Managing eastern hardwoods: Importance of visual impacts to private landowners

P. L. Roberts; M. C. Vodak

ABSTRACT:

Photographs were taken and data gathered from sample plots on 16 oakhickory sites subjected to different forest management practices. Two subject groups, 96 private landowners and 100 college students, viewed and evaluated a selected set of 102 slides from the sample plots. The scenic preferences of the landowners and students were evaluated by means of the scenic beauty estimation method. No differences were evident between student and landowner scores. All observers tended to respond least favorably to clearcut scenes and most favorably to lightly thinned and unmanaged stands. Heavily thinned stands occupied a middle position. The most important correlate of the scenic beauty evaluation was the amount and height of dead and down wood.

Footnotes

P. L. Roberts was a graduate research assistant and M. C. Vodak an assistant professor of forestry, Department of Forestry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Vodak currently is an assistant specialist, forestry, Department of Horticulture and Forestry, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903. This study was funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Forest Service Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forest Sciences Laboratory, Delaware, Ohio. The findings, opinions and recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Copyright 1984 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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