Rural elected officials, environmental policy, and economic composition

This research uses an alternative economic composition methodology that cla ssifies 52 Idaho rural communities. This methodology classifies communities as dependent, diversified, or post-industrial. A survey was mailed to elec ted officials (mayors and city council) from the sample of 52 rural communi ties to examine whether there is a relationship between environmental polic y support and economic type. One hundred and thirty-three respondents (48%) returned the surveys. The findings reveal that the economic composition of the community was related to views of environmental policy on 7 of 16 meas ures while controlling for gender, political ideology, and age.