Predicting attitudes toward a proposed moose hunt

A growing segment of the American population now questions decisions made by wildlife managers and demands a voice in the decision‐making process. Public acceptance of wildlife management policies is a key consideration in most wildlife decisions. Recognizing this need for human dimensions research, managers have begun to develop and use expertise that allows them to assess the social component of decisions much as they assess the biological consequences of wildlife decisions. This article builds on the existing human dimensions research by examining the influence of five categories of variables on residents’ reactions to a specific wildlife management proposal. The predictor classes were respondents ‘ personal characteristics, participation in wildlife associated recreation, beliefs about the state's Fish and Game Department, general beliefs about hunting, and specific beliefs about a moose hunt. A random sample of New Hampshire residents was surveyed. Variables from each of the five predictor classes were shown to influence respondents’ attitudes. Consistent with the social psychological literature, however, specific beliefs were better predictors of residents’ reactions to the moose hunt than either general beliefs or personal characteristics. The traditional sociodemographic variables were among the poorest predictors of respondents’ attitude. These findings suggest that efforts to understand public sentiment toward wildlife management policies need to focus directly on the issues and cannot be generalized from demographic indicators.