RACE, RURAL RESIDENCE, AND WILDLAND VISITATION - EXAMINING THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIOCULTURAL MEANING

Previous studies have shown that African Americans have less favorable impressions about wildlands and recreate on wildland areas less frequ ently than do whites. However, most of these investigations have been conducted on non-rural populations. Rural perceptions of wildlands and visitation to such areas have received relatively little attention. I n this exploratory study, we propose that race operates on wildland re creation visitation through the different meanings rural blacks and wh ites attribute to wildlands. We examine this hypothesis with a structu ral model which specifies wildland meaning as an intervening factor be tween race and visitation. Single equation results show blacks visit w ildlands less, and have less favorable definitions of wildlands, compa red to whites. However, when wildland meaning is included in the struc tural model, racial differences become insignificant. This suggests th at the meanings different racial groups attach to wildlands help expla in visitation. Both sex and age are also significant predictors of bot h wildland meaning and visitation.