RISK PERCEPTION, FEDERAL SPENDING, AND THE SAVANNA RIVER SITE - ATTITUDES OF HUNTERS AND FISHERMEN

This paper examines the attitudes of 285 hunters and fishermen from So uth Carolina about hunting and fishing, risk, environmental issues, an d future land use of the Savannah River Site. We test the null hypothe sis that there is no difference in hunting and fishing rates, attitude s toward the safety of fish and deer obtained from SRS, attitudes towa rd future land use at SRS, and perceptions of the severity of environm ental problems as a function of how far respondents lived from the sit e. Respondents hunted or fished an average of over 40 days a year, and only half felt that the fish and deer from SRS were safe to eat. Will ingness to expend federal funds was correlated with perceptions of the severity of the problem. Preferences for future land use at SRS fell into three categories: high (environmental research park, hunting, fis hing, camping), medium (nuclear production, factories, preserve only), and low (nuclear waste storage, residential). There were no differenc es in hunting and fishing rates, ranking of the severity of environmen tal problems, and willingness to expend federal funds as a function of distance of residence from SRS, but attitudes toward future land use differed significantly as a function of location of residence. Those l iving close to SRS were more willing to have the site used for factori es, residential, nuclear material production and to store nuclear wast es than those living farther from the site. Our data on recreational r ates, attitudes toward future land use, and willingness to expend fede ral funds to solve environmental problems reiterate the importance of assessing stakeholder attitudes toward decisions regarding future land use at DOE sites.