent indicated they were somewhat or very likely to become year-round residents.