| Attitudes toward forest harvest vary widely, often leading to conflict between resource managers and the general public due to their very different knowledge bases and belief systems about forest ecology and harvest.; The hypothesis hat knowledge about forest dynamics--forest growth and change over time--was a moderating influence on attitude toward forest harvest was tested in a sample of 180 sixth and seventh grade central Maine students. These students' public school teachers and forest tour guides in Maine Audubon's "Secrets of the Forest" program were interviewed to assess qualitatively their attitudes toward the forest and forest harvest.; Students took a 28-item pretest assessing their knowledge about forest dynamics, their attitudes toward forest harvest, their attitude toward the forest, frequency of forest recreation, and whether a family member worked in the forest industry.; Students within each class were divided randomly in half, with the control group getting a 1.5 hour forest tour with general forest and wildlife ecology, and the treatment group getting a forest tour stressing forest dynamics. After the forest tours, students took the same test again as a posttest.; A cognitively-addressed measure of student attitudes toward forest harvest did not change after a treatment tour stressing forest dynamics. However, an affectively-addressed measure of student attitudes toward forest harvest did change after a treatment tour stressing forest dynamics.; Further analyses determined that attitudes toward forest harvest were similar in students from forest industry families and students not from forest industry families, and in male and female students. Student attitudes toward the forest correlated with frequency of forest recreational experiences. Female students reported fewer forest recreation experiences than male students. Discrepancies in cognitive and affective aspects of attitude toward forest harvest were noted in both qualitative and quantitative results. |
