Forest and landscape management measures have impacts on the amenity value
of forests. People may have certain attitudes towards management, in partic
ular near urban areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts on
scenic beauty and recreational value of five different management practice
s: small clear cutting, thinning, removal of undergrowth, natural state, an
d traditionally managed cultural landscape. In order to compare visual perc
eptions with preconceptions, two evaluation methods, visual presentation (p
ictures produced by image-capture technology) and verbal questions were use
d. Scenic beauty and recreational value were assessed from slides in which
management measures were presented by the pairwise comparison technique. Th
e results indicate that scenic beauty and recreational preferences differ c
onsiderably from each other. In the study areas, small clear cuttings had t
he most positive effect on scenic beauty and natural state had most positiv
e effect on recreational value. Furthermore, preconceptions concerning diff
erent silvicultural measures did not consistently correspond to perceptions
based on the assessment of visual images. This fact supports the use of vi
sual presentation methods in future preference studies as well as in partic
ipatory forest planning projects. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.