PREDICTING ATTITUDES TOWARD A PROPOSED MOOSE HUNT

A growing segment of the American population now questions decisions m ade by wildlife managers and demands a voice in the decision-making pr ocess. Public acceptance of wildlife management policies is a key cons ideration 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 t hey assess the biological consequences of wildlife decisions. This art icle builds on the existing human dimensions research by examining the influence of five categories of variables an residents' reactions to a specific wildlife management proposal. The predictor classes were re spondents' personal characteristics, participation in wildlife associa ted recreation, beliefs about the state's Fish and Game Department, ge neral beliefs about hunting, and specific beliefs about a moose hunt. A random sample of New Hampshire reside,lts was surveyed. Variables fr om each of the five predictor classes were shown to influence responde nts' attitudes. Consistent with the social psychological literature, h owever, specific beliefs were better predictors of residents' reaction s to the moose hunt than either general beliefs or personal characteri stics. The traditional sociodemographic variables were among the poore st predictors of respondents' attitude. These findings suggest that ef forts to understand public sentiment toward wildlife management polici es need to focus directly on the issues and cannot be generalized from demographic indicators.