| Rural areas of the Rocky mountain region are experiencing an alarming level of social, economic, and environmental impact from natural resources development. Attitudes toward natural resources development can vary greatly within a community, initiating both conflict and coalition. This study is an investigation of cultural factors influencing individual response to natural resources development.;In order to determine if there is a relationship between natural resources attitudes and specific cultural, social, and economic factors, a survey of 108 adult residents was conducted in a geographically circumscribed, culturally diverse rural area in the Rocky Mountain region. Independent variables included age, ethnicity, religious affiliation, educational level, income, community identity and participation, residence history, and parental influence. Sample baseline data were compared with 1990 census data to verify representativeness. Ordinal responses concerning the value of multiple resources, including water, forests, wildlife, minerals, and public lands, were collected as one set of dependent variables. For the other set, attitudes and response behavior were documented for over 20 natural resources development events, such as mines, water development projects, petroleum exploration, private residential developments, and wildlife refuges. Cultural factors were cross-tabulated with resource attitudes and event responses to identify distribution co-variation.;Although only weak, isolated correlations were found between individual cultural and socio-economic factors and attitudinal and behavioral responses, the response distributions indicate that no single factor surpasses others with regard to influencing valuation of natural resources. More importantly, it appears that cultural factors interact to reinforce a holistic, pan-cultural system of natural resources attitudes throughout the study area. This implies that theories which address responses to natural resources development should consider synergistic cultural and socio-economic influences when conducting causal analysis investigations, and not only ethnicity, education, income or religion. |
