Resumen de Non-monetary landscape features most desirable across the Upper Missouri River Basin

Amin Rastandeh, Morgan Carnes, Meghann Jarchow

• We provide a picture of public attitudes toward desirable land uses and land features (LULFs) for the future of the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB) and examine if residents’ desires are correlated with socioenvironmental conditions of their landscapes. We conducted a survey of residents in 22 human population centers (HPCs), generated a ranking of residents’ desired LULFs, and performed a correlation analysis of the relationship between the scores dedicated to LULFs and 24 variables linked to socioenvironmental conditions of landscapes. Our results indicate that there was strong agreement among residents of the UMRB about the most desirable LULFs despite large socioenvironmental differences across the region. Agriculture was generally found to be among the most desirable LULFs in the UMRB, but it was especially desirable in rural communities. LULFs related to development and energy had more variable responses and were among the least desirable LULFs in the UMRB. Hunting was more desirable in HPCs surrounded by grasslands and public lands. Overall, non-monetary LULFs were more strongly valued when looking into the future. We conclude that the future that residents desire to see on their landscapes is partly influenced by the current status of socioenvironmental conditions of their landscapes. Concurrently, these conditions, can be, to a large extent, the product of residents’ past and current activities on their landscapes. Thus, change in residents’ desires depends on change in these conditions, and probably, vice versa.